The Nur Mountains ( tr, Nur Dağları, "Mountains of Holy Light"), formerly known as Alma-Dağ, the ancient Amanus ( grc, Ἁμανός), medieval Black Mountain, or Jabal al-Lukkam in Arabic, is a
mountain range in the
Hatay Province
Hatay Province ( tr, Hatay ili, ) is the southernmost province of Turkey. It is situated almost entirely outside Anatolia, along the eastern coast of the Levantine Sea. The province borders Syria to its south and east, the Turkish province of A ...
of south-central
Turkey, which starts south of the
Taurus Mountains (and is linked with it), south of the
Ceyhan river
The Ceyhan River (historically Pyramos or Pyramus ( el, Πύραμος), Leucosyrus ( el, Λευκόσυρος) or Jihun) is a river in Anatolia in the south of Turkey.
Course of the river
The Ceyhan River (Pyramus) has its source (known as ' ...
(old name:
Pyramus), runs roughly parallel to the
Gulf of İskenderun (old name:
Gulf of Issus) (
İskenderun was called
Alexandria of Cilicia
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean ...
) and ends in the
Mediterranean coast between the
Gulf of İskenderun and the
Orontes (
Asi) river mouth.
The range has about 100 miles (200 kilometers) in length and reaches a maximum elevation of and divides the coastal region of
Cilicia
Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coas ...
from
Antioch and inland
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
making a natural border between
Asia Minor (Anatolia), in the southeast region, and the rest of Southwest Asia. The highest peak is Bozdağ Dağı. A major pass through the mountains known as the Belen Pass (Syrian Gates) is located near the town of Belen, Hatay, Belen. Another pass known as the Amanic Gates (Bahçe Pass) lies farther north.
The specific term "Mount Amanus" is referred to by ancient writers. In the Middle Ages, it was called the Black Mountain in Byzantine Greek, Armenian language, Armenian, Syriac language, Syriac and Latin. There were numerous Armenian Apostolic Church, Armenian, Melkite, Syriac Orthodox, Jacobite, Georgian Orthodox, Georgian, and Catholic monasteries and hermits in the mountains. On account of this, it was called ''Gâvur Dağ'' (Mount of Infidels) by the Turks. In 1028, the Emperor Romanos III, disturbed by the number of "heretical" (i.e., Syriac and Armenian) monks in the Black Mountain, tried to draft them for his Battle of Azaz (1030), campaign against Aleppo. In 1066, the monasteries were devastated by Afshin Bey. In 1098, the monks gave provisions to the First Crusade, Crusader army Siege of Antioch, besieging Antioch.
[Jos J. S. Weitenberg, "The Armenian Monasteries in the Black Mountain", in K. Ciggaar and M. Metcalf (eds.), ''East and West in the Medieval Eastern Mediterranean'', Vol. 1 (Peeters, 2006), pp. 79–81.]
See also
*Nikon of the Black Mountain
References
Mountain ranges of Turkey
Landforms of Hatay Province
Important Bird Areas of Turkey
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