A view of Mount CarmelColoured postcard of "Haifa, Mount Carmel", byKarimeh Abbud,c. 1925
Mount Carmel (Hebrew:הַר הַכַּרְמֶל,romanized: Har haKarmel;Arabic:جبل الكرمل,romanized: Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic asMount Mar Elias (Arabic:جبل مار إلياس,romanized: Jabal Mār Ilyās,lit. 'Mount Saint Elias/Elijah';Hebrew:הַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ אֵלִיָּהוּ,romanized: Har haQadosh Eliyahu), is a coastalmountain range in northernIsrael stretching from theMediterranean Sea towards the southeast. The range is aUNESCObiosphere reserve. A number of towns are situated there, most notablyHaifa, Israel's third largest city, located on the northern and western slopes.
The wordkarmel ("garden-land"[clarification needed]) has been explained as a compound ofkerem andel meaning "vineyard ofGod" or a clipping ofkar male, meaning "full kernel".[1] Martin Jan Mulder suggested a third etymology, that ofkerem + l with a lamedsufformative, meaning only "vineyard", but this is considered unlikely as evidence for the existence of a lamed sufformative is weak.[2]
The Carmel range is approximately 6.5 to 8 kilometres (4.0 to 5.0 miles) wide, sloping gradually towards the southwest, but forming a steep ridge on the northeastern face, 546 metres (1,791 feet) high. TheJezreel Valley lies to the immediate northeast. The range forms a natural barrier in the landscape, just as the Jezreel Valley forms a natural passageway, and consequently the mountain range and the valley have had a large impact on migration and invasions through the Levant over time.[7]
The mountain formation is an admixture oflimestone andflint, containing many caves, and covered in several volcanic rocks.[7][8] While most of the sedimentary rock originates in thelate Cretaceous, some of the north east sediments are from theearly Cretaceous, and the edges also feature sediments from thepleistocen.
The sloped side of the mountain is covered with luxuriant vegetation, includingoak,pine,olive, andlaurel trees.[8]
Several modern towns are located on the range, includingYokneam on the eastern ridge;Zikhron Ya'akov on the southern slope; theDruze communities ofDaliyat al-Karmel andIsfiya on the more central part of the ridge; and the towns ofNesher,Tirat Hakarmel, and the city ofHaifa, on the far northwesternpromontory and its base. There is also a small kibbutz calledBeit Oren, which is located on one of the highest points in the range to the southeast of Haifa.Mount Carmel Naval Base is also located just near the mountain and is the logistical hub ofIsraeli Navy.
Distribution of theNeanderthal, and main sites, includingTabun cave, 500,000 to around 40,000 BP
As part of a 1929–1934 campaign,[9] between 1930 and 1932,Dorothy Garrod excavated four caves, and a number of rock shelters, in the Carmel mountain range at el-Wad,el-Tabun, andEs Skhul.[10] Garrod discoveredNeanderthal and early modern human remains, including the skeleton of a Neanderthal female, named Tabun I, which is regarded as one of the most important human fossils ever found.[11] The excavation at el-Tabun produced the longeststratigraphic record in the region, spanning 600,000 or more years of human activity.[12]
The four caves and rock-shelters, Tabun, Jamal, el-Wad, and Skhul, together yield results from theLower Paleolithic to the present day, representing roughly a million years ofhuman evolution.[13] There are also several well-preserved burials of Neanderthals andHomo sapiens and the transition from nomadic hunter-gatherer groups to complex, sedentary agricultural societies is extensively documented at the site. Taken together, these emphasize the paramount significance of the Mount Carmel caves for the study of human cultural and biological evolution within the framework of palaeo-ecological changes."[14]
In 2012, UNESCO'sWorld Heritage Committee added the sites of human evolution at Mount Carmel to theList of World Heritage Sites.[15][16][17] The World Heritage Site includes four caves (Tabun, Jamal, el-Wad, and Skhul) on the southern side of the Nahal Me'arot/Wadi El-Mughara Valley. The site fulfils criteria in two separate categories, "natural" and "cultural".[16]
