The Phoenicians called it Širjón (a name recalled in the texts of ancient Ugarit discovered at Rās Samrah), which corresponds to the Amorite Šariana. The other name, Širj, given by the latter, seems rather to refer to the Anti-Lebanon. The Arabs call it Gebel el-Šoj. In the Bible, H. is designated as the north-eastern boundary of the conquest of Palestine under Moses and Joshua (Deut. 3:8; Jos. 11:3, 7; 12:5; 13:11; I Par. 5:23). In Hebrew poetry, H. is associated with Thabor (Ps. 88:13), Sion (Ps. 132:3), Amana, and Sanir (Cant. 4:8).
The range, 28–30 km long in a south-west to north-east direction, is separated from the Anti-Lebanon by a considerable depression. H. has three principal summits: one to the north, dominating the plain of Beqā' or Coelesyria; one to the south, dominating Damascus; and the other to the west, the least elevated, dominating the plain of the Jordan. The highest point is 2,758 m above the Mediterranean. The peaks are almost always covered with snow, even in summer, which makes a certain impression, especially when H. is viewed from the plain of the Jordan, where the heat is strongly felt. Vines and olive trees are cultivated on the slopes of H. up to 1,440 m. Wild animals are found on the mountain. Among the ruins are those of a temple at Qasr el-Antar, from which comes a Greek inscription, now in London, which seems to be of pagan liturgical origin. Some scholars believe that some point on H. was the site of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, but Thabor (v.).