The Horns of Hattin are twin volcanic heights in Galilee, in the Florenzen chronicle (1300), on the road between Damascus and Jerusalem. They hold the graves of the destroyed crusaders and are occupied by a red dragon.
| Type | Place |
| Location | Beside the Lake of Tiberias (Sea of Galilee) |
| Spanish entry | Cuernos de Hattin |
Description
“The image itself is horns.” It is one of the few volcanic zones of the region: reddish ground “curled like petrified waves”, pitted with craters, hollows and cracks, with a hole at the center between the horns. The soil “has sand, but it is solid rock”.
The crusaders were destroyed here, and the graves of all the fallen lie among the ruins, visible on the approach. An escort may go “as far as they can see the tomb of all the crusaders”, no farther.
A red dragon lairs here. The commission: “in the Horns of Hattin there is a red dragon, go and destroy it.” Those who went in met “engulfing flames”, not clearly attributable to the dragon, the volcano or the ground.
Routes
- From the coastal landing point: about one hundred kilometers overland; from the Haifa area, about twenty miles.
- To the dragon: at least four days; after it, at least four more.
There is no other pass between Damascus and Jerusalem. The Horns also guide those seeking the gate of hell.
Conflicting accounts
- Some say the volcano is extinct, others that it is not.
- The two distances may be two starting points or one figure correcting the other.
Open questions
- Whether the central hole is the dragon’s lair, a crater or the gate of hell.
- The number and state of the graves; where the march after the dragon leads.
- Whether the roads to Jerusalem and to the gate of hell are one road forking here or two that only meet here.