The Hajhir massif is a
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...
situated on the island of
Socotra
Socotra or Soqotra (; ar, سُقُطْرَىٰ ; so, Suqadara) is an island of the Republic of Yemen in the Indian Ocean, under the ''de facto'' control of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, a secessionist participant in Yemen’s ...
,
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
. It is the highest point of the island.
Geography
The
granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
spires of the Hajhir massif are located in the hinterland of Soqotra and are most easily accessed via the valley approaches north of the coastal town of
Hadibo
Hadibu ( ar, حديبو '), also known as Hadiboh, formerly known as Tamrida ( ar, links=no, تمريدة), is a coastal town in northern Socotra, Yemen. It is not far from the mount ''Jabal al-Jahir''. It is the largest town of the small archipe ...
. The highest point of the range is the peak of Mashanig which lies at approximately above sea level. Other peaks of local prominence include Girhimitin, Hazrat Muqadriyoun and Herem Hajhir.
Etymology
The name "Hajhir" (
Soqotri: ), sometimes transliterated as "Hagghier" or "Hagher" in English, likely derives from the Arabic "ḥijr" (, meaning "stone"). Other possible origins of the range's name include the word "hajar" ( ar, هجر, meaning "to flee").
The name "Mashanig" (Soqotri: , meaning "the split one"), likely derives from the Arabic verb "inshaq" (, meaning "to split"), from which one gets the word "munshuq" (, meaning "splittist").
Climbing history
Bedouin goatherds have a long history of climbing in the Hajhir. A 2014 study of Soqotri oral storytelling traditions revealed that a number of popular myths recount ascents throughout the range by local goatherds. According to the anthropologist Christopher Elliott, many accounts demonstrate a strong oral chain of transmission that links mythical characters with actual pre-modern ascents.
[{{cite web , last1=Elliott , first1=Christopher , title=From Rock Upon Rock, A Mountain , website=Alpinist Magazine , publisher=Height of Land Publications , url=https://shop.holpublications.com/products/alpinist-magazine-issue-58 Shop]
See also
*
Socotra Island xeric shrublands
The Socotra Island xeric shrublands is a terrestrial ecoregion that covers the large island of Socotra and several smaller islands that constitute the Socotra Archipelago. The archipelago is in the western Indian Ocean, east of the Horn of Africa ...
*
Hadhramaut Mountains
Hadhramaut ( ar, حَضْرَمَوْتُ \ حَضْرَمُوتُ, Ḥaḍramawt / Ḥaḍramūt; Hadramautic: 𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩩, ''Ḥḍrmt'') is a region in South Arabia, comprising eastern Yemen, parts of western Oman and southern Sau ...
*
Sarawat Mountains
The Sarawat Mountains ( ar, جِبَالُ ٱلسَّرَوَاتِ, Jibāl as-Sarawāt), also known as the Sarat, is a part of the Hijaz mountains in the western part of the Arabian Peninsula. In a broad sense, it runs parallel to the eastern c ...
**
Haraz Mountains
References
Socotra
Mountain ranges of Yemen