For the Taurus Mountains on the Moon, seeMontes Taurus. For Mount Taurus outside Cold Spring, New York, seeBull Hill. For Taurus Amanus in Lebanon, seeNorthern Mount Hor.
Relief of Western, Central, and Southeastern Taurus Mountains
The Western Taurus Mountains form an arc around theGulf of Antalya. It includes the Akdağlar, Bey Mountains, Katrancık Mountain, Kuyucak Mountains, and Geyik Mountains. The EastTaşeli Plateau andGoksu River divide it from the Central Taurus Mountains. It has many peaks rising above 3,000–3,700 m (9,800–12,100 ft).Mt. Kizlarsivrisi, 3,086 m (10,125 ft), in the Bey Mountains is the highest peak in the Western Taurus.[3]
Termessos is an ancient city in the western Taurus
The Central Taurus Mountains are roughly defined to include northernMersin Province and northwesternAdana Province. The highest point in the Central Taurus isMt. Demirkazık (3,756m).[3] TheCilician Gates or Gülek Pass has been the principalpass through the Eastern Taurus since ancient times, connecting the coastal plain ofCilicia withCentral Anatolia. The Tarsus-Ankara Highway (E90,O-21) passes through it. Mountain ranges in the Central Taurus include:
The Southeastern Taurus Mountains form the northern boundary of theSoutheastern Anatolia Region and NorthMesopotamia. They include the Nurhak Mountains, Malatya Mountains, Maden Mountains, Genç Mountains, and Bitlis Mountains. They are in the watershed of theEuphrates River andTigris River.
Malatya's Kale district and the Southeastern Taurus
The mountains have aMediterranean climate, with dry summers and rainy winters. Temperatures vary with elevation, with warm winters on the lower coastal slopes and cold winters in the high mountains and in the interior.[5]
At lower elevations, the predominant vegetation forest and woodland of evergreen oaks andTurkish pine (Pinus brutia), and areas ofmaquis shrubland. Above 1200 meters elevation are montane forests ofblack pine (Pinus nigra),Lebanon cedar (Cedrus libani),Taurus fir (Abies cilicica), andjuniper (Juniperus spp.). The high peaks are home to alpine meadows.[5]
The bull was commonly the symbol and depiction ofancient Near Easternstorm gods, henceTaurus the bull, and hence the name of the mountains. The mountains are a place of many ancient storm-god temples.[6] Torrential thunderstorms in these mountains were deemed by the ancient Syrians to be the work of the storm-godAdad to make theTigris andEuphrates rivers rise and flood and thereby fertilise their land.[7] TheHurrians, probably originators of the variousstorm-gods of the ancient Near East, were a people whom modern scholars place in the Taurus Mountains at their probable earliest origins.
The Amanus range in southern Turkey is where the Taurus Mountains are pushed up as three tectonic plates come together. The Amanus is a natural frontier: west isCilicia, east is Syria. There are several passes, like theAmanian Gate (Bahçe Pass), which are of great strategical importance. In 333 BC at theBattle of Issus,Alexander the Great defeatedDarius III in the foothills along the coast between these two passes.[9] In the Second Temple period, Jewish authors seeking to establish with greater precision the geographical definition of thePromised Land, began to construeMount Hor as a reference to the Amanus range of the Taurus Mountains, which marked the northern limit of theSyrian plain.[10]
DuringWorld War I, the German and Turkish railway system through the Taurus Mountains proved to be a major strategic objective of the Allies. This region was specifically mentioned as a strategically controlled objective slated for surrender to the Allies in theArmistice, which ended hostilities against theOttoman Empire.[11]
In addition to hiking and mountain climbing,[3] there are twoski resorts on the mountain range, one atDavras about 25 km (16 mi) from the two nearest towns ofEgirdir andIsparta, the second isSaklıkent 40 km (25 mi) from the city ofAntalya.
^Ravinell, Alberto and Green, WhitneyThe Storm-god in the Ancient Near East, p.126.ISBN1-57506-069-8
^Saggs, H.W.F.The greatness that was Babylon: a survey of the ancient civilization of the Tigris-Euphrates Valley, Sidgwick & Jackson, 2nd Revised edition, 1988, p.380.ISBN0283996234
^Yener, K.A. (2000)The Domestication of Metals: The Rise of Complex Metal Industries in Anatolia Brill, Leiden,ISBN90-04-11864-0 p. 91
^Bechard, Dean Philip (1 January 2000).Paul Outside the Walls: A Study of Luke's Socio-geographical Universalism in Acts 14:8-20. Gregorian Biblical BookShop. pp. 203–205.ISBN978-88-7653-143-9.In the Second Temple period, when Jewish authors were seeking to establish with greater precision the geographical definition of the Land, it became customary to construe "Mount Hor" of Num 34:7 as a reference to the Amanus range of the Taurus Mountains, which marked the northern limit of the Syrian plain (Bechard 2000, p. 205, note 98.)
