Climax Mons

CLIMAX MONS

CLIMAX MONS (Κλίμαξ ὄρος, Ptol.), a mountain of Arabia Felix, mentioned as a landmark several times in Ptolemy's description of the country (6.7). Niebuhr identifies it with Sumâra, or Nakîl Sumâra, the largest and highest mountain traversed by him in Yemen. (Descrip. de l'Arabie, vol. 3. p. 207.) This is confirmed by Forster (Arabia, vol. 1. p. 94, vol. 2. p. 270), who suggests that its Greek name, nearly identical in meaning with the Arabic Nakîl, may be derived from the flights of steps, scooped in the rocky sides of the mountains, by which, according to Niebuhr, the roads ascend the steep hills of the Djebal (l. c. n.*).

[G.W]