Mount Carmel
Mount Carmel Hebrew: הר הכרמל‎ Karem El/Har Ha'Karmel Arabic Kurmul/Jabal Mar Elyas
Mountain Range
The Carmel Range has a diverse landscape
Name origin: Literally: Plantation of high quality trees
Country	Israel
District	Haifa
Highest point
- elevation	525. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Haifa District (מחוז חיפה Mehoz Ḥeifa) is an administrative district surrounding the city of Haifa, Israel. 4 m (1,724 ft)
Length	39 km (24 mi)
Width	8 km (5 mi)
Geology	Limestone and flint
Plant	Oak, pine, olive tree, and laurel

A view of Mount Carmel in 1894

University of Haifa atop Mount Carmel in 1996

Mount Carmel (Hebrew: הר הכרמל‎ Karem El/Har Ha'Karmel; Arabic Kurmul/Jabal Mar Elyas) is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel and the West Bank, stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language A mountain range is a chain of Mountains bordered by highlands or separated from other mountains by passes or valleys For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. The West Bank (الضفة الغربية, הגדה המערבית Hagadah Hamaaravit) also referred to in Israel as " Judea and Samaria Its name literally means plantation of high quality trees, roughly equivalent to the garden, in reference to the richly fertile character of the hillside. ^[1][2][3] The range was traditionally known as the vineyards of God, and archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations within it. Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos ^[1] The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve and a number of towns are located upon it, most notably is the city of Haifa which is Israel's third largest city and is located on the northern slopes. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 A biosphere reserve is an international Conservation designation given by UNESCO under its Programme on Haifa (חֵיפָה; حَيْفَا) is the largest City in Northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country with

Geography and geology

The phrase Mount Carmel has been used in three distinct ways:^[1]

• To refer to the 39-km-long (24-mile long) mountain range, stretching as far in the southeast as Jenin. Jenin ( Arabic:; ג'נין a city in the West Bank 's Jenin Governorate, is a major Palestinian agricultural center
• To refer to the northwestern 19 km (12 miles) of the mountain range.
• To refer to the headland at the northwestern end of the range. A headland is an area of land adjacent to water on three sides

The Carmel range is approximately 6. 5 to 8 km (4 to 5 miles) wide, sloping gradually towards the southwest, but forming a steep ridge on the northeastern face, 525. 4 m (1,742 feet) high. ^[2] The Jezreel Valley lies to the immediate northeast. The Jezreel Valley (עמק יזרעאל Emek Yizrael) is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the south of the Lower Galilee region of Israel 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 has had a large impact on migration and invasions through the Levant over time. ^[1] The mountain formation is an admixture of limestone and flint, containing many caves, and covered in several volcanic rocks. Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 Flint (or flintstone) is a hard sedimentary Cryptocrystalline form of the Mineral Quartz, categorized as a variety of Chert ^[2][1] The sloped side of the mountain is covered with luxuriant vegetation, including oak, pine, olive, and laurel trees. The term oak can be used as part of the common name of any of about 400 species of Trees and Shrubs in the Genus Quercus (from Latin This article is about the tree For other uses of the term "pine" see Pine (disambiguation. The Olive ( Olea europaea) is a Species of small Tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern ^[2]

Several modern towns are located on the range, including Yokneam on the eastern ridge, Zikhron Ya'aqov on the southern slope, the Druze town of Carmel City 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. Yokneam (יָקְנְעָם also transliterated Yoqne'am) is a small city council southeast of Haifa in northern Israel. The Druze ( Arabic: درزي derzī or durzī, plural دروز durūz) are a religious community found primarily in Syria, Lebanon Carmel City (עיר הכרמל Ir HaKarmel, مدينة الكرمل Madīnat al-Karmel) is a City in the Haifa District of Israel Nesher (נֶשֶׁר is a city in the Haifa District in Israel. Tirat Carmel, or Tirat HaCarmel (טִירַת כַּרְמֶל is a city in the Haifa District in Israel. Haifa (חֵיפָה; حَيْفَا) is the largest City in Northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country with A promontory is a prominent mass of land which overlooks lower lying land or a body of water (when it may be called a Peninsula or headland) There is also a small kibbutz called Bet Oren, which is located on one of the highest points in the range to the southeast of Haifa.

