Mount Qasioun ( ar, جَبَل قَاسِيُون, transliterated as Jabal Qāsiyūn) is a mountain overlooking the city of

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

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 ...

. It has a range of restaurants, from which the whole city can be viewed. As the city has expanded over the years, some districts have been established on the foot of the mountain. Its highest point is .1:10,000, Edition 2-AMS, Series K922. U.S. Army Map Service, 1958
/ref> The mountain has been heavily entrenched with Syrian government forces since the start of the Syrian Civil War, as it is a strategic site in the battle for the outskirts of Damascus. The mountain is also host to an

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

species of iris, ''

Iris damascena ''Iris damascena'' is a species of plant in the genus ''Iris''. It is a rhizomatous perennial endemic to Mount Qasioun in Syria. It has thin, sickle-shaped, grey-green leaves and medium-sized stem that holds 1-2 large flowers between March and Ap ...

'', which can be found on the steep eastern slopes, at an altitude of above sea level. The Syrian government has not given the species any protected status. Its only benefiting factor was that part of the habitat of the species lies within a military area near the 'Qassioun Republican Guards Military Base' and other military facilities, which prevents civilians from accessing the area. The base and steepness of the habitat also prevents construction or development, but it is still classified as Critically endangered.

Etymology

The term Qasioun might mean "hard and dry" in

Syriac language The Syriac language (; syc, / '), also known as Syriac Aramaic (''Syrian Aramaic'', ''Syro-Aramaic'') and Classical Syriac ܠܫܢܐ ܥܬܝܩܐ (in its literary and liturgical form), is an Aramaic language, Aramaic dialect that emerged during ...

, which is the characteristic of the bare rocky mountain that has no grass, greenery or water.

Religious significance

On the slopes of Jabal Qasiun is a cave steeped in legend. It is said to have been inhabited at one point by the first human-being,

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

; and there are various stories told about Ibrāhīm (Abraham), and 'Īsā (Jesus) also having prayed in it. It is mentioned however in Medieval Arab history books as having been the place where Qābīl (

Cain Cain ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl/Qāyīn is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He wa ...

) killed Hābīl (

Abel Abel ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hābīl is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He was the younger brother of Cain, and the younger son of Adam and Eve, the first couple in Biblical history. He was a shepher ...

). It was known for hundreds of years as a place where prayers were immediately accepted, and especially in times of drought rulers of Damascus would climb to the cave and pray for rain. Because of the murder that took place there, claimed to be the first committed, it is called ''Maghārat al-Dam'' (the Cave of Blood).Josef W. Meri (Trans.): A Lonely Wayfarer's Guide to Pilgrimage. 'Ali ibn Abī Bakr al-Harawī's: ''Kitāb al-Ishārāt ilā Ma'rifat al-Ziyārāt''Pg. 24-25. Princeton, 2004. According to

Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...

Muslims, Mount Qasioun is the site of the

miḥrāb Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...

s (prayer niches) of the 40 arch-saints, known as the Abdāl, who are said to pray the night vigil prayers every night. A small mosque has been built over the Cave of Blood containing these miḥrābs. Further down the mountain from the 'Cave of Blood', there was another cave known as ''Maghārat al-Jūˁ'' (the Cave of Hunger). Stories about this cave are somewhat confused. Some say that forty saints died there of hunger; al-Harawī, however, who lived in the 13th century, writes that it is said that forty prophets died there of hunger. At present, the cave has been concealed by surrounding houses, but that spot is called al-Juyūˁīyah (Roughly 'the Place of the Hungry'). On another flank of the same mountain is yet another cave, which has come down in local legend as being the cave of the

Seven Sleepers In the Islamic and Christian traditions, the Seven Sleepers, otherwise known as the Sleepers of Ephesus and Companions of the Cave, is a medieval legend about a group of youths who hid inside a cave outside the city of Ephesus (modern-day S ...

, mentioned in early Christian sources, as well as in the Quran,Quran 18:7-26 where they are known as the ''Aṣḥāb al-Kahf'' (Companions of the Cave). This is rather dubious, however, and it is only one of many caves in this part of the world that share the claim. A

madrassah Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

has been built over the cave, but pilgrims are still granted access.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qasyoun Mountains of Syria Geography of Damascus