Mount Nif, tr, Nif Dağı, (elevation: ) is a mountain in the district of
Kemalpaşa, towering over the district center (''formerly also called Nif''), located immediately to the east of the city of
İzmir, in western
Turkey. It was one of the nineteen mountains which carried the name
Olympus
Olympus or Olympos ( grc, Ὄλυμπος, link=no) may refer to:
Mountains
In antiquity
Greece
* Mount Olympus in Thessaly, northern Greece, the home of the twelve gods of Olympus in Greek mythology
* Mount Olympus (Lesvos), located in Les ...
in ancient times.
Mount Nif's mass is a protrusion in western direction of
Bozdağlar mountain chain, which separates the valleys of the rivers
Gediz and
Küçük Menderes, two principal flows of the region, and of which the Mount Bozdağ (
Mount Tmolus in antiquity), with its elevation exceeding , constitutes the highest peak, as well as being the highest point for the same region of the provinces of İzmir-
Aydın
Aydın ( ''EYE-din''; ; formerly named ''Güzelhisar'', Ancient and Modern Greek: Τράλλεις /''Tralleis''/) is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of B ...
-
Manisa-
Uşak as a whole.
Mount Nif is distinguished from the rest of the mountain chain massif by a narrow but key pass at a locality called ''Karabel'' which leads south towards the town of
Torbalı.
Karabel Pass is famous for its
Luvian warrior prince monument carved in rock and dated to late-13th century BC, inscribed in the name of
Tarkasnawa, a younger contemporary and an addressee of the
Hittite King Tudhaliya IV.
A new reading of its relief inscription, which had been known since the 19th century, was made in 1996 and published in 1998. The monument is called "Eti Baba" (''the Hittite father'') locally.
A second pass to the north of Mount Nif separates it, or connects it, since it is still at some altitude, from
Mount Sipylus, at the locality called ''Belkahve''. Belkahve is the principal point of access from the east to İzmir metropolitan area and commands an impressive view of a large part of the city.
Ankara-İzmir highway, notably, is checked by its sinuous slopes.
Mount Nif is sometimes cited as "Kemalpaşa Mountain" in reference to the district center, especially in Turkish sources. But the name "Mount Nif", deriving from "
Nymphaion", the name of the region during the
Byzantine period when it was an important and imperial center especially at the time of the
Nicaean Empire, is the more common appellation in Turkey as well. This is also the case for the principal stream that crosses the district area, the "River Nif" (''Nif Çayı''). The district center and the depending administrative area almost invariably go by the name of "Kemalpaşa", with the former name used very rarely nowadays and only colloquially.
See also
*
Luvians
References
Sources
*
*
*
{{Mountains of Turkey
Nif
Landforms of İzmir Province