Mount Zion (Hebrew: הַר צִיּוֹן‎, Har Tsiyyon; Arabic: جبل صهيون‎, Jabal Sahyoun) is a hill in Jerusalem, located just outside the walls of the Old City. The term Mount Zion has been used in the Hebrew Bible first for the City of David (2 Samuel 5:7, 1 Chronicles 11:5; 1 Kings 8:1, 2 Chronicles 5:2) and later for the Temple Mount, but its meaning has shifted and it is now used as the name of ancient Jerusalem’s Western Hill.[1][2] In a wider sense, the term is also used for the entire Land of Israel.[3]

The etymology of the word Zion is uncertain.[4][5][6] Mentioned in the Bible in the Book of Samuel (2 Samuel 5:7) as the name of the Jebusite fortress conquered by King David, its origin likely predates the Israelites.[4][5] If Semitic, it may be associated with the Hebrew root ṣiyyôn (“castle”). Though not spoken in Jerusalem until 1,700 years later, the name is similar in Arabic and may be connected to the root ṣiyya (“dry land”) or the Arabic šanā (“protect” or “citadel”).[5][6] It might also be related to the Arabic root ṣahî (“ascend to the top”) or ṣuhhay (“tower” or “the top of the mountain”).[6] A non-Semitic relationship to the Hurrian word šeya (“river” or “brook”) has also been suggested.[6]