Mount Hermon
Mount Hermon | |
---|---|
Jabal ash-Shaykh جبل الشيخ ( Ultra | |
Coordinates | 33°24′58″N 35°51′27″E / 33.41611°N 35.85750°E |
Geography | |
Location | Anti-Lebanon mountain range |
Mount Hermon (
Geography
Wider mountain range
The Anti-Lebanon range, of which the Hermon range constitutes the southernmost part, extends for approximately 150 km (93 mi) in a northeast–southwest direction, running parallel to the Lebanon range on the west.[9]
Hermon range
The relatively narrow Hermon range, with the Lebanon-Syria boundary along its spine, extends for 70 km (43 mi), from 25 km (16 mi) northeast of Mt. Hermon to 45 km (28 mi) southwest of it.
Water and flora
The mountain forms one of the greatest geographic resources of the area. Because of its height it captures a great deal of
Strategic importance
The springs, and the mountain itself, are much contested by the nations of the area for the use of the water. Mount Hermon is also called the "snowy mountain," the "gray-haired mountain", and the "mountain of snow". It is also called "the eyes of the nation" in Israel because its elevation makes it Israel's primary strategic early warning system.[12][13]
Religious importance since Antiquity
- See also Temples of Mount Hermon
Various temples can be found in villages on the slopes of Mount Hermon.
Mount Hermon's name has been related to the Semitic root ḥrm, which means "taboo" or "consecrated", and the Arabic term al-ḥaram, which means "sacred enclosure".[14]
Epic of Gilgamesh
The Epic of Gilgamesh mentions that Mount Hermon split after Gilgamesh killed Humbaba, the Guardian of the Cedar Forest. One translation of Tablet V states, "The ground split open with the heels of their feet, as they whirled around in circles Mt. Hermon and Lebanon split."[15]
Ugaritic religion
The mountain or summit is referred to as Saphon in
Hebrew Bible and apocrypha
In
The Hebrew Bible uses three names for Mount Hermon, stating in Deut 3:9 that "the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, while the Amorites call it Senir", but elsewhere (1Chr 5:23) seems to distinguish between Senir and Hermon, probably using the names for two of the three peaks of the Hermon range, while in Psalm 42:6 the Hebrew text uses the plural form, Hermonim, possibly also a reference to the three peaks.[19][20]
The
In
In the apocryphal Book of Enoch, Mount Hermon is the place where the Watcher class of fallen angels descended to Earth. They swear upon the mountain that they would take wives among the daughters of men and take mutual imprecation for their sin (Enoch 6).
According to the controversial research by Professor
New Testament
Qasr Antar inscription and Hermon as the "mountain of oath"
There is a sacred building made of hewn blocks of stone on the summit of Mount Hermon. Known as
Deir El Aachayer Roman temple
Another Greek inscription found in a large temple at Deir El Aachayer on the northern slopes notes the year that a bench was installed "in the year 242, under Beeliabos, also called Diototos, son of Abedanos, high priest of the gods of Kiboreia". The era of the gods of Kiboreia is not certain, nor is their location, which is not conclusively to be identified with Deir al-Achayer, but was possibly the Roman sanctuary or the name of a settlement in the area.[27]
Religious importance in the Late Roman period
Eusebius recognized the religious importance of Hermon in his work Onomasticon (probably written in the first quarter of the 4th century), saying "Until today, the mount in front of Banias and Lebanon is known as Hermon and it is respected by nations as a sanctuary".[14]
Climate
According to the
Climate data for Hermon (1,640 metres (5,380 ft) above sea level) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 3.3 (37.9) |
4.0 (39.2) |
7.6 (45.7) |
12.0 (53.6) |
16.0 (60.8) |
19.4 (66.9) |
21.6 (70.9) |
21.7 (71.1) |
19.1 (66.4) |
15.3 (59.5) |
10.2 (50.4) |
5.1 (41.2) |
12.9 (55.3) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 1.2 (34.2) |
1.9 (35.4) |
4.1 (39.4) |
7.5 (45.5) |
11.2 (52.2) |
14.5 (58.1) |
16.8 (62.2) |
16.7 (62.1) |
14.3 (57.7) |
11.2 (52.2) |
7.0 (44.6) |
3.3 (37.9) |
9.1 (48.5) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −2.2 (28.0) |
−3.1 (26.4) |
0.6 (33.1) |
3.1 (37.6) |
6.4 (43.5) |
9.6 (49.3) |
12.0 (53.6) |
11.8 (53.2) |
9.5 (49.1) |
7.2 (45.0) |
2.7 (36.9) |
−0.5 (31.1) |
4.8 (40.6) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 300.3 (11.82) |
250.4 (9.86) |
138.8 (5.46) |
100.2 (3.94) |
30.2 (1.19) |
7.5 (0.30) |
1.7 (0.07) |
0.9 (0.04) |
10.4 (0.41) |
110.6 (4.35) |
175.3 (6.90) |
226.5 (8.92) |
1,352.8 (53.26) |
Average rainy days | 20.8 | 19.3 | 11.5 | 8.8 | 5.8 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 3.5 | 11.2 | 15.5 | 18.9 | 118.9 |
[citation needed] |
Arab-Israeli conflict
1967 Six-Day War
During the Six-Day War in June 1967, a part of Mount Hermon in Syria was captured by Israel.
