The ancient name given to the bow-shaped mountain chain situated north of the Ras Ibziḳ, separating the plain of Jezreel from the valley of the Jordan, and sloping off abruptly toward the Jalud ravine at the northwest. The region is known as the scene of Saul's last fight with the Philistines, and the place of his death (I Sam. xxviii. 4; xxxi. 1, 8; II Sam. i. 6, 21; xxi. 12; I Chron. x. 1, 8). In its center is situated the village of Jalbon, which appears to have preserved the old name (see Buhl, "Geographie des Alten Palästina," pp. 103, 107, 204).
Categories: [Jewish encyclopedia 1906]