Mount Carmel

{{Short description|Coastal mountain range in Israel and portions thereof}} {{Other uses}} {{Distinguish|Carmel (biblical settlement)}} {{redirect|Mount St Elijah|similarly named topics|Monte Sant'Elia (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox mountain | name = Mount Carmel | native_name = | other_name = {{native name|he|הר הכרמל}}<br/>{{lang|ar|جبل الكرمل}} / {{native name|ar|جبل مار إلياس}} | image = Caiobadner - mount carmel.JPG | image_caption = The southern tip of Mount Carmel at sunset, as seen from the entrance to Kibbutz Ma'agan Michael | country = Israel | region = | district = Haifa | borders_on = | highest = | elevation_m = 525.4 | coordinates = | range_coordinates = {{coord|32|44|N|35|03|E|type:mountain_region:IL|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | length_km = 39 | length_orientation = | width_km = 8 | width_orientation = | area_km2 =  | geology = Limestone and flint | orogeny = | age =  | map = Israel haifa | map_caption = }} thumb|A view of Mount Carmel [[File:Abbud17C.jpg|thumb|Coloured postcard of "Haifa, Mount Carmel", by Karimeh Abbud, {{Circa|1925}}]] '''Mount Carmel''' ({{langx|he|הַר הַכַּרְמֶל|Har haKarmel}}; {{langx|ar|جبل الكرمل|Jabal al-Karmil}}), also known in Arabic as '''Mount Mar Elias''' ({{langx|ar|link=no|جبل مار إلياس|Jabal Mār Ilyās|lit=Mount Saint Elias/Elijah}}; {{langx|he|הַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ אֵלִיָּהוּ|Har haQadosh Eliyahu}}), is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. A number of towns are situated there, most notably Haifa, Israel's third largest city, located on the northern and western slopes.

==Etymology== The word ''karmel'' ("garden-land"{{clarify |In what language? Source? |date= June 2025}}) has been explained as a compound of ''kerem'' and ''el'' meaning "vineyard of God" or a clipping of ''kar male,'' meaning "full kernel".<ref>{{cite web |title=Aviv Hadash: An Israeli youth encyclopedia |url=https://school.kotar.cet.ac.il/KotarApp/Index/Page.aspx?nBookID=45800000&nTocEntryID=45927722&nPageID=45902757 |page=vol. 9 pg. 169}}</ref> Martin Jan Mulder suggested a third etymology, that of ''kerem + l'' with a lamed sufformative, meaning only "vineyard", but this is considered unlikely as evidence for the existence of a lamed sufformative is weak.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Paul|first1=Jouon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oJY06MoeEb4C&q=88|title=A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew|last2=Tamitsu|first2=Muraoka|date=2006|publisher=Gregorian Biblical BookShop|isbn=978-88-7653-629-8|location=|pages=|language=en}}</ref>

In Song of Songs 7:6, ''karmel'' is generally interpreted as a color, perhaps "crimson"<ref>{{Cite web |title=BDB, כַּרְמִיל |url=https://www.sefaria.org/BDB,_%D7%9B%D6%B7%D6%BC%D7%A8%D6%B0%D7%9E%D6%B4%D7%99%D7%9C |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sefer HaShorashim, כרמל 1 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Sefer_HaShorashim,_%D7%9B%D7%A8%D7%9E%D7%9C.1 |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> or "yellow".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Tikkunei Zohar 134b:2 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Tikkunei_Zohar.134b.2 |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref> {{Interlanguage link|Isachar Tamar|he|ישכר תמר}} suggests connecting it to the yellow "''karmel'' lily" mentioned by the Jerusalem Talmud ([https://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14535&pgnum=387 y. Sukkah 3:6] ) in the version of REbYH.<ref>Isachar Tamar, ''Alei Tamar: Moed II'' (1992), p. 108a.</ref>

==Geography and geology== The phrase "Mount Carmel" has been used in three distinct ways, referring to either one of the following three areas:<ref name=Biblica/> *The {{convert|39|km|mi|abbr=on}} long mountain range all the way to Jenin, including the Manasseh Hill Country and the heights southeast of it. *The northwestern {{convert|19|km|mi|abbr=on}} of the mountain range. *The headland at the northwestern end of the range.

