Mount Carmel

The coastline line of Palestine from Egypt northwards is a smooth unbroken line until it is pierced by the only sharp promontory poking abruptly into the sea. The is the headland of Mount Carmel (which is to be distinguished from Carmel). The north shelters the Bay of Acco, with the modern city of Haifa in the armpit of the bay.

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This low mountain range runs from its north-western headland in a south-eastly direction for about 20km. Its width varies from 7 to 12km. It reaches a maximum height of about 550m. Physically this mountain range bisects Palestine into a northern—with the valley of Esdraelon as its most expansive feature—and a southern half, with its open Plains of Sharon.

Composed of limestone, that erodes to a fertile red soil, and located at just the right place to be the first to catch the moist westerlies, this low mountain range is well-known in the Old Testament for its luxuriant vegetation; indeed some commentators think that the name is short for kerem 'el, 'vineyard of god.' This seems to be on the mind of the Song of Songs when it says of the beloved, "Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel. Your hair is a royal tapestry, the king is held captive by its tresses" (Song 7:5). When the redeemed of the Lord returns,

"The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God" (Isa 35:1-2).

Likewise, in times of calamity, "Bashan and Carmel drops their leaves" (Isa 33:1; Nah 1:4).

Mount Carmel, however, is probably better known to readers of the Old Testament as the location of Elijah's fight with the prophets of Baal (1 Ki 18) rather than for its beauty. Though the precise location of the battle cannot be identified, it is little surprising that Elijah should have chosen to meet the enemies of Yahweh worship at the heart of their sanctuary. Egyptian sources were already familiar with Mount Carmel as a sanctuary as far back as the 2rd Mill BC., and when Jezebel and Ahab introduced Baal worship into Israel on such royal expanse, Mount Carmel became a natural sanctuary for their 'god of rain.' Provocatively, Elijah challenged them to answer by fire, after having proved for three long years that Baal could not bring the rain when Yahweh had commanded that there would be none.

Mount Carmel continued to be a sanctuary to various deities after the time of Elijah. Pythagoras, the Greek mathematician, spent time meditating in a temple to Zeus on Mount Carmel in the 4th Cent. BC. The tradition continued into Roman times when Zeus took the name Carmel. Today the most conspicuous religious feature on the mountain is the massive garden, shrine, and tombs of the founders of the Bahai faith that overlook the city of Haifa.