During the Roman and Byzantine periods, a belt of Jewish villages flourished across Mount Carmel, supported by highland agriculture and local industry. Towns such asHorvat Sumaqa, with its monumental 3rd–4th century CE synagogue, exemplify this pattern of Jewish settlement, linking the Jewish-majorityGalilee with the surrounding valleys. In the 5th century this network was disrupted by unrest, likely including theSamaritan revolts, when Byzantine reprisals did not always distinguish between Samaritan and Jewish communities, affecting places such asHusifah (modern Isfiya) and Horvat Sumaqa.[22]
Due to the lush vegetation on the sloped hillside, and many caves on the steeper side, Carmel became the haunt of criminals.[7] Thickly-wooded Carmel was seen as a hiding place, as implied by theBook of Amos.[7][23] According to theBooks of Kings,Elisha travelled to Carmel straight after cursing a group of young men because they had mocked him and the ascension of Elijah by jeering, "Go on up, bald man!" After this, bears came out of the forest and mauled 42 of them.[24] This does not necessarily imply that Elisha had sought asylum there from any potential backlash,[7] although the description in the Book of Amos, of the location being a refuge, is dated by textual scholars to be earlier than the accounts of Elisha in the Books of Kings.[25][26]
TheDruze settlement in the Carmel region is relatively recent, with the exact timing unclear. According to one tradition accepted by scholars, they settled in the ruins of ancientHuseife, nowIsfiya after the defeat of the Lebanon-centered House Ma'an.Daliyat al-Karmel's population consisted of refugees from Aleppo who arrived in the early 19th century. Despite facing attacks from neighboring villages, the largest towns, Isfiya and Daliyat al-Carmel, persevered, possibly following the withdrawal ofIbrahim Pasha's army.[29]
DuringWorld War I, Mount Carmel played a significant strategic role. TheBattle of Megiddo took place at the head ofa pass through theCarmel Ridge, which overlooks theValley of Jezreel from the south.General Edmund Allenby led the British in the battle, which was a turning point in the war against theOttoman Empire. The Jezreel Valley had played host to many battles before, including the historically very significantBattle of Megiddo between the Egyptians and Canaanites in the 15th century BCE, but it was only in the 20th-century battle that the Carmel Ridge itself played a significant part, due to the development inartillery andmunitions.[30]
In ancientCanaanite religion,high places were frequently considered to be sacred, and Mount Carmel appears to have been no exception.[7] EgyptianpharaohThutmose III lists aholy headland among his Canaanite territories, and if this equates to Carmel, asEgyptologists such asMaspero believe, then it would indicate that the mountain headland was considered sacred from at least the 15th century BCE.[7]
In antiquity, Mount Carmel appears to have been a major center for worship of the Semitic storm godHadad (Ba'al,Baalshamin).[31] In 1952, archaeologist Michael Avi-Yonah published a Greek inscription carved on a sculpted leg discovered at Carmel, reading "To Heliopolitan Zeus of Carmel."[31] This deity is the Greco-Roman form of Hadad, the Ba'al ofBaalbek (also known in classical antiquity as Heliopolis).[31] The inscription shows that by the 2nd century CE, the deity worshipped at the mountain had been identified with the Syrian-Phoenician storm god, whose worship centered on mountains, rain, thunder, and fire, the same attributes invoked in the biblical account of 1 Kings 18.[31]
Classical writers describe an oracle on the mountain, which the Greeks identified withZeus.[31]Iamblichus describesPythagoras visiting the mountain on account of its reputation for sacredness, stating that it wasthe most holy of all mountains, and access was forbidden to many, whileSuetonius states that there was anoracle situated there, whichVespasian visited for a consultation;[32] Tacitus states that there was an altar there, but without any image upon it, and without a temple around it.[33] The existence of a pagan temple on Mount Carmel is supported by thePeriplus of Pseudo-Scylax, a fourth centuryperiplus that mentions Mount Carmel as the "mount and temple of Zeus".[34]
According to theBooks of Kings, there was an altar to God on the mountain, which had fallen into ruin by the time ofAhab, butElijah built a new one (1 Kings 18:30–32).