The Carmel range is approximately {{convert|6.5|to|8|km|1|abbr=off}} wide, sloping gradually towards the southwest, but forming a steep ridge on the northeastern face, {{convert|546|m|0|abbr=off}} high. The Jezreel 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.<ref name=Biblica/>

The mountain formation is an admixture of limestone and flint, containing many caves, and covered in several volcanic rocks.<ref name=Biblica/><ref name=JEnc/> While most of the sedimentary rock originates in the late Cretaceous, some of the north east sediments are from the early Cretaceous, and the edges also feature sediments from the Pleistocene.

The sloped side of the mountain is covered with luxuriant vegetation, including oak, pine, olive, and laurel trees.<ref name=JEnc/>

Several modern towns are located on the range, including Yokneam on the eastern ridge; Zikhron Ya'akov on the southern slope; the Druze communities of Daliyat al-Karmel and Isfiya on the more central part of the ridge; and the towns of Nesher, Tirat Hakarmel, and the city of Haifa, on the far northwestern promontory and its base. There is also a small kibbutz called Beit 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 of Israeli Navy.

==History==

===Palaeolithic and Epipalaeolithic=== [[File:Neanderthal distribution.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Distribution of the Neanderthal, and main sites, including Tabun cave, 500,000 to around 40,000 BP]] As part of a 1929–1934 campaign,<ref>{{cite ODNB |first= Jane |last= Callander |title= Garrod, Dorothy Annie Elizabeth (1892–1968) |year= 2004 |doi= 10.1093/ref:odnb/37443 |url= http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/37443 |access-date= 2011-02-14}}</ref> 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, and Es Skhul.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.athenapub.com/8timelin.htm|title=Timeline in the Understanding of Neanderthals|access-date=2007-07-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927231557/http://www.athenapub.com/8timelin.htm|archive-date=2007-09-27|url-status=dead}}</ref> Garrod discovered Neanderthal 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.<ref>Christopher Stringer, custodian of Tabun I, Natural History Museum, quoted in an exhibition in honour of Garrod; ''Callander and Smith'', 1998</ref> The excavation at el-Tabun produced the longest stratigraphic record in the region, spanning 600,000 or more years of human activity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/~pjs1011/Pams.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228172528/http://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/~pjs1011/Pams.html |archive-date=2009-02-28 |title=From 'small, dark and alive' to 'cripplingly shy': Dorothy Garrod as the first woman Professor at Cambridge|access-date=2007-07-13}}</ref>

The four caves and rock-shelters, Tabun, Jamal, el-Wad, and Skhul, together yield results from the Lower Paleolithic to the present day, representing roughly a million years of human evolution.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://arch.haifa.ac.il/index.php/2013-12-25-08-32-38/prehistory-division |title=Excavations and Surveys / Prehistory Division |publisher=The Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa |access-date=2016-04-18}}</ref> There are also several well-preserved burials of Neanderthals and ''Homo 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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://arch.haifa.ac.il/excav.php |title=The Zinman Institute of Archaeology – Excavations and Surveys |publisher=Arch.haifa.ac.il |access-date=2009-01-19 |url-status=unfit |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130313142646/http://arch.haifa.ac.il/excav.php |archive-date=March 13, 2013 }}</ref>

In 2012, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee added the sites of human evolution at Mount Carmel to the List of World Heritage Sites.<ref>{{cite press release |url= http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/PressRoom/2012/Pages/UNESCO_World_Heritage_Site_Carmel_Caves_2-Jul-2012.aspx |title=Newest UNESCO World Heritage Site-Carmel Caves |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |date=2012-07-02 |access-date=2016-04-19}}</ref><ref name=jpostunesco>{{cite news |url=https://www.jpost.com/Enviro-Tech/4-Mount-Carmel-caves-nominated-to-join-UNESCO |title=4 Mount Carmel Caves Nominated to Join UNESCO |date=2012-06-29 |first=Sharon |last=Udasin |access-date=2016-04-19 |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |url= https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/903/ |title=Twenty-six new sites inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List this year |publisher=UNESCO |date=2012-07-02 |access-date=2016-04-19}}</ref> 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".<ref name=jpostunesco/>

