Attitudes toward Mountains - Mountain Geography: Physical and Human Dimensions - page 458

foodstuffs every August to the gods of the mountains, as protection against disease and
to ensure good crops. According to local tradition, the Apu or mountain lord of the
highest peak, Ausangate, at 6,400 m (21,000 ft) resides in a palace inside the mountain;
if he is not given enough food he becomes angry and wraps the mountain in clouds,
sending down lightning and hail to destroy the fields (Mishkin 1940). He also watches
over the wildlife and livestock of the region.
The Western Tradition
The Biblical Period
Mountains were objects of veneration and symbols of strength and peace to the people
of the Old Testament. The three most important events in the Torah, the first five books
of the Bible, the covenants with God, are all associated with mountains, beginning with
the coming to rest of Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat after the flood (Genesis 8:4). Every
Bible-school child knows the story of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount
Sinai (Exodus 19, 20, 24) and how Abraham took his son Isaac to a mountain in the land
of Moriah to sacriice him to God (Genesis 22:2). In later topics of the Bible, David es-
tablished his capital on Mount Zion, the fortress hill where the Jebusite city that became
Jerusalem was located (Psalms 78: 68-70). Tradition places the temple he and Solomon
built, the sacred center of the Jewish people, on the site of Mount Moriah, the place of
the primordial sacrifice performed by Abraham (Bernbaum 1997).
Other mountains, such as Mount Carmel, Calvary, and the Mount of Olives, were also
considered sacred (Bernbaum 1997). It is important to realize that a number of these
are no more than hills. Ancient Near Eastern religions referred to mountains as “the
center of fertility, the primeval hillock of creation, the meeting place of the gods, the
dwelling place of the high god, the meeting place of heaven and earth, the monument
effectively upholding the order of creation, the place where god meets man, a place of
theophany” (Clifford 1972: 5).
Many of the most important events in the New Testament also take place on moun-
tains. Satan takes Jesus up on a mountain and tempts him with the power and wealth of
the world. Like Moses on Mount Sinai, Jesus is transfigured with light on Mount Tabor
and is there revealed, for Christians, as the Son of God. The most famous of his sermons
is the Sermon on the Mount, delivered on a hill above Galilee. Jesus is crucified on the
hill of Golgotha and ascends to heaven from the Mount of Olives (Bernbaum 1997).
Classical Heritage
GREEKS
For the Greeks, high peaks were primarily the abodes of gods and other deities. The
twelve major gods and goddesses resided in a fortress paradise on top of Mount Olym-
pus. Zeus, the king of the gods, was born and raised in remote mountain caves in
Crete, and had numerous altars and shrines dedicated to him on the tops of mountains
throughout Greece. The Muses, who inspired literature, art, music, drama, and scien-
ce, lived originally on neighboring Mount Preiria and then moved in later mythology