Mount Hureish is a mountain in the northern

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, part of the broader Jabal Nablus (Samarian Hills) range. It abuts the Marj Sanur valley to the south and its peak is above sea level, making it the tallest mountain in the

Jenin Jenin ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and is the capital of the Jenin Governorate. It is a hub for the surrounding towns. Jenin came under Israeli occupied territories, Israeli occupation in 1967, and was put under the administra ...

area, and the sixth highest peak in the

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. Mount Hureish is a part of the Musheirif Range, which includes other mountains such as Mount Abu Yazid (724 meters) and Mount 'Ilan (588 meters). From Mount Hureish,

Mount Ebal Mount Ebal (; ) is one of the two mountains near the city of Nablus in the West Bank (Bible, biblical ''Shechem''), and forms the northern side of the valley in which Nablus is situated, the southern side being formed by Mount Gerizim. The mount ...

could be seen to the south and the

Wadi Ara Wadi Ara (, ) or Nahal 'Iron (), is a valley and its surrounding area in Israel populated mainly by Arab citizens of Israel, Arab Israelis. The area is also known as the "Triangle (Israel), Northern Triangle". Wadi Ara is located northwest of t ...

plain could be seen to the northwest.Zertal, 2004, p
284
/ref> At its western foot is the

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

village of Jaba', and Meithalun and

Siris Siris may refer to: Mythology *Siris (goddess), the Mesopotamian goddess of beer *Siris (mythology), a figure in Greek mythology; also known as Sinis Places *Siris, Magna Graecia, an ancient city in southern Italy *Siris, Sardinia, an Italian comm ...

are the closest villages to the east.

Tomb of Sheikh Hureish

The mountain is named after the tomb of Sheikh Hureish, a ''

wali The term ''wali'' is most commonly used by Muslims to refer to a saint, or literally a "friend of God".John Renard, ''Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008); John ...

'' (Muslim holy person), which is situated at the mountain's summit. The tomb is built of quality stone and consists of three rooms and a courtyard attached to the structure's eastern side. Arches support the tomb's ceiling. Large

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

-era dressed, stone blocks make up the base of the tomb's southern wall. The ruins surrounding the tomb cover an area of one

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...

. Other ruined structures include a cistern about 50 meters south of the tomb and a cistern about 100 meters to the southeast. The French geographer

Victor Guérin Victor Guérin (; 15 September 1821 – 21 September 1890) was a French people, French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included ...

, who visited the area in 1878, referred to the tomb of Sheikh Hureish, writing that on "a high hill with steep slopes we saw a Sheikh's tomb called Waly Kheish, to where local people comes as pilgrims". At that time, Guerin noted, the tomb was topped by a white dome and could be "seen from afar".Guérin, 1874, p
351
/ref>

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 11
IAAWikimedia commons
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hureish Mountains of the West Bank Samaria