Of great interest for the Near East Epipalaeolithic is Kebara Cave. [[File:Lilium candidum in Wadi Kelah 1.jpg|thumb|The University of Haifa atop Mount Carmel]] In December 2020, archaeologists from the University of Haifa announced the discovery of the oldest known tool used for grinding or scraping, dating back about 350,000 years at the Tabun Cave at Mount Carmel site. According to researchers, this cobble belongs to the Acheulo-Yabrudian complex from the late Lower Paleolithic and was used by hominids for abrading surfaces.<ref>{{cite news|last=Winer|first=Stuart|title=Stone found in Israel is oldest known tool in world used for 'delicate' abrading|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/stone-found-in-israel-is-oldest-known-tool-used-for-delicate-abrading/|access-date=2021-06-26|website=The Times of Israel|language=en-US |issn=0040-7909}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=A 350,000-year-old turning point in human evolution found in Israel|url=https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2020-12-28/ty-article/.premium/a-350-000-year-old-turning-point-in-human-evolution-found-in-israel/0000017f-e2e0-d9aa-afff-fbf8859a0000|access-date=2021-06-26|newspaper=Haaretz|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-01-21|title=The oldest known abrading tool was used around 350,000 years ago|url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/oldest-known-abrading-tool-archaeology-tabun-cave|access-date=2021-06-26|website=Science News|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=357,000-Year-Old Abrading Tool Unearthed in Israel {{!}} Archaeology {{!}} Sci-News.com|url=http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/abrading-tool-tabun-cave-israel-09305.html|access-date=2021-06-26|website=Breaking Science News {{!}} Sci-News.com|language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Classical and late antiquity === [[File:SUMAK_BURIAL_CAVE.jpg|alt=Rock-cut tomb entrance at Horvat Sumaqa with seven-branched menorahs carved on the façade |thumb|Jewish rock-cut tomb with ''menorah'' carvings from the Roman period at Horvat Sumaqa]] During the Roman and Byzantine periods, a belt of Jewish villages flourished across Mount Carmel, supported by highland agriculture and local industry. Towns such as Horvat Sumaqa, with its monumental 3rd–4th century CE synagogue, exemplify this pattern of Jewish settlement, linking the Jewish-majority Galilee with the surrounding valleys. In the 5th century this network was disrupted by unrest, likely including the Samaritan revolts, when Byzantine reprisals did not always distinguish between Samaritan and Jewish communities, affecting places such as ''Husifah'' (modern Isfiya) and Horvat Sumaqa.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dar|first=Shimon|year=1988|title=Horvat Sumaqa - Settlement from the Roman and Byzantine Periods in the Carmel|journal=Bulletin of the Anglo-Israel Archaeological Society|volume=8|pages=45–46}}</ref>

===Ancient agriculture: olive oil and wine=== Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mount Carmel.<ref name=Biblica>Cheyne and Black, ''Encyclopedia Biblica''</ref><ref name=JEnc>''Jewish encyclopedia''</ref>

===As a strategic location=== ====Hebrew Bible==== thumb|Promontory and convent of Mount Carmel Due to the lush vegetation on the sloped hillside, and many caves on the steeper side, Carmel became the haunt of criminals.<ref name=Biblica/> Thickly-wooded Carmel was seen as a hiding place, as implied by the Book of Amos.<ref name=Biblica/><ref>{{Bibleverse||Amos|9:3}}</ref> According to the Books 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.<ref>{{Bibleverse|2|Kings|2:25}}</ref> This does not necessarily imply that Elisha had sought asylum there from any potential backlash,<ref name=Biblica/> 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.<ref>''Jewish Encyclopedia'', ''Books of Kings''</ref><ref>''Jewish Encyclopedia'', ''Book of Amos''</ref>

==== Ottoman period ==== During the Ottoman Period, Mount Carmel was part of Turabay Emirate (1517–1683), which encompassed also the Jezreel Valley, Haifa, Jenin, Beit She'an Valley, northern Jabal Nablus, Bilad al-Ruha/Ramot Menashe, and the northern part of the Sharon plain.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=al-Bakhīt |first1=Muḥammad ʻAdnān |last2=al-Ḥamūd |first2=Nūfān Rajā |title=Daftar mufaṣṣal nāḥiyat Marj Banī ʻĀmir wa-tawābiʻihā wa-lawāḥiqihā allatī kānat fī taṣarruf al-Amīr Ṭarah Bāy sanat 945 ah |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/28579982 |access-date=2023-05-15 |website=www.worldcat.org |publisher=Jordanian University |pages=1–35 |language=en |publication-place=Amman |publication-date=1989}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |title=Lajjun: Forgotten Provincial Capital in Ottoman Palestine |url=https://www.academia.edu/101515579 |journal=Levant |date=2023 |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=218–241 |doi=10.1080/00758914.2023.2202484|s2cid=258602184 }}</ref>

