CARMEL. In Palestine, a well-defined mountain ridge ("gar den orchard"; Arab. Jebel Mar Elyds, Elijah's Mount), wedge shaped, running north-west-south-east, with a length of some 15 m. and an extreme breadth of about 81 m. where it meets the Samarian hills, its thin end projecting into the sea to form a head land south of the Bay of Acre. Of the same limestone formation as the central range of Palestine it suggests a buttress thrust forth to the Mediterranean plain. In the middle it attains an altitude of about 1,800 feet. On its south-west side it subsides gently in ridges and valleys to the plain of Sharon whilst above Haifa and Esdrae lon the descent is more rapid. The line of its ridge against the sky can be seen from sea and land over a wide radius. Carmel is covered with a wild and luxuriant vegetation. Forests of oak, groves of olive trees and extensive vineyards flourished there of old. The hill was a sanctuary and its many caves and thick under growth afforded security to robbers and outcasts (Strabo xvi. 759). The mountain is mentioned in the conquest lists of Thutmose III. and in the Amarna letters but its place in history is small. Throughout the ages the waves of innumerable military enterprises have surged past its base to break elsewhere. The route naturally followed led along the sea coast or through the defiles in the lower slopes at its southern end, linking the plains of Sharon and Esdraelon. In 1479 B.C. Thutmose III. led his chariots and horsemen to Megiddo by the same defile through which Lord Allenby thrust cavalry and armoured cars in 1918.
The territories of Asher, Zebulun, Issachar and Manasseh met at Carmel but the possession of the mount was never apparently determined. Somewhere on Carmel's top was the scene of Elijah's dramatic challenge resulting in Yahweh's vindication and the complete discomfiture of Baal and his prophets (I Kings 18). Tradition and a consensus of enlightened opinion have fixed the site at El-Muhraka ("the burning") on the southern half of the ridge a short distance south-east of Es f iya.
Carmel was evidently sacred both to Yahweh and Baal and according to Scylax (Periplus. 42) it was sacred to Jupiter in the days of Darius (6th century B.e.). Tacitus (Hist. ii., 78) speaks of its oracle beside an altar and remarks on the absence of any divine image. The philosopher Pythagoras went to "the sacred place of Carmel" to meditate (Iamblichus, Vit. Pytle. 5) ; Vespasian when nourishing secret designs before his aggran disement was confirmed in his hopes by consulting its oracle (Suetonius. Vesp. 5). An ideal retreat, the mount attracted Christian anchorites from early times. As early as 57o there is record of a "Monastery of Elisha the Prophet." The Order of Carmelites was founded in 1156 and the monastery then built, situated at the north-west extremity of the ridge, suffered many changes of fortune during the Crusades. A new monastery to "Our Lady of Mount Carmel" was erected in 1767 and used by Napoleon as a hospital for his soldiers. On his retirement it was burned down. The present building was erected in 1827. The graveyard, with its memorial to Napoleon's soldiers who died there, was desecrated by the Turks during the World War, but a new monument was set up by the French navy in 1919. The Turks posted guns there for the defence of Haifa. They were taken in a charge along the ridge by the Mysore Lancers and the Sherwood Rangers (Sept. 22, 1918) . Carmel is included in the re-afforestation scheme of the Palestine Government.