Mountains of Gilboa "O mountains of Gilboa, may you have neither dew nor rain, nor fields that yield offerings of grain . For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil. 2 Samuel 1:21 Mt. Saul was named for King Saul who was killed on the Gilboa battling the Philistines (1 Samuel, 31). Local inhabitants called it the mountain of the curses" based on the Arabic name of the mountain - Tel Kholila - which sounds similar to the Hebrew word for curse (kelala). Actually the name means something completely different -absolute beauty- and in the songs of native sheperds, climbing Mt.Saul was the way to achieve spiritual peace. Ferula communis, Common Giant Fennel, כלך מצוי Iris haynei, Gilboa iris, אירוס הגלבוע Linum pubescens, Hairy Pink Flax, آتان زهري, פשתה שעירה Ophrys umbilicata, Carmel Bee-Orchid,דבורנית דינסמור Salvia dominica, Salvia graveolens, Dominican Sage, מרווה ריחנית Mount Gilboa