The event of the “Transfiguration” took place on what was described as a “high mountain” according to the Gospel writers (Matthew 17:1-2; Mark 9:2; Luke 9:28-29; cf. 2 Peter 1:18; possibly alluded to in John 1:14). It was here that Jesus was transformed (metamorphoo) in front of Peter, John, and James (Liddell et al., A Greek-English Lexicon, 1114). However, none of the accounts specify on exactly which mountain this event occurred, leading to speculation about the possible site. While modern scholars have suggested a variety of possibilities, Mount Hermon became the mostly widely accepted due to its status as the highest mountain in the region and its proximity to Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus and the Disciples had been previously. Arguments against this include a six-day period between the Caesarea Philippi episode and the departure for the Mount of Transfiguration, which seems to have taken an additional two days to reach, and that all of the known ancient Christian writings and traditions place the event on Mount Tabor (Matthew 17:1; Mark 9:2; Luke 9:28). While some scholars have attempted to disqualify Mount Tabor on the allegation that there was a town or fortress on the top of the mountain due to remnants of a 3rd century BC fortress built by Antiochus the Great and a reference in the writings of Josephus, this information may have been misinterpreted. The 3rd century BC fortress was apparently abandoned and may not have been in use for many years, as during the revolt, Josephus went to Mount Tabor and had a wall built at the top in a period of 40 days (Josephus, Wars 2.573, 4.54-56; Life 188). These accounts state that new construction of a small fortress was done at the top of Mount Tabor more than 30 years after the time of Jesus, suggesting that the place was probably vacant earlier in the 1st century AD. Therefore, Mount Tabor would have been a viable candidate for an uninhabited mountaintop at the time of Jesus. In the 3rd century, the scholar Origen of Alexandria stated that the transfiguration of Jesus happened on Mount Tabor (Origen, Commentary on Psalm 58). In the 4th century, Cyril the bishop of Jerusalem and the prolific author Jerome also recorded that Mount Tabor was the location of the transfiguration (Cyril, Catechetical Lectures; Jerome, Epistles). Its mention by Eusebius of Caesarea in the 4th century may place it either at Mount Tabor or Mount Hermon, as both locations are mentioned and interpretations differ, but he may have been referring to the transfiguration at Tabor and the meeting of the other disciples by Hermon (Eusebius, Commentary on Psalms). A church commemorating the Transfiguration was built at the top of Mount Tabor in the Byzantine period, probably in the late 4th century AD, and by 570 AD there were three churches on the mountain (Pilgrim of Piacenza). Therefore, all of the early Christian scholars appear to have associated the mountain of the Transfiguration with Mount Tabor. Since none of the original sources specify a location, the identification is tentative, but the ancient accounts are the best available evidence.
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