Mount Carmel, also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias (lit. Mount Saint
Elias/Elijah), is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from
the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast.
A number of towns are situated there, most notably the city of Haifa, Israel's
third largest city, located on the northern and western slopes.
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Viewpoint over the city of Haifa on Yefe Nof Street.
This viewpoint is above the Bahaʼi Garden.
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The Shrine of the Bab and its Terraces on Mount Carmel.
The Bahaʼi Terraces, or the Hanging Gardens of Haifa, are garden
terraces on Mount Carmel in Haifa.
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Completed in 2001, there are 19 terraces and more than 1,500 steps
ascending the mountain.
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The central terrace has the Shrine of the Bab, one of the main
religious sites of the Bahaʼi Faith.
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See more at
Terraces (Baháʼí) - Wikipedia.
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Discalced Carmelite Monastery in Muhraqa.
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.
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This, perhaps not coincidentally, is also the highest natural point of
the mountain range.
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Carmel mountain range.
In ancient Canaanite culture, high places were frequently considered to
be sacred, and Mount Carmel appears to have been no exception; 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.
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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 (1 Kings 18:30–32).
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In mainstream Jewish, Christian, and Islamic thought, Elijah is
indelibly associated with the mountain, and he is regarded as having
sometimes resided in a grotto on the mountain.
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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.
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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; Tacitus states that there was an altar there, but
without any image upon it, and without a temple around it.
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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). 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.
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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.
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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.
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See also
Source
Location
