Mount Hermon

Coordinates: 33°24′58″N 35°51′27″E

Mount Hermon (Arabic: ‫جبل الشيخ‬or‫ جبل حرمون‬/ ALA-LC: Jabal al-Shaykh ("Mountain of the Sheikh") or Jabal Haramun; Hebrew:
‫הר חרמון‬, Har Hermon) is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles
the border between Syria and Lebanon [1] and, at 2,814 m (9,232 ft) above sea level, is the highest point in Syria.[2] On the top, in the
United Nations buffer zone between Syrian and Israeli-occupied territories, is the highest permanently manned UN position in the
world, known as "Hermon Hotel".[3] The southern slopes of Mount Hermon extend to the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan
Heights, where the Mount Hermon ski resort is located.[4] A peak in this area rising to 2,236 m (7,336 ft) is the highest elevation in
Israeli-controlled territory.

The Hebrews called the mountain "Hermon", meaning "sacred",[5] while the Amorites referred to it as "Šeni'r".[6] Another name of the
mountain is "Sirion"[7] (Hebrew: ‫ ִׂש ְר ֹ֑ין‬Širyôn,[note 1] meaning "breastplate"),[note 2][10][11] the name that the Phoenicians (especially
Sidonians) gave to Mount Hermon,[12] from which the term "Syria" might be derived.
Epigraphy, archaeology and references in religious texts

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."[18]

In the 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). The mountain
or summit is referred to as Saphon in Ugaritic texts where the palace of Ba'al is located in a myth about Attar. [19][20] The Book of
Chronicles also mentions Mount Hermon as a place where Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel were the heads
of their families.[21] R.T. France, in his book on the Gospel of Matthew, noted that Mount Hermon was a possible location of the
Transfiguration of Jesus.[22][23]

Various Temples of Mount Hermon can be found in villages on the slopes. There is a sacred building made of hewn blocks of stone on
the summit of Mount Hermon. Known as Qasr Antar, it is the highest temple of the ancient world and was documented by Sir Charles
Warren in 1869. An inscription on a limestone stele recovered by Warren from Qasr Antar was translated by George Nickelsburg to
read "According to the command of the greatest a (nd) Holy God, those who take an oath (proceed) from here." Nickelsburg
connected the inscription with oath taken by the angels under Semjaza who took an oath together, bound by a curse, in order to take
human wives in the Book of Enoch (1st Enoch 6.6). Hermon was said to have become known as "the mountain of oath" by Charles
Simon Clermont-Ganneau. The name of God was supposed to be a Hellenized version of Baʿal or Hadad and Nickelsburg connected it
with the place name of Baal-Hermon (Lord of Hermon) and the deity given by Enoch as "The Great Holy One".[24] The mountain was
said to have become known as "the mountain of oath" by Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau. Eusebius recognized the religious
importance of Hermon in his work Onomasticon, saying "Until today, the mount in front of Banias and Lebanon is known as Hermon
and it is respected by nations as a sanctuary". It has been related to the Arabic term al-haram, which means "sacred enclosure".[25]
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. [26]

In Psalms 42, which leads the Psalms of the northern kingdom, the Psalmist remembers God from the land of Jordan and the
Hermonites. In Song of Songs 4.8, Hermon is an instance of an exotic locale, and Psalms 133, one of the Songs of Ascents, makes
specific reference to the abundant dew formation upon Mount Hermon. [27]

According to the controversial research by Professor Israel Knohl of the Hebrew University, in his book "Hashem", Mount Hermon is
actually the Mount Sinai mentioned in the bible, with the biblical story reminiscent of an ancient battle of the northern tribes with the
Egyptians somewhere in the Jordan valley or Golan heights. [28]

The Temples of Mount Hermon are around thirty [1] Roman shrines and Roman temples that are dispersed around the slopes of
Mount Hermon in Lebanon, Israel and Syria. [2] [3]

