Her´mon, a mountain which formed the northernmost boundary of the country beyond the Jordan which the Hebrews conquered from the Amorites (), and which, therefore, must have belonged to Anti-Libanus. Since modern travelers have made us acquainted with the country beyond the Jordan, no doubt has been entertained that the Mount Hermon of those texts is no other than the present Jebel esh-sheikh, or the Sheikh's mountain, or, which is equivalent, Old Man's Mountain, a name it is said to have obtained from its fancied resemblance (being topped with snow, which sometimes lies in lengthened streaks upon its sloping ridges) to the hoary head and beard of a venerable sheikh. This Jebel esh-sheikh is a south-eastern, and in that direction culminating, branch of Amti Libanus. It is probably the highest of all the Lebanon mountains, and is thought to rival Mont Blanc, though, as Elliot observes, the high ground on which it stands detracts considerably from its apparent altitude, and makes it a less imposing object than that king of European mountains as viewed from the Italian valley of Aösta. Its top is covered with snow throughout the summer, and must therefore rise above the point of perpetual congelation, which in this quarter is about 11,000 feet. It might, perhaps, be safe to add another 1000 feet for the height above that point, making in all 12,000 feet; but we must wait the result of more accurate observations than have yet been made.
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John Kitto was an English biblical scholar of Cornish descent.Born in Plymouth, John Kitto was a sickly child, son of a Cornish stonemason. The drunkenness of his father and the poverty of his family meant that much of his childhood was spent in the workhouse. He had no more than three years of erratic and interrupted education. At the age of twelve John Kitto fell on his head from a rooftop, and became totally and permanently deaf. As a young man he suffered further tragedies, disappointments and much loneliness. His height was 4 ft 8 in, and his accident left him with an impaired sense of balance. He found consolation in browsing at bookstalls and reading any books that came his way.
From these hardships he was rescued by friends who became aware of his mental abilities and encouraged him to write topical articles for local newspapers, arranging eventually for him to work as an assistant in a local library. Here he continued to educate himself.
One of his benefactors was the Exeter dentist Anthony Norris Groves, who in 1824 offered him employment as a dental assistant. Living with the Groves family, Kitto was profoundly influenced by the practical Christian faith of his employer. In 1829 he accompanied Groves on his pioneering mission to Baghdad and served as tutor to Groves's two sons. In 1833 Kitto returned to England via Constantinople, accompanied by another member of the Groves mission, Francis William Newman. Shortly afterwards he married, and in due course had several children.
A London publisher asked Kitto to write up his travel journals for a series of articles in the Penny Magazine, a publication read at that time by a million people in Britain, reprinted in America and translated into French, German and Dutch. Other writing projects followed as readers enquired about his experiences in the East amidst people living in circumstances closely resembling those of Bible times.
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