Mount Zaphon
/ˌmaʊnt zəˈfɒn/noun
An ancient sacred mountain identified with Jebel al-Aqra on the Syria–Turkey border and associated with the storm god Baal.
Did you know?In Ugaritic mythology, Mount Ṣapanu was Baal’s dwelling and the site of a divine palace, while the Hebrew Bible uses Zaphon as a poetic symbol of the far north and divine power.
Etymological Timeline
Second Millennium BCE
Ugaritic
Ṣapanu
“The sacred northern mountain associated with Baal, the storm and fertility god.”
Second Millennium BCE
Northwest Semitic
ṣāpōn
“North or northern region; also the name of the sacred mountain.”
8th–6th Century BCE
Biblical Hebrew
צָפוֹן (ṣāfōn)
“North; Mount Zaphon appears as a mythic or poetic mountain of divine assembly.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
Kasios
“Mount Casius, the Greek name for the same sacred mountain, linked to Near Eastern storm-god traditions.”
Roman Period
Latin
Mons Casius
“Mount Casius, the Roman designation for the mountain later known as Jebel al-Aqra.”
Modern English
English
Mount Zaphon
“An English biblical and mythological name for the ancient sacred mountain, also called Mount Casius or Jebel al-Aqra.”
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