The Druze 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 ancient ''Huseife'', now Isfiya 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 of Ibrahim Pasha's army.''<ref name=":03">{{Cite book |last=Grossman |first=David |title=Arab Demography and Early Jewish Settlement in Palestine: Distribution and Population Density during the Late Ottoman and Early Mandate Periods |publisher=The Hebrew University Magness Press, Jerusalem |year=2004 |isbn=978-965-493-184-7 |location=Jerusalem |pages=157–158 |language=he}}</ref>''

====World War I==== During World War I, Mount Carmel played a significant strategic role. The Battle of Megiddo took place at the head of a pass through the Carmel Ridge, which overlooks the Valley of Jezreel from the south. General Edmund Allenby led the British in the battle, which was a turning point in the war against the Ottoman Empire. The Jezreel Valley had played host to many battles before, including the historically very significant Battle 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 in artillery and munitions.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mark |first1=Joshua |title=Thutmose III at The Battle of Megiddo |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1101/thutmose-iii-at-the-battle-of-megiddo |website=worldhistory.org |date=24 July 2017 |access-date=20 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230214205813/https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1101/thutmose-iii-at-the-battle-of-megiddo/ |archive-date=14 February 2023}}</ref>

== As a sacred location ==

=== Within Canaanite, Phoenician, and Syncretic Hellenistic Traditions === In ancient Canaanite religion, ''high places'' were frequently considered to be sacred, and Mount Carmel appears to have been no exception.<ref name="Biblica" /> Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III lists a ''holy headland'' among his Canaanite territories, and if this equates to Carmel, as Egyptologists such as Maspero believe, then it would indicate that the mountain headland was considered sacred from at least the 15th century BCE.<ref name="Biblica" />

In antiquity, Mount Carmel appears to have been a major center for worship of the Semitic storm god Hadad (Ba'al, Baalshamin).<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|title=Mount Carmel and the God of Baalbek|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27924471|journal=Israel Exploration Journal|date=1952|issn=0021-2059|pages=118–124|volume=2|issue=2|first=M.|last=Avi-Yonah}}</ref> In 1952, archaeologist Michael Avi-Yonah published a Greek inscription carved on a sculpted leg discovered at Carmel, reading "To Heliopolitan Zeus of Carmel."<ref name=":0" /> This deity is the Greco-Roman form of Hadad, the Ba'al of Baalbek (also known in classical antiquity as Heliopolis).<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref name=":0" />

Classical writers describe an oracle on the mountain, which the Greeks identified with Zeus.<ref name=":0" /> Iamblichus describes Pythagoras visiting the mountain on account of its reputation for sacredness, stating that it was ''the most holy of all mountains, and access was forbidden to many'', while Suetonius states that there was an oracle situated there, which Vespasian visited for a consultation;<ref>Suetonius ''Vespasian'' 5.6</ref> Tacitus states that there was an altar there, but without any image upon it, and without a temple around it.<ref>Tacitus ''Histories'' 2.78.</ref> The existence of a pagan temple on Mount Carmel is supported by the ''Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax'', a fourth century periplus that mentions Mount Carmel as the "mount and temple of Zeus".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Safrai|first=Ze'ev|title=Seeking out the Land: Land of Israel Traditions in Ancient Jewish, Christian and Samaritan Literature (200 BCE - 400 CE)|date=2018|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-33482-3|location=Boston|chapter=Jewish and Christian Sacred Sites in the Holy Land|oclc=1045023033}}</ref>

=== Israelites and Hebrew Bible ===

==== Altar to God ==== According to the Books of Kings, there was an altar to God on the mountain, which had fallen into ruin by the time of Ahab, but Elijah built a new one ({{Bibleverse|1|Kings|18:30-32}}).

