Ladder of Tyre (

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

: ''Sûlama de Ṣôr''), ( gr, Ἡ κλίμαξ Τύρου), also known as the Ladder of the Tyrians and the Promontory of Tyre, is a geographical feature mentioned in Greek and Hebrew sources, distinguished by a

littoral The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal areas ...

mountainous range, the highest point of which is distant north of

Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imp ...

in northern Israel. The range stretches beyond Tyre in southern Lebanon. Along its

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

coastline, the Ladder of Tyre skirts an area of about five miles wide at its greatest width, and is distinguished by capes that jut westward into the sea from the ridge which runs parallel to the general line of the coast. These capes project more than a mile into the sea, and rise precipitously at a mean elevation of above sea level. The Ladder of Tyre is mentioned in the

Babylonian Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

, in the

Jerusalem Talmud The Jerusalem Talmud ( he, תַּלְמוּד יְרוּשַׁלְמִי, translit=Talmud Yerushalmi, often for short), also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century ...

, in the ''

First Book of Maccabees The First Book of Maccabees, also known as First Maccabees (written in shorthand as 1 Maccabees or 1 Macc.), is a book written in Hebrew by an anonymousRappaport, U., ''47. 1 Maccabees'' in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001)The Oxford Bible Comme ...

'' (11:59), and in the writings of

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...

Ladder of Tyre, A Sketch of the Countries between Jerusalem and Aleppo (cropped)

According to the Babylonian Talmud, the waters of the region were formerly known for the marine mollusk ( Murex), harvested for its blue-dye. The 1st-century historian

puts 100

stadia Stadia may refer to: * One of the plurals of stadium, along with "stadiums" * The plural of stadion, an ancient Greek unit of distance, which equals to 600 Greek feet (''podes''). * Stadia (Caria), a town of ancient Caria, now in Turkey * Stadi ...

(c. 11½ mi.; 18½ km.) from the north of Acre to the highest point (massif) in the promontory known as the Ladder of Tyre. This high place is now associated with ''

Rosh HaNikra grottoes Rosh HaNikra or Hanikra ( he, ראש הנקרה, "Head of the Grotto"; ar, رأس الناقورة, Ras an-Nakura) is a geologic formation on the border between Israel and Lebanon, located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, in the Wes ...

'' (Scala Tyriorum), and which marked the southern pass into Phoenicia proper, and formed the boundary between that country and

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. According to Josephus, a place nearby was also known for its fine, crystalline sand used in glass making.

A. Neubauer Adolf Neubauer (11 March 1831 in Bittse, Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary – 6 April 1907, London) was at the Bodleian Library and reader (academic rank), reader in Rabbinic Hebrew at Oxford University. Biography He was born in Bittse (Nagybicc ...

and Tristram thought that the Ladder of Tyre was to be identified with Cape Blanco (''Ras el-Abyad''), about north of ''Râs en-Nakûrah'' and belonging to the same mountain range. According to historical geographer Joseph Schwarz, where the

Mount Amana Mount Amana (, a-mā'na, a-mä'na, uh-may'nuh) is an ancient name for the southern Anti-Lebanon Mountains. Geography Mount Amana is at the southern end of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, near the source of the river Abana. Paul Haupt identifies this ...

range terminates at the rock cliffs of ''Râs en-Nakûrah'', "on this rock is a narrow ascent, shaped somewhat like steps, by which its summit can be reached; hence it is called in the Talmud ''the Ladder of Tyre''." Conder was of the same opinion, that the promontory of ''Nakûrah'' was the same as the ancient Ladder of Tyre.Conder (1878), p
270
/ref>

Gallery

File:The Ladder of Tyrus - A Pass on the Sea Coast, near Tyre - Carne John - 1836.jpg, 1836 File:Râs el Abyad (White Cape), the ladder of Tyre. From the south side. The rock-cut undulating road. with its shallow steps, is in many places nearly two hundred feet above the sea (NYPL b10607452-80608).jpg, 1881 File:Along the sea coast. Ladder of Tyre LOC matpc.05231.jpg, 1900 File:Along the sea coast. Ladder of Tyre LOC matpc.05232.jpg, 1900 File:British Indian Army pioneers at the Ladder of Tyre during WWI.jpg, 1918 File:LadderOfTyre June1941 JamesFrankHurley-PeterDamienParer AustralianWarMemorial.jpg, 1918 File:Syria. Tyre to Tripoli and Krak de Chevalier. Sidon. Ladder of Tyre, Ras el-Abyad LOC matpc.15417.jpg, 1920

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * (reprinted A. Hart: Philadelphia 1850) *

External links

Ladder of Tyre
Library of Congress *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 3
IAAWikimedia commons
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ladder of the Tyrians Landforms of the Middle East Landforms of Israel Landforms of Lebanon Geology of Lebanon Geology of Israel Physiographic provinces Classical sites in Israel Tyre District Geography of Lebanon Geography of Israel