MOUNT OF OLIVES

The Mount of Olives lies east of the city of jerusalem. A long ridge, running north and south for about two miles, separated from Jerusalem by the Kidron Valley, it is slightly higher in elevation than the city itself. The hill is part of the central Judean range that falls off sharply to the Jordan Valley on the east and more gradually to the Mediterranean Sea on the west. The term "Mount of Olives" refers most properly to the southernmost of the ridge's three sections. The northernmost section is known as Mt. Scopus. The middle section is probably the site of the Old Testament Nob (1 Sm 21.1). The southern section, directly east of the Temple area, now called Jebel et-Tur, is, properly, the Mount of Olives, the traditional site of Jesus' Ascension into heaven. The village Kefr et-Tur, on the eastern slope, is believed to be the site of Bethphage, while farther down the southeastern end of the slope stood Bethany.

In the Old Testament. The Mount of Olives is mentioned only once in the Old Testament and only in a rather late post-exilic book, the Apocalypse of Zechariah (Zec 14.4), but it must be the same hill that was the scene of David's flight from Absalom (2 Sm 15.23). In Ez 11.23, the hill to the east of the city on which "the glory of the Lord … took a stand" after leaving the Temple must also have been the Mount of Olives. In Zec 14.4, on the day of the Lord's return to Jerusalem, "… his feet shall rest upon the Mount of Olives, which is opposite Jerusalem to the east. The Mount of Olives shall be cleft in two from east to west by a very deep valley, and half the mountain shall move to the north and half to the south."

In the New Testament. The Mount of Olives is mentioned frequently in the Gospels, either as τὸ ὄρος τ[symbol omitted]ν ἐλαι[symbol omitted]ν (the mountain of the olive trees) or τὸ ὄρος τὸ καλούμενον 'Ελαιών (the hill called "The Olive Grove"). The vicinity of the hill was frequented by Jesus whenever He visited Jerusalem. The road from Jericho to Jerusalem passed over this ridge. It was along this road that His triumphal entry into Jerusalem took place (Lk 19.37). When He came over the brow of the hill and saw the city, He wept because of the suffering in store for it (Lk 19.41–44). Jesus delivered his eschatological discourse while sitting on the Mount of Olives (Mt 24.3; Mk 13.3). He spent the last nights before His death on the Mount (Lk 21.37), at Bethany, or Bethphage, or in the Garden of Gethsemani just across the Kidron (Jn 18.1) at the foot of the Mount. The Ascension of Jesus into heaven took place from the Mount of Olives, according to Acts 1.12.

Shrines and Archeology. The Mount of Olives is dotted with Christian shrines commemorating these events in Our Lord's life. Evidence of shrines and literary witnesses go back to very early times. The pilgrim Etheria, shortly before 400, mentioned that she took part in the liturgical services at Eleona, a church erected by the Empress Helena, to commemorate the spot where Our Lord taught; she mentions the place whence Our Lord ascended to heaven; she also mentions Gethsemani and Bethany. Today a modern basilica at Gethsemani is built upon the foundations of earlier churches. Halfway up the hill is a small chapel commemorating Our Lord's weeping over Jerusalem. In his excavations there B. Bagatti has found numerous ossuaries dating from early Christianity. Farther up the hill is the church and convent of Carmelite nuns, called the Pater Noster Monastery in

memory of Luke's account of the Lord's Prayer (Lk 11.1–4). On top of the hill are the restored remains of an octagonal church, now in the possession of Muslims, and believed to occupy the spot from which Jesus ascended into heaven.

Bibliography: l. heidet, Dictionnaire de la Bible, ed. f. vigouroux (Paris 1895–1912) 4.2:1779–93. b. bagatti, Dictionnaire de la Bible, suppl. ed. l. pirot, et al. (Paris 1928–) 6:688–699. h. vincent and f. m. abel, Jérusalem Nouvelle, v.2 of Jérusalem: Recherches de topographie, d'archéologie et d'histoire, 2 v. (Paris 1912–26).

[s. musholt]