A group of Christian pilgrims on Mount Precipice
I work in Nazareth and, having half an hour to spare at the end of a spring day, waiting for a friend to whom I was to give a lift home, I drove up Mount Precipice and took a pleasant early-evening walk at this popular local leisure spot which is also a pilgrimage site of international repute.
Known in Arabic as Jebel al-Qafzeh and in Hebrew as Har HaKfitsa, both meaning the Mount of the Leap or, as it is traditionally known in English, Mount Precipice or the Mount of Precipitation, this precipitous point south of the city of Nazareth, overlooking the Yizrael (Jezreel) Valley is also known in Hebrew as Har Kedumim, meaning "ancient place" in Hebrew. The name refers to the pre-historic human remains found in the Kedumim or Qafzeh cave on the slopes of the mountain, which is 396 metres above sea level. Archaeological excavations on a ledge just outside the cave uncovered human remains, some 100,000 years old. Some of the oldest examples in the world, outside of Africa, of virtually anatomically modern human beings, their burials contained the remains of ochre. This ochre was found both on human bones, and as more than seventy discreet pieces, associated with burial practices, pointing to ceremonial funerary rites and symbolic acts. Prior to this discovery, it had been believed that such symbolic reasoning evolved much later, about 50,000 years ago.
But to Christians, the mountain is more famous as the site of the Rejection of Jesus described in the gospel of Luke:
And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way, And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.
[Luke 4:28-32, King James Version]
Right: The Brow of the Hill near Nazareth (L'escarpement de Nazareth), 1886-1896, by James Tissot; opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper, Brooklyn Museum [Creative Commons]
The mountain remains a site of pilgrimage for Christians, though it is peaceful and full of nature today, standing above the now-abandoned 20th-century quarry through which Highway 60 now passes, connecting Afula and the Yizrael valley with Nazareth via a bridge and a tunnel. But there is evidence of monks having lived in the Kedumim cave during the 6th century, with an ancient altar found in another nearby cave, and on the peak of the hill is a series of tombs and cisterns, and a mosaic was found. In more recent times, a 40,000-seat outdoor amphitheatre was built on the north side of the mount for a Mass delivered by Pope Benedict XVI, on Thursday 14th May 2009, during his visit to Israel. This visit followed previous ones made by Pope Paul VI, in 1964, and Pope John Paul II, in 2000. Pope Benedict's homily on the occasion of the Mass can be read here, and a brief video of the crowds is below.
The amphitheatre today, with Nazareth in the background, is now forlornly overgrown and abandoned.
But apart from the Christian associations, a visit to Mount Precipice is worthwhile simply for the fantastic views of the Yizrael valley, Afula, and Mount Tabor to the south, and Nazareth spread out to the north. In fact a 360-degree panorama is easily visible from the peak, as shown below.
Below is a slideshow of some more pictures of the views from Mount Precipice. Hover over each picture for a caption.
At the northern foot of the mountain, below the papal amphitheatre, is an abandoned and ruined lime kiln from late Ottoman times.
Finally, in honour of the spring, which is such a short season in Israel yet so beautiful, a slideshow of flora and views as I walked through the wooded slopes of Mount Precipice to its summit.
