Mount Zion

Mount Zion (Hebrew: הַר צִיוֹן, Har Tsiyyon; Arabic: جبل صهيون‎, Jabel Sahyoun) is a hill in Jerusalem just outside the walls of the Old City. The term Mount Zion has been used in the Hebrew Bible first for the City of David (2 Samuel 5:7, 1 Chronicles 11:5; 1 Kings 8:1, 2 Chronicles 5:2) and later for the Temple Mount, but its meaning has shifted and it is now used as the name of ancient Jerusalem's so-called Western Hill. In a wider sense, the term is also used for the entire Land of Israel.

Etymology

The etymology of the word Zion is uncertain. Mentioned in the Bible in the Book of Samuel (2 Samuel 5:7) as the name of the Jebusite fortress conquered by King David, its origin likely predates the Israelites. If Semitic, it may be associated with the Hebrew root ''ṣiyyôn ("castle") or the Arabic root ṣiyya ("dry land") or the Arabic šanā ("protect" or "citadel"). It might also be related to the Arabic root ṣahî ("ascend to the top") or ṣuhhay ("tower" or "the top of the mountain"). A non-Semitic relationship to the Hurrian word šeya ("river" or "brook") has also been suggested.

Mount Zion (disambiguation)

Mount Zion is a hill in Jerusalem.

Mount Zion may also refer to:

(by state)

Mount Zion (Washington)

Mount Zion is a 4,278-foot (1,304 m) peak in the Olympic National Forest. The peak is located 9.5 miles (15.3 km) northwest of Quilcene, and near Lords Lake and Bon Jon Pass. Billed as one of the easier hikes in the Olympics, Zion offers a 1,340-foot (410 m) elevation gain in just under 2 miles (3.2 km).

Trail Characteristics

For those testing its trail in June and July, rhododendrons in full bloom crowd the sides of the path. The trail ascends through remnants of long-ago fires, second growth fir and cedar, spring blooming rhododendrons, Oregon grape, salal and leafy ferns. Near the top of the trail, basalt monoliths rise from the wooded slopes. One of the tallest offers westward views of Gray Wolf Ridge.

Views of the Olympic Mountains are screened by trees, but glimpses of Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan are there for the taking to the northeast and Mount Rainier can be seen to the southeast.

References

External links

Mount Zion (Milldale, Virginia)

Mount Zion is a historic home located at Milldale, Warren County, Virginia. It was built in 1771-1772, and is a two-story, seven bay, fieldstone mansion. It has a hipped roof and four interior end chimneys. The front facade features windows in a widely spaced Palladian motif on the second story.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

See also

References

External links

Mount Zion (Colorado)

Mount Zion is a foothill on the eastern flank of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 7,062-foot (2,152 m) peak is located in Windy Saddle Park,1.7 miles (2.7 km) west (bearing 273°) of downtown Golden in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States.

Tradition

One notable feature of Mount Zion is a white "M", maintained by the Colorado School of Mines. All freshmen attending the school climb the mountain and each add a rock on the "M" which they can take with them when they graduate. This is a tradition that has been going on since 1908 when the M was first created. The "M" has been permanently lighted since 1932.

See also

Mount Zion Temple

Mount Zion Temple is a Reform synagogue located in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1856 as Mount Zion Hebrew Association, it was the first Jewish congregation in Minnesota. The congregation was formed before the statehood of Minnesota in 1858.

Early History

Founded in 1856 by eight German-Jewish families, Mount Zion Hebrew Association (as it was then called) was the very first Jewish congregation in Minnesota. Through the 1860s the congregation met in rented rooms around St. Paul before their first building was completed in 1871, located at East Tenth Street and Minnesota Street in the Lowertown district. Early on the congregation was divided by a group called Ahabath Ahim, which branched off then returned. 1871 was the year Rabbi Leopold Wintner began as Mount Zion's first and Minnesota's first Rabbi. In 1871, the congregation built the first Synagogue in the state. The same year they founded the Hebrew Ladies Benevolent Society, members of which organized Neighborhood House to serve immigrants in the community. The Rabbis and congregants of Mount Zion are still board members of Neighborhood House.

Zion

Zion (Hebrew: צִיּוֹן‎ Ṣiyyôn), also transliterated Sion, Sayon, Syon, Tzion or Tsion, is a place name often used as a synonym for Jerusalem. The word is first found in 2 Samuel 5:7 which dates from c.630–540 BCE according to modern scholarship. It commonly referred to a specific mountain near Jerusalem (Mount Zion), on which stood a Jebusite fortress of the same name that was conquered by David and was named the City of David. The term Tzion came to designate the area of Jerusalem where the fortress stood, and later became a metonym for Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, the city of Jerusalem and "the World to Come", the Jewish understanding of the hereafter.

In Kabbalah the more esoteric reference is made to Tzion being the spiritual point from which reality emerges, located in the Holy of Holies of the First, Second and Third Temple.

Etymology

The etymology of the word Zion (ṣiyôn) is uncertain. Mentioned in the Bible in the Book of Samuel (2 Samuel 5:7) as the name of the Jebusite fortress conquered by King David, its origin likely predates the Israelites. If Semitic, it may be derived from the Hebrew root ṣiyyôn ("castle") or the Hebrew ṣiyya ("dry land," Jeremiah 51:43). A non-Semitic relationship to the Hurrian word šeya ("river" or "brook") has also been suggested.