| Mount Tabor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 575 m (1,886 ft) |
| Coordinates | 32°41′14″N35°23′25″E / 32.68722°N 35.39028°E /32.68722; 35.39028 |
| Geography | |
  Mount Tabor | |
Mount Tabor (/ˈteɪbər/TAY-bər;Hebrew:הר תבור,romanized: Har Tavor;Arabic:جبل طابور,romanized: Jabal Ṭābūr), sometimes spelledMount Thabor, is a large hill of biblical significance in theLower Galilee,Israel, at the eastern end of theJezreel Valley, 18 kilometres (11 miles) west of theSea of Galilee.
In theHebrew Bible (Joshua,Judges), Mount Tabor is the site of thebattle of Mount Tabor between theIsraelite army under the leadership ofBarak and the army of theCanaanite king ofHazor,Jabin, commanded bySisera.
In Christian tradition, Mount Tabor is the site of thetransfiguration of Jesus.[1]
The Hebrew name of the mountain,תבורtabor, has long been connected with the name for "navel",טבורṭabbur, but this is probably due topopular etymology.[2]
In theGreekSeptuagint's translation of theBook of Jeremiah,[3] the nameItabyrium (Ἰταβύριον,Itabýrion) was used for Mount Tabor.Josephus used the same name in his Greek works.
In connection with theTransfiguration of Jesus, the mountain has been known in the past as theMount of Transfiguration[4] orMount of the Transfiguration.[5] It was thenamesake ofTabor Light inChristian theology, of theCzech sect of theTaborites, and of numerous other settlements and institutions.
The Arabic form of the name is"Mount Tabur" (جبل طابور,Jebel Ṭābūr) or "Mount Tur" (جبل الطور,Jebel eṭ-Ṭūr).[6] The nameJabal aṭ-Ṭūr is shared withSinai andMount Gerizim.[citation needed]
Mount Tabor is shaped almost like half asphere, suddenly rising from rather flat surroundings and reaching a height of 575 metres (1,886 feet), thus dominating by a good 450 metres the town in the plain below,Kfar Tavor.[7]At the top of the mountain are two Christian monasteries, one Catholic on the southeast side and one Greek Orthodox on the northeast side. The Catholic church at the top is easily visible from afar.
The mountain is amonadnock: an isolated hill or small mountain rising abruptly from gently sloping or level surrounding land, and is not volcanic.[citation needed] In spite of its proximity to theNazareth mountains, it constitutes a separate geological form.
At the base it is almost fully surrounded by the Arab villages ofDaburiyya,Shibli, and Umm al-Ghanam. Mount Tabor is located offHighway 65, and its summit is accessible by road via Shibli.A hiking tracks starts from the Bedouin villageShibli and is about five kilometers long.It is part of theIsrael National Trail.
At the bottom of the mountain was an important road junction:Via Maris passed there from theJezreel Valley northward towardsDamascus. Its location on the road junction and its bulgy formation above its environment gave Mount Tabor a strategic value and wars were conducted in its area in different periods in history.
The mountain is mentioned for the first time in theHebrew Bible, inJoshua 19:22, as border of three tribes:Zebulun,Issachar andNaphtali. The mountain's importance stems from its strategic control of the junction of the Galilee's north–south route with the east–west highway of the Jezreel Valley.
According to theBook of Judges,Hazor was the seat of Jabin, the king of Canaan, whose commander,Sisera, led a Canaanite army against the Israelites.Deborah the Jewish prophetess summonedBarak of the tribe of Naphtali and gave him God's command, "Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun" (Judges4:6). Descending from the mountain, theIsraelites attacked and vanquishedSisera and theCanaanites.
