'To the Top of the World'

Ascending Mountains in Apocalyptic Literature

Abstract

The prominent role of the mountain as the starting point of revelations in numerous apocalyptic narratives is in absolute relevance with the 'cosmic mountain', a motif widely attested within every cosmological and religious system across the southeastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. However, apart from its relation to the latter, the mountain motif emerged from the background of supernatural descriptions and displayed an 'individual' character, acquiring a role as distinctive as few other motifs in apocalyptic literature. This paper focuses on its forms of manifestation within the various apocalyptic texts, its relations to the 'cosmic mountain' motif, and its catalytic presence in every revelatory story-line. In addition, its value as a place of religious isolation and an 'all-observing' locus is reported, as well.