Jebel Boukornine ( 'Mountain of the Two-Horned'), also spelled Djebel Bou Kornine or Mount Bou Kornine, is a mountain in northern

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

overlooking the

Gulf of Tunis The Gulf of Tunis () is a large Mediterranean bay in north-eastern Tunisia, extending for from Cape Farina in the west to Cape Bon in the east. Tunis, the capital city of Tunisia, lies at the south-western edge of the Gulf, as have a series of s ...

and the city of

Hammam Lif Hammam-Lif () is a coastal town about 20 km south-east of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. It has been known since antiquity for its thermal springs originating in Mount Bou Kornine. History Naro, which means fire, was Hammam-Lif's Punic n ...

. It consists of folded and faulted outcrops of

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. Its name, "the one with two horns", is originally from the

Punic language The Punic language, also called Phoenicio-Punic or Carthaginian, is an extinct variety of the Phoenician language, a Canaanite languages, Canaanite language of the Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic branch of the Semitic languages. An ...

. It owes its name to the two highlights of altitude 576 and 493 meters at the top. In

ancient Carthage Ancient Carthage ( ; , ) was an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic civilisation based in North Africa. Initially a settlement in present-day Tunisia, it later became a city-state, and then an empire. Founded by the Phoenicians ...

, the mountain was considered sacred and religious rituals were conducted there, and the deity in question was

Baal Hammon Baal Hammon, properly Baʿal Ḥamon ( Phoenician and ), meaning "Lord Hammon", was the chief god of ancient Carthage. He was a weather god considered responsible for the fertility of vegetation and esteemed as king of the gods. He was depicte ...

, who was represented with two horns. The massif is part of Boukornine National Park, covering an area of and protecting many species of plants and animals. The mountain slopes are covered with Aleppo pine and cedar. Djebel Ressas, about to the southwest is a taller peak at .

References

Boukornine {{Tunisia-geo-stub