Paleolithic history

Between 1930 to 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^[4]. Professor Dorothy Annie Elizabeth Garrod ( 5 May, 1892 &ndash 18 December, 1968) was a British Archaeologist who was the Tabun Cave located at Mount Carmel, Israel was occupied intermittently during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic ages (half a million to some 40000 years ago Es Skhul (meaning kids ' is a cave site situated c 20 kilometers south of the Israeli town of Haifa, and c 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^[5]. The Neanderthal (neɪˈændərtɑːl also with /niː-/ and /-θɔːl/ or Neandertal, is an extinct member of the Homo genus that is known from The excavation at el-Tabun produced the longest stratigraphic record in the region, spanning 600,000 or more years of human activity^[6], from the Lower Paleolithic to the present day, representing roughly a million years of human evolution^[7]. Stratigraphy, a branch of Geology, studies rock layers and layering ( stratification) Human evolution, or anthropogenesis, is the part of biological Evolution concerning the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct Species There are also several well-preserved burials of Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens Sapiens) and passage from nomadic hunter-gatherer groups to complex, sedentary agricultural societies is extensively documented at the site. Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus 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. "[1]

As a strategic location

Due to the lush vegetation on the sloped hillside, and many caves on the steeper side, Carmel became the haunt of criminals^[1]; Carmel was seen as a place offering an escape from Yahweh, as implied by the Book of Amos. For information about Yahweh see God in Abrahamic religions, which provides useful links The Book of Amos is one of the books of the Nevi'im (Hebrew "prophets" and of the Christian Old Testament. ^[8][1] According to the Book of Kings, Elisha travelled to Carmel straight after he had arranged for 42 young men to be killed, merely because they had mocked his baldness^[9]; (The noun na'ar always refers to males but can include different ages). Elisha ( Greek el Ελισσαίος Elisaios) is a Biblical prophet This does not necessarily imply that Elisha had sought asylum there from any potential backlash,^[1] 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 Book of Kings^[10][11], and according to Strabo it had continued to be a place of refuge until at least the first century^[12]. Strabo ( Greek: Στράβων 63/64 BC – ca AD 24 was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.

According to Epiphanius^[13], and Josephus^[14], Mount Carmel had been the stronghold of the Essenes that came from a place in Galilee named Nazareth; though this Essene group are sometimes consequently referred to as Nazareans, they are not to be confused with the "Nazarene" sect, which followed the teachings of Jesus, but associated with the Pharisees. Epiphanius (ca 310&ndash320 &ndash 403 was bishop of Salamis and metropolitan of Cyprus at the end of the 4th century AD Josephus (AD 37 – c 100 also known as Yosef Ben Matityahu (Joseph son of Matthias and after he became a Roman citizen, as Titus Flavius Josephus The Essenes were strictly speaking a Jewish religious group that flourished from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD "Galil" redirects here For the weapon see IMI Galil. Galilee (הגליל ha-Galil, lit the province, Nazareth (ˈnæzərəθ (נָצְרַת Hebrew Natz'rat or Natzeret, الناصرة an-Nāṣira or an-Naseriyye) is the capital and largest Not to be confused with Nasoraeans The Nazarene sect ( Ναζωραίων from Hebrew נזרים) were an early Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) The word Pharisees ( lat. pharisæ|us, - i) comes from the Hebrew פרושים perushim from פרוש parush, meaning "separated" Members of the modern American groups claiming to be Essenes, but viewed by scholars as having no ties to the historical group^[15], treat Mount Carmel as having great religious significance on account of the protection it afforded to the historic Essene group.

During World War I, Mount Carmel played a significant strategic role. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The (20th century) Battle of Megiddo took place at the head of a pass through the Carmel Ridge, which overlooks the Valley of Jezreel from the south. The Battle of Megiddo of September 19 - 21, 1918, and its subsequent exploitation was the culminating victory in British General Carmel Ridge is a Ridge of land running southeastwards into Israel from Haifa on the Mediterranean coast and Mount Carmel near the The Jezreel Valley (עמק יזרעאל Emek Yizrael) is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the south of the Lower Galilee region of Israel General Allenby led the British in the battle, which was the turning point in the war against the Ottoman Empire. Field Marshal Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby 1st Viscount Allenby GCB GCMG GCVO ( April 23 1861 - May 14 1936 The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish The Jezreel Valley had played host to many battles before, including the very historically significant Battle of Megiddo between the Egyptians and Canaanites, but it was only in the 20th century battle that the Carmel Ridge itself having a significance in the battle, due to the developments in munitions. The Battle of Megiddo ( 15th century BC) was fought between Egyptian forces under the command of Pharaoh Thutmose III and a large This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Ammunition, often referred to as ammo, is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which

