Mount Tabor

Mount Tabor (/ˈteɪbər/ TAY-bər; Hebrew: הר תבור, romanized: Har Tavor; Arabic: جبل طابور, romanized: Jabal Ṭābūr), sometimes spelled Mount Thabor, is a large hill of biblical significance in the Lower Galilee, Israel, at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley, 18 kilometres (11 miles) west of the Sea of Galilee.

In the Hebrew Bible (Joshua, Judges), Mount Tabor is the site of the battle of Mount Tabor between the Israelite army under the leadership of Barak and the army of the Canaanite king of Hazor, Jabin, commanded by Sisera.

In Christian tradition, Mount Tabor is the site of the transfiguration of Jesus.

The Hebrew name of the mountain, תבור tabor, has long been connected with the name for "navel", ט‬בור ṭabbur, but this is probably due to popular etymology.

In the Greek Septuagint's translation of the Book of Jeremiah, the name Itabyrium (Ἰταβύριον, Itabýrion) was used for Mount Tabor. Josephus used the same name in his Greek works.

In connection with the Transfiguration of Jesus, the mountain has been known in the past as the Mount of Transfiguration or Mount of the Transfiguration. It was the namesake of Tabor Light in Christian theology, of the Czech sect of the Taborites, and of numerous other settlements and institutions.

The Arabic form of the name is "Mount Tabur" (جبل طابور, Jebel Ṭābūr) or "Mount Tur" (جبل الطور, Jebel eṭ-Ṭūr). The name Jabal aṭ-Ṭūr is shared with Sinai and Mount Gerizim.^{[citation needed]}

Mount Tabor is shaped almost like half a sphere, suddenly rising from rather flat surroundings and reaching a height of 575 metres (1,886 feet), thus dominating by a good 450 metres the town in the plain below, Kfar Tavor. At the top of the mountain are two Christian monasteries, one Catholic on the southeast side and one Greek Orthodox on the northeast side. The Catholic church at the top is easily visible from afar.