'Ushsh El-Ghurab
'Ushsh el-Ghurab is a hill located just north of Jericho in the West Bank. Its peak is −87.7 meters (−288 ft) relative to sea level, although it still rises appreciably above the still lower Plain of Jericho around it. Separated from the Mount of Temptation by the Wadi ed-Duyuk and the village and refugee camp of 'Ein ed-Duyuk el-Foqa, it was formerly identified as the location of part of Jesus's Temptation by the Devil.
Name
Jebel ʿUshsh el-Ghurāb (جبل الغراب) is Palestinian Arabic for "Mountain of the Nest of the Raven" or, idiomatically, "of the Mushroom". It has also been variously transcribed as 'Ush Ghurab, Ush el Ghurab, 'Osh el Ghūrâb, and Jabal ʿUshsh al Ghurāb.
Legend
As late as the 19th century, the nearby wadi—today the Wadi 'Ushsh el-Ghurab (وَادِي الغراب)—was known as the "Wadi of the Ascent of Jesus" (Wadi Mesāʾadet ʾAīsa). This preserved the local Arab legend that it was the summit of 'Ushsh el-Ghurab, rather than the nearby Mount of Temptation, where Jesus had been taken by the Devil to be offered dominion over all the kingdoms of the world.
References
Citations
- ^ Sandrezky (1872).
- ^ Sato (2004), p. 44.
- ^ Abu Sitta (2006), p. 223.
- ^ Conder & al. (1883), p. 185.
- ^ USBGN (1971), p. 401.
- ^ USBGN (1992), p. 271.
- ^ Saunders (1881), pp. 87 & 166.
Bibliography
- Jordan: Official Standard Names, vol. 212435, Washington: United States Board on Geographic Names, June 1971.
- Gazetteer of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Washington: United States Board on Geographic Names, December 1992.
- Abu Sitta, Salman H. (2006), The Return Journey: A Guide to the Depopulated and Present Palestinian Towns and Villages and Holy Sites..., London: Palestine Land Society.
- Conder, Claude Reignier; et al. (1883), Sheets XVII.–XXVI. Judea, The Survey of Western Palestine, London: Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Sandrezky, Charles (July 1872), "List of Names East of Jordan", Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 4 (3), London: Palestine Exploration Fund: 123–150, doi:10.1179/peq.1872.017.
- Sato, Tsugitaka (February 2004), "Visits to the Tomb of the Saint Ibrahim", Acta Asiatica, vol. 86, Tokyo: Toho Gakkai.
- Saunders, Trelawney (1881), An Introduction to the Survey of Western Palestine: Its Waterways, Plains, & Highlands, London: Richard Bentley & Son.