Jebel Musa (Morocco)
| Jebel Musa Adrar n Moussa / جبل موسى |
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 842 m (2,762 ft) |
| Listing | List of mountain ranges in the world named The Sleeping Lady |
| Coordinates | 35°54′N 05°25′W / 35.900°N 5.417°WCoordinates: 35°54′N 05°25′W / 35.900°N 5.417°W |
| Geography | |
 Jebel Musa
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| Parent range | Rif Mountains |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | Unknown |
Jebel Musa (Arabic: جبل موسى, Jabal Mūsā, in Berber Adrar n Moussa; meaning Mount Moses) is a mountain in the northernmost part of Morocco, on the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar. It is part of the Rif mountain chain. The mountain is generally identified as the southern Pillar of Hercules, Abila Mons.
Jebel Musa, named, according to the 14th-century Berber Muslim geographer Ibn Battuta, to honour Musa bin Nusayr, to whom the conqueror of Andalusia Tariq ibn Ziyad owed fealty, was known to the ancient Greeks as Mount Abyla or to Romans as Columna. Together with the Rock of Gibraltar to the north, it is generally identified as one of the Pillars of Hercules (this title is also claimed for Monte Hacho in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta, to the east of the mountain).
The pillars of Hercules arose from one of his twelve labours. Earlier, Perseus defeated the Titan Atlas by showing him the head of the Gorgon. Atlas was petrified; his hair became a forest and his shoulders became cliffs. Later, Hercules was directed to get the Cattle of Geryon and deliver them to Eurystheus. Hercules' way was blocked by the mountain that Perseus had created; to clear a way, he used his mace to split the mountain in half, one part becoming the Rock of Gibraltar and the other becoming a mountain in Morocco. According to the legend this split in the mountain created a sea link between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. This link was the Strait of Gibraltar.
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Wikipedia