The Mt. of Olives rises 300 feet above the city. lt has served as one of the main burial grounds for Jerusalem and its environs.
The Jebusites dug tombs here as early as 2400BC as later did Jews, Christians and Muslims.
Political/Cultural Significance
Rising on the eastern side of Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives offers magnificent views of the Dome of the Rock and the Old City.
Now best known to Christians as the scene of Christ’s Agony and betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane and his Ascension into Heaven, this prominent hill has always been a holy place to the inhabitants of the city.
Biblical Significance
Matthew 21:1-11 The Mount of Olives is part of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday
2 Samuel 15:30 King David fled Jerusalem and went up the Mt. of Olives when confronted with Absalom’s treachery.
The Mount of Olives is also mentioned in the Old Testament in Zechariah 14 as the place where “The Lord will go out and fight against those nations as He does on the day of battle”