In theSecond Temple period (c. 516 BCE – 70 CE), Mount Tabor was one of the mountain peaks on which it was the custom to lightbeacons in order to inform the northern villages of Jewishholy days and ofthe beginning of new months.[citation needed]
In 55 BCE, during aHasmonean rebellion against the Romanproconsul ofSyria,Aulus Gabinius,Alexander of Judaea and his army of 30,000 Judeans was defeated in battle at Mount Tabor. As many as 10,000 Jewish fighters were killed in the battle and Alexander was forced to flee, apparently to Syria.[8]
In 66 CE, during theFirst Jewish-Roman War, the Galilean Jews retrenched on the mountain under the command ofYosef Ben Matityahu, better known as Josephus Flavius, the later historian, whence they defended themselves against the Roman assault.Itabyrium, as Josephus calls it, was one of the 19 sites fortified by the rebels in Galilee under his very orders. According to what is written in his bookThe Wars of the Jews,Vespasian sent an army of 600 riders, under the command of Placidus, who fought the rebels. Placidus understood that he could not reach the top of the steep mountain with his forces, and therefore called the fortified rebels to walk down the mountain. A group of Jewish rebels descended from the mountain, supposedly, in order to negotiate with Placidus, but they attacked him. The Roman forces initially retreated, but while they were in the valley, they returned towards the mountain, attacked the Jewish rebels, killed many of them, and blocked the road for the remaining rebels who tried to flee back to the top of the mountain. Many of the Jewish rebels left Mount Tabor and returned to Jerusalem. The rest of the fortified rebels in the fortress on the mountain surrendered after their water ran out. They then handed over the mountain to Placidus.[9]
After the destruction of the Second Temple, Jewish settlement on Mount Tabor was renewed.[citation needed]
From the late times of theRoman province Judaea and on, thewriters of the ChristianNew Testament relate that Jesus had broughtPeter,James, and his brotherJohn onto a high mountain apart, and thatJesus became radiant there. However, none of these accounts identifies the "high mountain" of the scene by name. The earliest identification of theMount of Transfiguration as Tabor is byOrigen in the 3rd century. This early speculation is recounted bySt. Cyril of Jerusalem andSt. Jerome in the 4th century.[10] It is later recounted in the 5th-centuryTransitus Beatae Mariae Virginis.
Due to the importance of Mount Tabor in Christian tradition, from the 4th century onward it became a pilgrimage site. According to descriptions of the pilgrims, during the 6th century there were three churches on the top of the mountain.
During the 8th century there were four churches and a monastery on the mountain. During theArab Caliphate period, in 949, a battle occurred on Mount Tabor between different factions over the control ofPalestine on behalf of theAbbasid Caliphate.[citation needed]
During the period of theCrusades, the mountain changed hands many times between Muslims and Christians. In 1099 the Crusaders fortified the area of the monastery which was on the peak of the mountain, in order to protect the pilgrims from Muslim attacks. In 1101, when Crusaders controlled the area, theBenedictine monks rebuilt a ruinedbasilica and erecteda fortified abbey.[11] In 1212 the mountain was occupied by theAyyubidSultanAl-Adil I who built a large fortress at its top, which was unsuccessfully besieged by the armies of theFifth Crusade in 1217, but in 1229 it was again occupied by the Christians. In 1263, theMamluk rulerBaibars occupied the fortress and destroyed the buildings on the mountain.[citation needed]
In 1799, during the time ofNapoleon Bonaparte'sSyrian expedition, in the valley between Mount Tabor and the Hill ofMoreh, theBattle of Mount Tabor was fought in which a French force of about 3,000 soldiers under the command of Napoleon and generalKléber won against anOttoman force of about 35,000 soldiers.
At the end of the 19th and the beginning the 20th century, the Bedouin tribe Arab Al-Sabehi settled on the mountain. It was one of the strongest tribes in that region.[citation needed]
During the1948 Arab–Israeli War members from the Arab Al-Sabehi tribe joined theArab Liberation Army ofFawzi al-Qawuqji and amongst others killed seven members ofKibbutzBeit Keshet.At the start of May 1948 theGolani Brigade occupied Mount Tabor. Most members of the tribe were forced out toSyria and to the Kingdom ofJordan, except for one branch of the tribe, the clan of Shibli, whose members refused to leave their land. After the war their village was established, Arab Al-Shibli, which is nowadays part of the villageShibli-Umm al-Ghanam.[citation needed]The Bedouin village was admitted as a tourist village by the Israeli government.