==== Elijah ==== In mainstream Jewish, Christian, and Islamic<ref name="Biblica" /> thought, Elijah is indelibly associated with the mountain, and he is regarded as having sometimes resided in a grotto on the mountain. Indeed, one Arabic name for Mount Carmel is جبل مار إلياس (''Jabal Mar Elyas'', lit. "Mount of Saint Elias"). In the Books of Kings, Elijah challenges 450 prophets of ''Baal'' to a contest at the altar on Mount Carmel to determine whose deity was genuinely in control of the Kingdom of Israel. The role of the mountain in this story reflects its status as sacred.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lemche |first=Niels Peter |title=Historical dictionary of ancient Israel |date=2004 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-4848-1 |series=Historical dictionaries of ancient civilizations and historical eras |location=Lanham, Md. |pages=90 |quote=}}</ref> As the narrative is set during the rule of Ahab and his association with the Phoenicians, biblical scholars suspect that the ''Baal'' in question was probably Melqart.<ref>''Peake's commentary on the Bible''</ref> 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.<ref name=":0" />

According to chapter 18 of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew 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 the Israelite 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's idolatry.

Though there is no biblical reason to assume that the account of Elijah's victory refers to any particular part of Mount Carmel,<ref name=Biblica/> Islamic tradition places it at a point known as ''El-Maharrakah'' or rather '''''El-Muhraqa''''', meaning ''the burning''.<ref name=JEnc/>

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 river Kishon, at the mountain base, in an amphitheater-like flat area. The site where the offering took place is traditionally placed on the mountain above Yokneam, on the road to the Druze village of Daliyat 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bizisrael.com/tour/5-must-visit-sites-haifa-tour/|title=Tour Haifa: 5 Must-Visit Sites in Haifa|last=BI|first=Editor|date=2018-11-29|publisher=Biz Israel}}</ref> (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.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Mount Carmel|url = http://www.jewishmag.com/102mag/mtcarmel/mtcarmel.htm|website =The Jewish Magazine |access-date = 2016-01-30}}</ref>

Druze venerate Elijah, and he is considered a central figure in Druzism,<ref name="Historical Dictionary of the Druzes">{{cite book|title=Historical Dictionary of the Druzes| first=Samy|last= Swayd|year= 2015| isbn= 9781442246171| page = 77|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|quote=}}</ref> and due to his importance in Druzism, 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 and Isfiya.<ref name="Historical Dictionary of the Druzes"/>

=== Carmelites (12th century – present) === [[File:97600 stella maris monastery PikiWiki Israel.jpg|thumbnail|right|Stella Maris Monastery in Haifa]] A Catholic religious order was founded on Mount Carmel in 1209, named the Carmelites, in reference to the mountain range; the founder of the Carmelites is still unknown (d.1265).<ref>James Hitchcock, History of the Catholic Church, San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012, p.155.</ref> 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|date=January 2020}}

Although Louis IX of France is sometimes named as the founder, he was not, and had merely visited it in 1252.<ref name=JEnc />

==== Stella Maris site ==== [[File:Grotto of Elijah, Mt Carmel.jpg|thumb|According to Carmelite tradition, the crypt of the Stella 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, {{convert|1700|ft|m}} above sea level at the northwestern end of the mountain range.<ref name=Biblica/>

Though there is no documentary evidence to support it, Carmelite tradition suggests that a community of Jewish hermits had lived at the site from the time of Elijah until the Carmelites were founded there; prefixed to the Carmelite Constitution of 1281 was the claim that from the time when Elijah and Elisha had ''dwelt devoutly on Mount Carmel'', priests and prophets, Jewish and Christian, had lived "praiseworthy lives in holy penitence" adjacent to the site of the "fountain of Elisha"{{dubious|1. There are two caves, one at Stella Maris and one close-by, now used only as a synagogue but with a stronger tradition, including for Christians and Muslims. 2. A spring is near Muhraqa, at the peak at the other end of of the mountain, but none near Stella Maris - VERY confusing!|date=January 2020}} in an uninterrupted succession.{{dubious|Which site is which, Stella Maris at the NW end with the cave and overlooking the sea, or Muhraqa at the E & on the highest peak?|date=January 2020}}{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

