Jebel Musa is a mountain in the northernmost part of Morocco, on the African side of the Strait of Gibraltar. It is part of the Rif mountain chain. The mountain is generally identified as the southern Pillar of Hercules, Mons Abila.
View of Jebel Musa from Benzú, in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.
View of Jebel Musa as seen from Gibraltar
Jebel Musa, viewed in telephoto lens from the shore of Cadiz Province, Spain
An aerial view of the mountain
The Pillars of Hercules are the promontories that flank the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar. The northern Pillar, Calpe Mons, is the Rock of Gibraltar. A corresponding North African peak not being predominant, the identity of the southern Pillar, Abila Mons, has been disputed throughout history, with the two most likely candidates being Monte Hacho in Ceuta and Jebel Musa in Morocco. The term was applied in antiquity: Pliny the Elder included the Pillars of Hercules in his Naturalis historia.
The European Pillar of Hercules: the Rock of Gibraltar (foreground), with the North African shore and Jebel Musa in the background.
Jebel Musa, one of the candidates for the North African Pillar of Hercules, as seen from Tarifa, at the other shore of the Strait of Gibraltar.
Jebel Musa and the Rock of Gibraltar seen from the Mediterranean Sea.
The title page of Sir Francis Bacon's Instauratio Magna, 1620