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The Mount of Olives is the highest of three peaks rising to the east of the Old City of Jerusalem. Christ delivered his prophecies there and it was from the Mount of Olives that He entered Jerusalem at the beginning of the last week of His life. The believed site of the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed just before He was betrayed by Judas, is on its western slope. One of the traditional sites of the Ascension is also on the mountain.
In their travel notes, the Chernetsov brothers describe the view onto Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives: “The tombs of the sons of Israel are scattered across the slope of the Mount of Olives, among the pallid olive trees, either in ruins or sticking out of the ground in a disorderly fashion. The top of Absalom’s tomb is visible behind the slope of the hill. The Church of Gethsemane can be seen on the right and, beyond the ravine of the valley of Jehoshaphat, the walled city of Jerusalem.”