A Carmelite monastery was founded at the site shortly after the Order itself was created, and was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of "Star of the Sea" ("stella maris" in Latin), a common medieval presentation of her.<ref name=Biblica/>

The Carmelite Order grew to be one of the major Catholic religious orders worldwide, although the monastery at Carmel has had a less successful history. During the Crusades the monastery often changed hands, frequently being converted into a mosque.<ref name=JEnc/> In 1799 the building was finally converted into a hospital, by Napoleon, but in 1821 the surviving structure was destroyed by the pasha of Damascus.<ref name=JEnc/> A new monastery was later constructed directly over a nearby cave, after funds were collected by the Carmelite Order for restoration of the monastery.<ref name=JEnc/> The cave, which now forms the crypt of the monastic church, is termed "Elijah's grotto" by the Discalced Carmelite friars who have custody of the monastery.<ref name=JEnc/>

==== El-Muhraqa site ==== [[File:48.El-Mohraka (site du Sacrifice d'Elie.) .jpg|thumb|El-Mohraka, in the 1850s, as depicted by van de Velde]] Under Islamic 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.<ref name=JEnc/> This, perhaps not coincidentally, is also the highest natural point of the mountain range.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

==== The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel ==== One of the oldest scapulars is associated with Mount Carmel and the Carmelites. According to Carmelite tradition, the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was first given to St. Simon Stock, an English Carmelite, by the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Carmelites refer to her under the title "Our Lady of Mount Carmel", and celebrate 16 July as her feast day.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

=== Baháʼí Faith === [[File:TerracesBenGurion2.jpg|thumb|The Shrine of the Báb and its Terraces on Mount Carmel, 2004]] Mount Carmel is considered a sacred place for followers of the Baháʼí Faith, and is the location of the Baháʼí World Centre and the Shrine 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 the Ottoman Empire during the Ottoman Empire's rule over Palestine.

The Shrine of the Báb is a structure where the remains of the Báb, the founder of Bábism 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,<ref name=gold>{{cite news | title=Golden anniversary of the Queen of Carmel |url= http://news.bahai.org/story/252 | publisher=Baháʼí World News Service. | date=2003-10-12 | access-date=2007-05-12}}</ref> and a series of decorative terraces around the shrine were completed in 2001. The white marbles used were from the same ancient source that most Athenian masterpieces were using, the Penteliko Mountain.

Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, writing in the ''Tablet of Carmel'', designated the area around the shrine as the location for the administrative headquarters of the religion; the Baháʼí administrative buildings were constructed adjacent to the decorative terraces, and are referred to as ''the Arc'', on account of their physical arrangement.

=== Ahmadiyya Muslims === The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has its largest Israeli mosque on Mount Carmel, in the Kababir quarter of Haifa, known as the Mahmood Mosque. It is a unique structure with two minarets.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tour-haifa.co.il/eng/modules/article/view.article.php/c12/67|title=Holy Sites in Haifa|publisher=Tour-Haifa|access-date=18 November 2010|archive-date=20 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620040415/http://www.tour-haifa.co.il/eng/modules/article/view.article.php/c12/67|url-status=dead}}</ref> The mosque was once visited by the president of Israel, Shimon Peres, for an iftar dinner.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKC-m6pq4Uo|title=Shimon Peres visits Ahmadiyya Mosque in Kababir Israel|date=30 March 2009 |publisher=youtube|access-date=4 December 2010}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}}</ref>

==Gallery== {{wide image|Abreekpano.jpg|1000px|A panorama of the Carmel mountain range}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} {{Wikiquote}} * [http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/biores.asp?mode=all&code=ISR+01 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves Directory] * [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1393 UNESCO World Heritage List] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120705160545/http://www.bibleplaces.com/mtcarmel.htm Mount Carmel] – BiblePlaces.com, pictures and text illuminating the biblical site (archived 5 July 2012) * [https://www.carmelholylanddco.org/ Carmel Holy Land], the website of the Carmelite monastery at the traditional site of Elijah's confrontation with the priests of Baal.

Category:Mount Carmel Category:Books of Kings locations Carmel Category:Biosphere reserves of Israel Category:Carmelite spirituality Category:Geography of Haifa Carmel Category:History of Haifa Carmel Category:Our Lady of Mount Carmel Category:Religious buildings and structures in Haifa Carmel Carmel