10.17192/mjr.2019.21.7818 Gkinidis, Emmanouil Emmanouil Gkinidis 'To the Top of the World' Ascending Mountains in Apocalyptic Literature Marburg Journal of Religion : Vol 21 No 1 (2019) Philipps-Universität Marburg 2019 Apocalyptic Literature; Ancient Near Eastern Religion Institute for Comparative Cultural Research - Study of Religions and Anthropology 2019-12-17 2019-12-17 en JournalArticle https://journals.uni-marburg.de/0004/2019/244/7818 urn:nbn:de:hebis:04-0004-2019-244-78182 https://doi.org/10.17192/mjr.2019.21.1 https://journals.uni-marburg.de/0004/2019/244/7818/7818.png 1612-2941 application/pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0 The prominent role of the mountain as the starting point of revelations in numerous apocalyptic narratives is in absolute relevance with the 'cosmic mountain', a motif widely attested within every cosmological and religious system across the southeastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. However, apart from its relation to the latter, the mountain motif emerged from the background of supernatural descriptions and displayed an 'individual' character, acquiring a role as distinctive as few other motifs in apocalyptic literature. This paper focuses on its forms of manifestation within the various apocalyptic texts, its relations to the 'cosmic mountain' motif, and its catalytic presence in every revelatory story-line. In addition, its value as a place of religious isolation and an 'all-observing' locus is reported, as well. 1612-2941 Marburg Journal of Religion Vol 21 No 1 (2019)