What is "sela"

Sela (, , transliteration Sela‛, meaning rock; Arabic: as-Sala‛; ; ) was the capital of Edom, situated in the great valley extending from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea ( 2 Kings 14:7). It was near Mount Hor, close by the desert of Zin. It is called "the rock" ( Judges 1:36). When Amaziah of Judah took it he called it Joktheel (also spelled Jokteel ( JPS) and Jectehel ( DRB)) (q.v.) (, Jiqhat-’Ēl, "the blessedness of God" or "subdued by God"; ) or Kathoel in the Septuagint. It is mentioned by the prophets ( Isaiah 15:1; 16:1; Obadiah 1:3) as doomed to destruction.

Sela is identified with the ruins of Sela, east of Tafileh in Jordan (identified as biblical Tophel) and near Bozrah, all Edomite cities in the mountains of Edom.

Sela appears in later history and in the Vulgate under the name of Petra. "The caravan of all ages, from the interior of Arabia and from the Persian Gulf, from Hadhramaut on the ocean, and even from Sabea ( Sheba) or Yemen, appear to have pointed to Petra as a common centre; and from Petra the tide seems again to have branched out in every direction, to Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, through Arsinoe, Gaza, Tyre, Jerusalem, and Damascus, and by other routes, terminating at the Mediterranean Sea." (See Edom [2].)

Selá is a river in Vopnafjörður, Iceland, and one of Iceland's most exclusive rivers for salmon angling.

Selá river is originated from many small rivers coming from the highlands, which run from a mountain area called Dimmufjallgarður (Dark Mountains).

Originally the salmon could go about 20 km up the river. However, two fish ladders have been built in the river adding about 18 more kilometers to the stretch the salmon can run up for spawning. The first ladder was built in 1967 and the second in 2011.

Selá is visited by a number of Icelandic and foreign anglers every summer. In 2004, "The Golden Bear" golf champion Jack Nicklaus fished Selá, and in July 2006 former US president George H. W. Bush spent several days angling.

Icelandic Entrepreneur Orri Vigfússon leads conservation efforts at Selá.

Sela is a mountain in Medina in modern Saudi Arabia.

Mount selae in the "District of the Seven Mosques" in city of Medina Municipality in Saudi Arabia. Sela' means "sliced", because the mountain looks as if it is sliced several times.

"The Prophet Muhammad in the " Battle of the Trench" prayed to God for victory on Mount Sela'. Mount Sela was mentioned by several Hadith of the stories of the Prophet such as The Prayer for Rain, The forgiveness of Ka'b b. malik.

Sela is mentioned by Al-Hamdani in his book Geography of Arabian Peninsula as part of Medina city in his time 150 years after Muhammad. His name and his companions Umar and Ali are inscribed on a stone on top of the mountain.