Many tribes in the region, like Arab-Al Hieb, began their military cooperation with the Jewish underground forces before theestablishment of the state, in the late 1930s.[citation needed]Since the late 1960s many of the tribesmen joined the Israeli security forces (such asIDF,Border Police and police).[citation needed]
In April each year, theLower Galilee Regional Council holds a 12-kilometre race around Mount Tabor in memory ofYitzhak Sadeh, the first commander of thePalmach, one of the founders of theIsrael Defense Forces at the time of the establishment of theState and a promoter ofmass sport.
Between 1919 and 1924 aCatholic church of theFranciscan order named "Church of the Transfiguration" was built on the peak of Mount Tabor. The architect who designed the church wasAntonio Barluzzi. The church was built upon the ruins of aByzantine church from the fifth or sixth century and a Crusader church from the 12th century. In the upper part of the church, above the altar, is amosaic which depicts the Transfiguration. On theFeast of the Transfiguration, celebrated on August 6, it is illuminated by sunbeams which are reflected by a glass plate on the floor of the church.A rock near the entrance of the church has an engraving in ancient Greek and beside it there is an engraving of a cross. Nearby there are the remains of the 12th-century Benedictine abbey.[11]
The main church of theGreek Orthodox monastery is dedicated to the Transfiguration. The construction was started by aRomanian monk, Irinarh Rosetti, in 1859, the year of his death, and finished by his disciple, Nectarie Banul, in 1862.[12] Northeast of the Church of the Transfiguration is the Church of the ProphetElijah.
Northwest of the main church is a small cave-church named afterMelchizedek, the King of Salem. According to the Christian tradition, this cave was the place whereAbraham met the king of Salem.[citation needed] The cave was known to pilgrims and local Christians during theMiddle Ages.[citation needed] Anall-night vigil is held at the church every year on the OrthodoxFeast of the Transfiguration on August 19 (which corresponds to August 6 according to theJulian Calendar).[citation needed]
The ruins of theal-Tujjar Caravansarai are located on the slopes of Mount Tabor, opposite the entrance toBeit Keshet. The caravanserai was established by Grand VizierSinan Pasha around 1581.[13][14] The reason given for its establishment was that the place was insecure for merchants and people making pilgrimage, and it was argued that if a khan was built, the place would become "inhabited and cultivated."[14]
Mount Tabor was covered with vegetation typical of northern Ancient Israel until the reign of the Ottoman Empire, during which period most of the trees were felled.[15] The trees were felled for use in thecharcoal industry.[15] As part of theJewish National Fund's efforts to recreate the landscapes of the country, during the 1960s and 1970s the area was reforested with trees which are similar to its original vegetation. Today, most of Mount Tabor is covered with trees such as Mount Tabor Oak (Quercus ithaburensis) and Palestine oak (Quercus calliprinos). Up to 400 plant species have been found on the Mount including large yellow crocuses (Sternbergia clusiana), the Persian lily (Fritillaria persica) rain-bells flowers (Muscari parviflorum), black-eyed red tulips (Tulipa agenensis), orchids, irises (includingIris haynei) and yellow asphodel (Asphodeline Lutea), spontaneous barley (Hordeum spontaneum), Mt. Tabor larkspur, a rather rare perennial grass with blue spring flowers (Delphinium ithaburense), sweet cicely (myrrhoides nodosa), a very rare plant of the family Umbelliferae, Galilean alkanet (Alkanna galilaea) and parsley-piert (Aphanes arvensis).[15]
The woodland vegetation provides a habitat for wolves andjackals, foxes,porcupines,hyraxes,mongooses and the broad-toothed field mouse (Apodemus mysticanus). In a cave at the top of the Mount, long-fingered bats (Myotis capaccini), can be found roosting. Various reptiles can also be found including; the Greek tortoise (Testudo graeca), the hardun lizard (Laudakia stellio), the Lebanon lizard (Phoenicolacerta laevi) and the red whip snake (Platyceps collaris). The woodland is also a good habitat for various birds including jays (Garrulus), Syrian woodpeckers (Dendrocopos syriacus), Sardinian warblers (Sylvia melanocephala), Eurasian hobbies (Falco subbuteo), great tits (Parus major), great spotted cuckoos (Clamator glandarius) and snake eagles (Circaetus).[15]
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