Anti-Lebanon Mountains

Anti-Lebanon Mountains or Anti-Liban Mountains (Greek, Antilibanus; Arabic, Jabal ash-Sharqi, “Eastern Mountain”), mountain range, south-western Syria and eastern Lebanon, about 145 km (90 mi) long. The crest of the range forms much of the border between Syria and Lebanon. The range extends from the plain around the Syrian city of Homs (Ḩimş) in the north to Mount Hermon in the south. The highest peaks are Mount Hermon (2,814 m/9,232 ft), which is the source of the River Jordan, and Tal at Musa (2,669 m/8,755 ft).

The Anti-Lebanon Mountains are separated from the Lebanon range to the west by the fertile Bekaa Valley (ancient Coele-Syria), which lies in both Lebanon and Syria. Some geographers refer to the two ranges together as the Lebanons. A railway and road connects Damascus, Syria, to Beirut, Lebanon. The Anti-Lebanons have few trees and in the north are barren and rocky. East of the Anti-Lebanon range lies the Helbun Valley, the site of Helbon, a city mentioned in the Old Testament.