As a sacred location

In ancient Canaanite culture, high places were frequently considered to be sacred, and Mount Carmel appears to have been no exception; 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 BC. Thutmose III (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis III and meaning Thoth is Born) was the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Egyptology (from Egypt and Greek grc -λογία -logia. علم المصريات مصر شناسی is a major field of Archaeology Gaston Camille Charles Maspero ( June 23, 1846 &ndash June 30, 1916) was a French Egyptologist. ^[1] According to the Books of Kings, there was an altar to Yahweh on the mountain, which had fallen into ruin by the time of Ahab, but was rebuilt by Elijah^[16]. For information about Yahweh see God in Abrahamic religions, which provides useful links Ahab (or Ach'av or) was king of Israel and the son and successor of Omri ( 1 Kings 1629-34 Elijah or Elias ( was a Prophet in Israel in the 9th century BC 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 Tacitus states that there was an oracle situated there, which Vespasian visited for a consultation;^[2] Tacitus states that there was an altar there,^[1] but without any image upon it,^[1][2] and without a temple around it. "Pythagoras of Samos" redirects here For the Samian statuary of the same name see Pythagoras (sculptor. Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (ca 56 &ndash ca 117 was a senator and a Historian of the Roman Empire. An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion an Infallible authority usually spiritual in nature Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian ( November 17 9 &ndash June 23 79) was a Roman Emperor who ^[2]

Elijah

The Grotto of Elijah.

In mainstream Jewish, Christian, and Islamic^[1] thought, it is Elijah that is indelibly associated with the mountain, and he is regarded as having sometimes resided in a grotto on the mountain. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. A grotto (Italian grotta) is any type of natural or artificial Cave that is associated with modern historic or prehistoric use by humans In the Books of Kings, Elijah is described as challenging 450 prophets of a particular Baal to a contest at the altar on Mount Carmel to determine whose deity was genuinely in control of the Kingdom of Israel; since 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^[17]. Ba'al (pronounced; Hebrew בעל (ordinarily spelled Baal in English is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" The Kingdom of Israel ( ( KJV Israel in Samaria) was one of the successor states to the older United Monarchy (also often called the 'Kingdom of Israel' Ahab (or Ach'av or) was king of Israel and the son and successor of Omri ( 1 Kings 1629-34 Phoenicia ( Phoenician: Phoenician nunsvg|12px|נ]]Phoenician nun This article is about the academic treatment of the bible as a historical document Melqart, properly Phoenician Milk-Qart "King of the City" less accurately Melkart, Melkarth

According to the biblical account, the challenge was to persuade a deity, light a sacrifice by fire, and after the others had failed to achieve this, Elijah poured water on his sacrifice, prostrated himself in prayer, and the fire fell from the sky, and consumed the sacrifice^[18]; shortly afterwards, in the account, clouds gather, the sky turns black, and it rains heavily^[19]. Scholars think that the account represents a more legendary description^[1] of a storm, during which the altar on Mount Carmel was struck by lightning^[20]; rather than a prayer for fire, scholars think that the account of Elijah's actions at the altar actually describes a rain-making ritual^[21]. Lightning is an atmospheric discharge of Electricity, which typically occurs during Thunderstorms and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or

Though there is no biblical reason to assume that the account of Elijah's victory refers to any particular part of Mount Carmel,^[1] Islamic tradition places it at a point known as El-Maharrakah, meaning the burning. ^[2] In 1958, archaeologists discovered something on the mountain range that resembled an altar, which they assumed must have been Elijah's altar.

Carmelites

A statue of Elijah in the crypt of the monastery on Mount Carmel. According to Carmelite tradition, the crypt was originally the Cave of Elijah

A Catholic religious order was founded on Mount Carmel in the 12th century, named the Carmelites, in reference to the mountain range; the founder was a certain Berthold (who died at an unknown point after 1185), who was either a pilgrim or crusader. The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites (sometimes simply Carmel by Synecdoche; Latin: Ordo fratrum Beatæ Saint Bertold of Mount Carmel (also known as Bartoldus of Calabria) was born in Limoges in south west France. A pilgrim is one who undertakes a Pilgrimage, literally 'far afield' The Crusades were a series of military campaigns of a religious character waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents The order was founded at the site that it claimed had once been the location of Elijah's cave, 1700 feet above sea level at the northwestern end of the mountain range;^[1] this, perhaps not coincidentally, is also the highest natural point of the entire mountain range. 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, in an uninterrupted succession. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ A hermit (from the Greek ἔρημος erēmos, signifying " Desert " "uninhabited" hence "desert-dweller" adjective "eremitic" Penance is repentance of Sins as well as the proper name of the Catholic and Orthodox Christian Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation/Confession

