Ladder of Tyre

Ladder of Tyre
Cape Blanco, or Ras-el-Abiad, seen from Mansouri beach in 2019.
Highest point
Coordinates33°5′34.21″N 35°6′15.869″E / 33.0928361°N 35.10440806°E / 33.0928361; 35.10440806
Geography
Ladder of Tyre is located in Lebanon
Ladder of Tyre
Ladder of Tyre

Ladder of Tyre (Aramaic: Sûlama de Ṣôr), (Greek: 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 mountainous range, the highest point of which is distant 18.5 kilometres (11.5 mi) north of Acre in northern Israel. The range stretches beyond Tyre in southern Lebanon. Along its Mediterranean 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 250 feet (76 m) above sea level. The Ladder of Tyre is mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud,[1] in the Jerusalem Talmud,[2] in the First Book of Maccabees (11:59), and in the writings of Josephus.[3]

The Ladder of Tyre, shown in Aaron Arrowmsmith's 1815 map A Sketch of the Countries between Jerusalem and Aleppo

According to the Babylonian Talmud, the waters of the region were formerly known for the marine mollusk (Murex), harvested for its blue-dye.[4][5] The 1st-century historian Josephus puts 100 stadia (c. 11½ mi.; 18½ km.) from the north of Acre to the highest point (massif) in the promontory known as the Ladder of Tyre.[6] This high place is now associated with Rosh HaNikra grottoes (Scala Tyriorum), and which marked the southern pass into Phoenicia proper, and formed the boundary between that country and the kingdom of Israel. [7][8][9] According to Josephus, a place nearby was also known for its fine, crystalline sand used in glass making.

Adolf Neubauer and Henry Baker Tristram thought that the Ladder of Tyre was to be identified with Cape Blanco (Ras el-Abyad), about 9.6 kilometres (6.0 mi) north of Rās en-Nakūrah and belonging to the same mountain range.[10][11] According to historical geographer Joseph Schwarz, where the Mount Amana range terminates at the rock cliffs of Rās en-Nakūrah, "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."[12] Claude Reignier Conder was of the same opinion, that the promontory of Nakūrah was the same as the ancient Ladder of Tyre.[13] Historical geographer, Isaac Goldhor, places the Ladder of Tyre at a distance of 3 biblical miles from Achziv.[14]

  1. ^ Shabbat 26a; Betza 25b
  2. ^ Baba Kama, ch. IV; Abod. Zar. 1:9
  3. ^ Rodgers, Zuleika; et al. (2009), p. 194
  4. ^ Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat 26a), which reads: "Said R. Jose: [What is meant by], 'And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land for kormim and for yogvim?' (Jeremiah 52:16). Kormim, these are they who harvest the balsam from Ein Gedi to Ramatha; Yogvim, these are they that harvest the marine mollusk from the Ladder of Tyre to Haifa."
  5. ^ Jensen (1963), p. 106; Cf. Safrai, et al. (1976), p. 676
  6. ^ Josephus, De Bello Judaico (The Jewish War) 2.10.2
  7. ^ Kitto (1865), p. 769
  8. ^ Conder, C.R. (1881), pp. 191–192
  9. ^ Guérin, V. (1880), pp. 167–168
  10. ^ Neubauer, A. (1868), p. 39
  11. ^ Tristram, H.B. (1865), p. 61
  12. ^ Schwarz, Joseph (1969), p. 55
  13. ^ Conder (1878), p. 270
  14. ^ Goldhor (1913), p. 86