Surveys

Discovery of the Hermonian temples in rural villages began in the 19th century, with surveys by Edward Robinson and Sir Charles
Warren. [4] [5] Ten sacred sites were also documented by Daniel Krencker and Willy Schietzschmann in 1938. [6] Maurice Tallon
published an itinerary of the sanctuaries in 1967 with details of the paths to reach them.[7] George F. Taylor provided a pictorial guide
in the late 1960s with more recent information coming from Shim'on Dar in 1993 and epigraphic surveys in 2002 and 2003.[8] Some of
the sites have been connected with the high places used for the worship of Baal in the Books of Kings.[9]
The Seleucids occupied the area after 200 BCE, shortly after which the Ituraeans developed a principality in the area until the fall of
Chalcis when the territory passed to the Herodian kings Agrippa I and Agrippa II. After the end of the first century CE the territory
became jointly controlled by the cities of Damascus, Sidon and Paneas. It is thought that the area was inhabited continuously until the
third century CE. Precise dating of the structures is currently not possible. Krencker and Zscheitzschmann suggested they were mostly
constructed between 150 and 300 CE and epigraphic evidence has been found to support this for several temples. Construction
techniques have been seen to differ from those used in shrines of the Phoenician and Achaemenid and Hellenistic periods such as
Tyre, Tell Anafa and Kharayeb.[3] Recent studies have highlighted differences in construction style of the Hermonian temples from
Hellenistic architecture at Khirbet Massakeb,[10] Khirbet Zemel[11] and other sites in the Hauran and Jawlan.[12] Although the sites may
have been built on previous layers of architecture, the current temples are predominantly considered to be of Roman construction and
were largely abandoned after the fourth century CE during the Byzantine era.[3] Recent studies have highlighted differences in
construction style of the Hermonian temples from Hellenistic architecture at Khirbet Massakeb,[13] Khirbet Zemel[14] and other sites in
the Hauran and Jawlan.[15]

Although the sites may have been built on previous layers of architecture, the current temples are predominantly considered to be of
Roman construction and were largely abandoned after the fourth century AD during the Byzantine era. [3]

The temples were often connected with ancient occupational sites. Olivier Callot and Pierre-Louis Gatier argued that several of the
temple sites might have been mistaken for monumental tombs as Roman mausoleums such as Saidnaya have been found in
Lebanon.[16] Taylor held the view that the religious architecture was the responsibility of "the hand of a single master builder" but was
not able to answer the question of why so many shrines should be concentrated in the area. [8] Henry Seyrig, when reviewing Krencker
and Zscheitzmann's "Romische Tempel in Syrien" highlighted that "the clue to an important social and economic change that would
deserve to be one day the focus of a study". There is still a deplorable lack of a comprehensive study into the history, archaeology,
architecture of these buildings and ancient sites, or the religious life of the people who used them. [3]

Summit of Mount Hermon

Summit site of Qasr Antar

Recently have been additionally discovered in 2003 the Qasr Chbib complex, made of two small Roman temples situated just a few
hundred meters from the summit of Mount Hermon. There is a sacred building made of hewn blocks of stone on the summit of Mount
Hermon. Known as Qasr Antar, it was the highest temple of the ancient world, sitting at 2,814 meters (9,232 ft) above sea level. It was
documented by Sir Charles Warren in 1869. Warren described the temple as a rectangular building, sitting on an oval, stone plateau
without roof. He removed a limestone stele from the northwest of the oval, broke it into two pieces and carried it down the mountain
and back to the British Museum, where it currently resides. An inscription on the stele was translated by George Nickelsburg to read
"According to the command of the greatest a (nd) Holy God, those who take an oath (proceed) from here." Nickelsburg connected the
inscription with oath taken by the angels under Semjaza who took an oath together, bound by a curse in order to take wives in the
Book of Enoch (1 Enoch 6:6). Hermon was said to have become known as "the mountain of oath" by Charles Simon Clermont-
Ganneau. The name of God was supposed to be a Hellenized version of Baʿal or Hadad and Nickelsburg connected it with the place
name of Baal-Hermon (Lord of Hermon) and the deity given by Enoch as "The Great Holy One". [17] Eusebius recognized the religious
importance of Hermon in his work "Onomasticon", saying "Until today, the mount in front of Panias and Lebanon is known as
Hermon and it is respected by nations as a sanctuary". It has been related to the Arabic term al-haram, which means "sacred
enclosure". [18]

Roman temple at Niha, Lebanon

Small lower temple at Niha, Lebanon

Roman temple of Hosn Niha, Lebanon