OLWES, MOUNT OF; OLIVET (ortvs, mount Ov; oTi-vet), a noted mountain or range of hills east of Jerusalem.
(1) Name. Its descriptive appellation is "the Mount of Olives" (Heb. harhas-zay them', only in Zech. xiv:4; Gr. r6 6pos TeJV iNcw:u.) The mountain derives its name from the olive trees which formerly abounded on its sides, some of which are still found thereon. It is called "Olivet" and "Mount of Olives" in the Old Tes tament (2 Sam. xv :3o; Zech. xiv :4), and is also alluded to as the "mount" (Neh. viii:t5), the mount facing Jerusalem (1 Kings xi :7), the "mountain which is on the east side of the city': (Ezek. xi:23) ; and the "mount of corruption' probably refers to a portion of Olivet (2 Kings xxiii :13). The modern Arabic name is some times Jebel ez-Zeitun, or "mount of olives," but more usually it is Jebel et-Dr, or "mount of the summit." (2) Physical Features. It faces Jerusalem, lying directly east, is two thousand six hundred and sixty-five feet above sea level, has many beautiful olive trees on its sides, and from these has received its name. It is not a mountain so much as a rounded crown of the broad ridge which runs longitudinally through Palestine. It is the highest spot near the city. Osborn describes six prominent heights in the Olivet range, but he includes Scopus, on the north, and the hill of "Evil Counsel," on the extreme south, of the ridge.
The Olivet range extends north without any marked depression to the portion called Scopus, and the general elevation of the ridge is a little less than 3,000 feet above the sea level. It lies directly east of Jerusalem, and is separated from the city by the valley of the Kedron. The four chief peaks south of Scopus are: (1) The north ern summit, called Vin Galikei, from a tradi tion that the angels stood upon it when they spoke to the disciples (Acts i:r1). It is about half a mile northeast from the city, and is 2,682 feet above the sea. (2) The central summit, or the "Mount of Ascension," 2,665 feet in height, is situated directly east of the temple-area, and is the Mount of Olives proper. Three paths lead to this summit—oneby a nearly direct ascent, another winding around the southern shoulder, and a third path leading around the northern shoulder. On the top of this peak is a chapel built upon the site of a church erected by Helena, the mother of Constantine, since tradition points out this spot as the place of the ascension of Christ. The monks point out even the footprint made by the ascending Lord, and the spot, a lit tle south of this, where Christ is said to have taught the disciples the model, or Lord's prayer.
The true place of the ascension, however, was neyond the summit of Olivet, and near Bethany (Luke xxiv :5o). (3) The third summit, about 600 yai ds southwest of the former, and three fourths of a mile from Bethany, is called "the Prophets," from a curious catacomb called the "Prophets' Tombs" on its side. (4) The fourth summit, about t,000 yards from No. 3, is the "Mount of Offense," so-called _from the idol worship which Solomon established there. None of the depressions which separate these summits are very deep; some are to be regarded as quite slight. It is evident that in ancient times this mountain ridge was covered with olives, myrtles, figs, cypresses, and some species of the terebinth or oak, and also abounded in flowers. "The olives and olive-yards," says Stanley, "from which it de rived its name must in earlier times have clothed it far more completely than at present, where it is only in the deeper and naore secluded slopes leading up to the northernmost summit that these venerable trees spread into anything like a forest. And in those times, as we see from the name of Bethany ('house of dates'), and from the al lusions after the Captivity and in the gospel his tory, myrtle-groves, pines, and palm trees—all of which have now disappeared—must have made it a constant resort for pleasure and seclusion. Two gigantic cedars, probably amongst the very few in Palestine, stood near its summit, under which were four shops where pigeons were sold for purification. The olive and fig alone now remain—the olive still in more or less abundance, the fig here and there on the roadside, but both enough to justify the Mussulmans' belief that in the oath in the Koran, 'By the olive and the fig,' the Almighty swears by his favorite city of Jerusalem, with this adjacent mountain." (Sinai and Palestine, p. 184.) (Schaff, Bib. Dict.) The slopes of Olivet are terraced and culti vated, but the vegetation is not luxuriant. The principal trees now are the olive, fig, and carob, with here and there a few apricot, almond, tere binth, and hawthorn. At the western base of the mountain is Silwan, a miserable little village. Jewish tradition declares that the shekinah, or Divine presence, after retiring from Jerusalem, dwelt three years and a half on Olivet, to see whether the Jews would repent, but when they would not, retired to his own place.