In mainstreamJewish,Christian, andIslamic[7] thought,Elijah is indelibly associated with the mountain, and he is regarded as having sometimes resided in agrotto on the mountain. Indeed, oneArabic name for Mount Carmel is جبل مار إلياس (Jabal Mar Elyas, lit. "Mount of Saint Elias"). In theBooks of Kings, Elijah challenges 450 prophets ofBaal to a contest at the altar on Mount Carmel to determine whose deity was genuinely in control of theKingdom of Israel. The role of the mountain in this story reflects its status as sacred.[35] As the narrative is set during the rule ofAhab and his association with thePhoenicians,biblical scholars suspect that theBaal in question was probablyMelqart.[36] Archaeologist Michael Avi-Yonah and other scholars argue that the Ba'al defeated by Elijah was not Melqart, but Hadad, the "Lord of Heaven" (Baalshamin), a mountain and weather god whose cult was dominant among the Phoenicians.[31]
According tochapter 18 of theBooks of Kings in theHebrew Bible, the challenge was to see which deity could light a sacrifice by fire. After the prophets of Baal had failed, Elijah had water poured upon his sacrifice to saturate the altar. He then prayed. Fire fell and consumed the sacrifice, wood, stones, soil and water, which prompted theIsraelite witnesses to proclaim, "Yahweh, He is God! Yahweh, He is God!" In the account, Elijah also announced the end to a long three-year drought, which had previously been sent as divine punishment for Israel'sidolatry.
Though there is no biblical reason to assume that the account of Elijah's victory refers to any particular part of Mount Carmel,[7] Islamic tradition places it at a point known asEl-Maharrakah or ratherEl-Muhraqa, meaningthe burning.[8]
Two areas have been hypothesized as the possible site for the story about the battle against the priests of Baal. The slaughter could have taken place near the riverKishon, at the mountain base, in an amphitheater-like flat area. The site where the offering took place is traditionally placed on the mountain aboveYokneam, on the road to theDruze village ofDaliyat el-Karmil, where there is a monastery, built in 1868, called El-Muhraqa ("the burning", possibly related to the burnt sacrifice"). It is regarded as one of the must-visit tour sites in the area of Haifa.[37] (See below under "Carmelites (12th c.–present): El-Muhraqa site" for more).
Although archaeological clues are absent, the site is favoured because it has a spring, from which water could have been drawn to wet Elijah's offering. There is also a sea view, where Elijah looked out to see the cloud announcing rain. However, the biblical text states that Elijah had to climb up to see the sea. There is an altar in the monastery which is claimed to be that which Elijah built in God's honour, but that is unlikely, as it is not made of the local limestone.[38]
Druze venerate Elijah, and he is considered a central figure inDruzism,[39] and due to his importance inDruzism, the settlement of Druze on Mount Carmel had partly to do with Elijah's story and devotion. There are two large Druze towns on the eastern slopes of Mount Carmel:Daliyat al-Karmel andIsfiya.[39]
ACatholic religious order was founded on Mount Carmel in 1209, named theCarmelites, in reference to the mountain range; the founder of the Carmelites is still unknown (d.1265).[40] In the original Rule or 'Letter of Life' given by Albert, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem who was resident in Acre, around the year 1210, this hermit is referred to simply as 'Brother B'; he probably died around the date 1210 and could have been either a pilgrim, someone serving out a penance or a crusader who had stayed in the Holy Land.[citation needed]
AlthoughLouis IX of France is sometimes named as the founder, he was not, and had merely visited it in 1252.[8]
According toCarmelite tradition, the crypt of theStella Maris Monastery, seen here on a 1913 photo, was originally the hiding cave of Elijah
The Order was founded at the site that it claimed had been the location of Elijah's cave, 1,700 feet (520 m)above sea level at the northwestern end of the mountain range.[7]