1973 Yom Kippur War
This part was regained by
After 1973
The pre-Yom Kippur War Syrian-controlled sector was returned to Syria after the war.[29]
The Israeli-occupied sector of the mountain became patrolled by the
Syrian Civil War
Since the onset of the
Ski resort
Since 1981, when the Golan Heights Law was passed, the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights has been governed under Israeli law. Mount Hermon hosts the only ski resort in territory held by Israel, including a wide range of ski trails at novice, intermediate, and expert levels. It also offers additional winter family activities such as sledding and Nordic skiing. Those who operate the Hermon Ski area live in the nearby Israeli settlement of Neve Ativ and the Druze town of Majdal Shams. The ski resort has a ski school, ski patrol, and several restaurants located at either the bottom or peak of the area.[citation needed]
In 2005, the Syrian government had plans to develop a 15-billion-dollar ski resort on the slopes of the mountain.[30]
See also
- List of mountains in Lebanon
- Hermon nature reserve
- List of elevation extremes by country
- Iris hermona
Notes
References
- ^ "Topographic map of Mount Hermon". opentopomap.org. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
- ^ "ACME Mapper terrain display". mapper.acme.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
- ^ "CIA World Fact Book: Syria". 14 November 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
highest point: Mount Hermon 2,814 m
- ^ Gröppel, Ekkehard (April–June 2013). "It is time to say Goodbye!" (PDF). Golan: The UNDOF Journal (135). United Nations Disengagement Observer Force: 10–15. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
- ^ "Mt Hermon – UNDOF's Vital Ground" (PDF). Golan: The UNDOF Journal (144). United Nations Disengagement Observer Force. July–September 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ The World's 18 Strangest Ski Resorts: The Mount Hermon Ski Resort Archived 2014-10-06 at the Wayback Machine, Shannon Hassett, Popular Mechanics
- ^ The Hermon Ski Resort: About, homepage of the resort, accessed 9 August 2019
- ^ ISBN 978-0-313-35520-2. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
Its adjacent peak, at 2,236 meters, is the highest elevation in Israel.
- ^ a b c d e The Hermon entry area Israeli Liberary of Technology for Education (in Hebrew)
- ^ The Hermon Shoulder Israeli Ministry of Environment website (in Hebrew)
- ^ The vegetation of Mount Hermon Mike Livneh (In Hebrew, Israel Mofet Unit of Research and Development, Dept. Of Education)
- Jerusalem Post)
- ^ The Eyes of the Country have Closed Death of the soldier who coined the term "The eyes of the country" for a battle on the Hermon Mountain (in Hebrew, Ynet, 30 November 2006)
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-51887-1. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-8047-1589-8.
- ISBN 978-3-927120-37-2. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
- ISBN 978-3-7887-1588-5. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
- Encyclopedia Judaica. Retrieved 8 June 2020 – via Jewish Virtual Library.
- ISBN 978-0-06-146907-7. Retrieved 20 July 2022 – via BibleOdyssey.org.)
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:|work=
ignored (help - ^ Bible: Commentaries: Psalm 42:6 at Bible Hub for "Hermonim" with various interpretations. Accessed 20 July 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-4267-6009-9.).
"Hermon" is an instance of an exotic locale, as in Song 4:8, where it occurs with several other place names. Mount Hermon was famous for its heavy dew. Though the Mediterranean climate of Palestine had no rainfall from May or June to September, it had dew. Dew was important in the summer and a supplement to rain. Zion was therefore a place of fertility which even in the rainless season has an abundance of dew, like that of mighty Hermon to the north. So plentiful is it that it "runs down [NRSV: "falls on"] the mountains of Zion" (Ps 133:3
- ^ Pharaoh’s War with the Israelites: The Untold Story Israel Knohl, Azure Magazine #41, Summer 2010 (Azure Magazine website)
- R.T. France, Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries) (IVP Academic, 2008)
- ISBN 978-0-8146-5803-1.
- ^ Bromiley, Geoffrey William, ed. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. "Transfiguration, Mount of." William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1988.
- ^ Nickelsburg, 1 Enoch 1. A Commentary on the Book of 1 Enoch, 1–36; 81–108 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2001.
- ISBN 978-0-674-77886-3. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
- ^ "The Yom Kippur War". Ynetnews. 2008-11-11. Retrieved 24 November 2008.
- ^ "Syria". Ynetnews. 2007-12-23. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
- ^ "Syria unveils 15 billion dollar tourism project". Middle East Online. Dec 20, 2005. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007.
External links
- Media related to Mount Hermon at Wikimedia Commons
- Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. .