A Carmelite monastery was founded at the site shortly after the order itself was created, and was dedicated to Mary, in her aspect of Star of the Sea (stella maris in Latin) - a common medieval presentation of Mary;^[1] although Louis IX (of France) is commonly referred to as the founder, he was not, and had merely visited it in 1252. The Stella Maris Carmelite Monastery in Haifa, Israel is a 19th-century monastery located on the slopes of Mount Carmel. This ecumenical article is about general Christian views on and veneration of the Virgin Mary Our Lady Star of the Sea is an ancient title for the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. ^[3] The Carmelite order grew to be one of the major Catholic religious orders worldwide, although the monastery at Carmel had a less successful history. A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion usually During the Crusades the monastery frequently changed hands, frequently finding itself to have become a mosque^[3]; under Islamic control, the location came to be known as El-Maharrakah, meaning place of burning, in reference to the account of Elijah's challenge to the priests of Hadad. The Crusades were a series of military campaigns of a religious character waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents A "mosque" in English refers to all types of buildings dedicated for Islamic worship although there is a distinction in Arabic between the smaller privately owned mosque and the larger For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. ^[3] 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. A hospital is an institution for Health care providing treatment by specialised staff and equipment and often but not always providing for Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. Pasha or pacha, formerly bashaw, (paşa پاشا ( Persian: پاشا ( Armenian: Փաշա was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire Damascus ( دمشق,, also commonly known as الشام ash-Shām) is the capital and largest city of Syria. ^[3] A new monastery was later constructed directly over a nearby cave, after funds were collected by the Carmelite order for restoration of the monastery^[3]; the cave, which now forms the crypt of the monastic church, is termed Elijah's grotto by the monks. In terms of European architecture a crypt (from the Latin crypta and the Greek κρυπτη, kryptē) is a stone chamber or ^[3]

One of the oldest scapulars is associated with Mount Carmel, and the Carmelites. For the shoulder bone see the article Scapula. A scapular (from Latin scapula, shoulder is a length of According to Carmelite legend, the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was first given to Simon Stock, an English Carmelite, by Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (also known as the Brown Scapular) is by far the best known most celebrated and most widespread Saint Simon Stock (born c 1165 died 16 May 1265) was according to Carmelite tradition the English Carmelite to whom the Brown Scapular England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The Carmelites sometimes refer to Mary as Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in honour of the legend, and celebrate a feast day dedicated to her in this guise, on the 16 July. Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a Title given to Mary the mother of Jesus, in honor of her having given the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel to Saint Events 622 - The beginning of the Islamic calendar. 1054 - Three Roman legates fractured relations between the Western and

Bahá'í Faith

The Shrine of the Báb and its Terraces on Mount Carmel, 2004. The Shrine of the Báb is a structure in Haifa, Israel where the remains of the Báb, founder of Bábism and forerunner of Bahá'u'lláh

Mount Carmel is considered a sacred place for Bahá'ís around the world, and is the location of the Bahá'í World Centre and the Shrine of the Báb. The Bahá'í Faith is a Religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in nineteenth-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind The Bahá'í World Centre is the name given to the administrative centre of the Bahá'í Faith. The Shrine of the Báb is a structure in Haifa, Israel where the remains of the Báb, founder of Bábism and forerunner of Bahá'u'lláh The location of the Bahá'í holy places has its roots to the imprisonment of the religion's founder, Bahá'u'lláh, near Haifa by the Ottoman Empire during the Ottoman Empire's rule over Palestine. Bahá'u'lláh ( ba-haa-ol-laa "Glory of God" ( November 12, 1817 – May 29, 1892) born Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí Nuri The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.

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 Bahá'í Faith, have been laid to rest. Siyyid `Alí Muḥammad ( ( October 20, 1819 – July 9, 1850) was the founder of Bábism, and one of three central figures of the Bábism () is a religious movement that flourished in Persia from 1844 to 1852 then lingered on in exile in the Ottoman Empire (especially Cyprus) as Bahá'u'lláh ( ba-haa-ol-laa "Glory of God" ( November 12, 1817 – May 29, 1892) born Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí Nuri The Bahá'í Faith is a Religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in nineteenth-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind 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. Events 630 - Byzantine emperor Heraclius restores the True Cross to Jerusalem. Year 1909 ( MCMIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting The construction of the shrine with a golden dome was completed over the mausoleum in 1953,^[22] and a series of decorative terraces around the shrine were completed in 2001. The Terraces of the Bahá'í Faith, also known as the Hanging Gardens of Haifa, are garden terraces that form nine above and nine below the Shrine of the

Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, writing in the Tablet of Carmel, designated the area around the shrine as the location for the administrative headquarters of the religion; the Bahá'í administrative buildings were constructed adjacent to the decorative terraces, and are referred to as the Arc, on account of their physical arrangement. Bahá'u'lláh ( ba-haa-ol-laa "Glory of God" ( November 12, 1817 – May 29, 1892) born Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí Nuri The Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh Revealed After the Kitáb-i-Aqdas are selected tablets written by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith The Bahá'í World Centre is the name given to the administrative centre of the Bahá'í Faith. The Arc, in a Bahá'í context is a number of administrative buildings at the Bahá'í World Centre on Mount Carmel located at Haifa,

Citations and notes

External links

• Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
• Mount Carmel - BiblePlaces.com, pictures and text illuminating the biblical site of Mount Carmel
• From Mount Carmel to Mount Ecclesia, a Christian view from the Rosicrucians