Qurnat as Sawdā ( ar , القرنة السوداء), is the highest point in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

and the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

, at 3,088 meters above sea level. It is found at the peak of Jabal al Makmel, 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 ...

in the

Bsharri District Bsharri District is one of the 7 districts (''qadaa, قضاء'') of the North Governorate, Lebanon, North Governorate, Lebanon. Overview and geography Surrounded by mountains, the Bsharri District sits on cliffs. The district is bordered by the Z ...

, North Lebanon.

Name

The mountain's name derives from the Classical Syriac (''Qornet Sohde''), for "

Martyrs A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...

' Mountain". This, in turn, refers to late-13th century campaigns in the region by the Muslim

Mamluk Sultanate The Mamluk Sultanate ( ar, سلطنة المماليك, translit=Salṭanat al-Mamālīk), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz (western Arabia) from the mid-13th to early 16t ...

during its conquest of the Christian Crusader states. Its name, like many other local toponyms, was retained even after the decline of Syriac as a vernacular tongue in the region.

References in medieval religious literature

Jacobus de Voragine Jacobus de Voragine (c. 123013/16 July 1298) was an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa. He was the author, or more accurately the compiler, of the '' Golden Legend'', a collection of the legendary lives of the greater saints of the medi ...

's ''Golden Legend'', the summit of Mount Lebanon (Qurnat as Sawda') is the site on which Noah, after having survived the flood, replanted a sacred tree. Voragine states that the tree's seeds were given to Seth by an angel in the Garden of Eden and placed in Adam's mouth upon his passing such that his blood could feed its growth.

References

Mountains of Lebanon Highest points of countries {{lebanon-geo-stub