It is traditionally identified as the Nur or Amanus Mountains.[4] When in the Second Temple period, Jewish authors seeking to establish with greater precision the geographical definition of the Promised Land, began to construe Mount Hor as a reference to the Amanus range of the Taurus Mountains, which marked the northern limit of the Syrian plain.[5] Rabbinic writings [6]also declare Amanah a boundary of the land of Israel, saying "from the mountains of Amanah, to the river of Egypt; whatever is within that line belongs to the land of Israel: but, whatever is without that line, is without the land."[7][better source needed][8]