Mount Saul: The King’s Last Camp

Mount Saul (Givat Shaul, also known as Tel el-Hisn) is a hill in the Jezreel Valley, near Ein Dor, identified by some scholars as the place where King Saul made his last camp before the Battle of Gilboa. The Bible records that “Saul gathered all Israel and encamped at Gilboa” (1 Samuel 28:4), and this hill, overlooking the Philistine camp at Shunem on Givat HaMoreh, matches the biblical description.

Last Night

From this hill, Saul could see the Philistine fires across the valley. “When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets” (1 Samuel 28:5-6). Abandoned by God, Saul disguised himself and went to the witch of Ein Dor, on the other side of Givat HaMoreh, to summon the spirit of the dead prophet Samuel. Samuel’s ghost told Saul that he and his sons would die the next day. Saul collapsed in fear, and the woman of Ein Dor insisted on feeding him before he returned to his camp to face his fate.

The View of the Battlefield Across the Jezreel Valley

Standing on Mount Saul and looking across the valley at Givat HaMoreh (where the Philistines camped), with Mount Gilboa behind you (where Saul would fall the next day), the geography of the tragedy becomes physical. You can trace Saul’s nighttime journey to Ein Dor and back, imagine the Philistine fires on the opposite ridge, and understand the despair of a king who knew he was going to die.

The Book of Samuel describes Saul’s final hours in devastating detail. Terrified by the Philistine army encamped across the valley, Saul sought guidance from God but received no answer, “neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets” (1 Samuel 28:6). In desperation, he went to the Witch of Endor, who summoned the spirit of the dead prophet Samuel. Samuel’s ghost delivered a death sentence: “Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me” (1 Samuel 28:19). Saul returned to his camp on this hilltop to face a battle he knew he would not survive.

The Fall

The next day, the Philistines attacked. Saul’s sons. Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua, were killed on the slopes of Mount Gilboa. Saul, badly wounded by Philistine archers, fell on his own sword rather than be captured. The Philistines found his body, cut off his head, and hung his armor in the temples of Ashtoreth. The men of Jabesh-Gilead, remembering that Saul had saved their city years earlier, marched through the night to recover the bodies. David’s lament over Saul and Jonathan is one of the most beautiful elegies in literature: “How the mighty have fallen” (2 Samuel 1:19).

Visit with Hoshen Tours

Mount Saul marks the place where Israel’s first king made his last camp before the battle that would claim his life and the lives of his sons. Standing here with Hoshen Tours, visitors can see the terrain of the entire biblical narrative: the Philistine camp across the valley, the slopes of Gilboa where the battle was fought, and the distant hills of Endor where Saul consulted the medium the night before. Combine it with Mount Gilboa, the Witch of Endor at Ein Dor, Tel Jezreel, and the spring at Ma’ayan Harod.