Though there is no documentary evidence to support it, Carmelite tradition suggests that a community ofJewishhermits had lived at the site from the time ofElijah until the Carmelites were founded there; prefixed to the Carmelite Constitution of 1281 was the claim that from the time when Elijah andElisha haddwelt devoutly on Mount Carmel, priests and prophets, Jewish and Christian, had lived "praiseworthy lives in holypenitence" adjacent to the site of the "fountain of Elisha"[dubious –discuss] in an uninterrupted succession.[dubious –discuss][citation needed]
A Carmelitemonastery was founded at the site shortly after the Order itself was created, and was dedicated to theBlessed Virgin Mary under the title of "Star of the Sea" ("stella maris" inLatin), a common medieval presentation of her.[7]
The Carmelite Order grew to be one of the major Catholicreligious orders worldwide, although the monastery at Carmel has had a less successful history. During theCrusades the monastery often changed hands, frequently being converted into amosque.[8] In 1799 the building was finally converted into ahospital, byNapoleon, but in 1821 the surviving structure was destroyed by thepasha ofDamascus.[8] A new monastery was later constructed directly over a nearby cave, after funds were collected by the Carmelite Order for restoration of the monastery.[8] The cave, which now forms thecrypt of the monastic church, is termed "Elijah's grotto" by theDiscalced Carmelite friars who have custody of the monastery.[8]
El-Mohraka, in the 1850s, as depicted byvan de Velde
UnderIslamic control the location at the highest peak of the Carmel came to be known as "El-Maharrakah" or "El-Muhraqa", meaning "place of burning", in reference to the account of Elijah's challenge to the priests of Hadad.[8] This, perhaps not coincidentally, is also the highest natural point of the mountain range.[citation needed]
Mount Carmel is considered a sacred place for followers of theBaháʼí Faith, and is the location of theBaháʼí World Centre and theShrine of the Báb. The location of the Baháʼí holy places has its roots in the imprisonment of the religion's founder,Bahá'u'lláh, near Haifa by theOttoman Empire during the Ottoman Empire's rule overPalestine.
The Shrine of the Báb is a structure where the remains of theBáb, the founder ofBábism and forerunner of Bahá'u'lláh in the Baháʼí Faith, have been laid to rest. The shrine's precise location on Mount Carmel was designated by Bahá'u'lláh himself and the Báb's remains were laid to rest on March 21, 1909, in a six-room mausoleum made of local stone. The construction of the shrine with a golden dome was completed over the mausoleum in 1953,[41] and a series ofdecorative terraces around the shrine were completed in 2001. The whitemarbles used were from the same ancient source that mostAthenian masterpieces were using, thePenteliko Mountain.
Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, writing in theTablet of Carmel, designated the area around the shrine as the location for theadministrative headquarters of the religion; the Baháʼí administrative buildings were constructed adjacent to the decorative terraces, and are referred to asthe Arc, on account of their physical arrangement.
^Dar, Shimon (1988). "Horvat Sumaqa - Settlement from the Roman and Byzantine Periods in the Carmel".Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society.8:45–46.
^Grossman, David (2004).Arab Demography and Early Jewish Settlement in Palestine: Distribution and Population Density during the Late Ottoman and Early Mandate Periods (in Hebrew). Jerusalem: The Hebrew University Magness Press, Jerusalem. pp. 157–158.ISBN978-965-493-184-7.
^Safrai, Ze'ev (2018). "Jewish and Christian Sacred Sites in the Holy Land".Seeking out the Land: Land of Israel Traditions in Ancient Jewish, Christian and Samaritan Literature (200 BCE - 400 CE). Boston: BRILL.ISBN978-90-04-33482-3.OCLC1045023033.
^Lemche, Niels Peter (2004).Historical dictionary of ancient Israel. Historical dictionaries of ancient civilizations and historical eras. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. p. 90.ISBN978-0-8108-4848-1.
_.jpg)
