Editing Mount of Olives (section)

==Geography and geology==
[[File:Olive tree on the Mount of Olives.jpg|thumb|Olive tree on the Mount of Olives said to be 800–2,000 years old<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.moag.gov.il/en/Subjects/hugging_a_tree/Hiking_routes_and_tales_of_trees/Ancient_Trees/ancient_olive/Pages/default.aspx |title=The Ancient Olive Trees on the Mount of Olives|publisher=Government of Israel|work=Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development |access-date=2019-04-28 |archive-date=2019-04-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428090203/https://www.moag.gov.il/en/Subjects/hugging_a_tree/Hiking_routes_and_tales_of_trees/Ancient_Trees/ancient_olive/Pages/default.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>]]

The Mount of Olives is one of three peaks of a mountain [[ridge]] which runs for {{convert|3.5|km|1|abbr=off}} just east of the Old City across the [[Kidron Valley]], in the area called the [[Valley of Josaphat]]. The peak to its north is [[Mount Scopus]], at {{convert|826|m|0|abbr=off}}, while the peak to its south is the Mount of Corruption, at {{convert|747|m|0|abbr=on}}. The highest point on the Mount of Olives is At-Tur, at {{convert|818|m|0|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite book|title=Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine|first=Edward|last=Hull|page=152|publisher=Richard Bentley and Son, London|year=1885|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Mount_Seir,_Sinai_and_Western_Palestine/Chapter_16}}</ref> The ridge acts as a [[Drainage divide|watershed]], and its eastern side is the beginning of the [[Judean Desert]].

The ridge is formed of oceanic [[sedimentary rock]] from the [[Late Cretaceous]] and contains a soft [[chalk]] and a hard [[flint]]. While the chalk is easily [[quarry|quarried]], it is not a suitable strength for construction and features many [[Rock-cut tombs in ancient Israel|man-made burial caves]].