CARMEL - A hilly promontory, rising to over 1800 feet, by which the sea-coast of Palestine is broken, forming the south side of the Bay of Acre (modern Jebel Kurmul, Jebel Mar Elyas). It continues as a ridge running in a SE. direction, bordering the plain of Jezreel on the south. On this ridge was Jokneam, reduced by Joshua (Jos.12.22). The promontory was included in the territory assigned to Asher (Jos.19.26). Elijah chose Carmel as the scene of the trial of strength between Yahweh and Baal, possibly because it was so near Phoenicia, Jezebel's homeland. His sacrifice (1 K.18) is located by tradition at the SE. extremity of the ridge. Elisha had his headquarters at Carmel for a time, and it was a place of festal resort for Israelites (2 K.2.25, 4.25). Its beauty and fruitfulness were proverbial (Is.33.9, 35.2, Am.1.2); it was well-wooded (Mic.7.14) and was therefore a good hiding-place (Am.9.3). A maiden's head is compared to Carmel (Ca.7.5).
Caves at the foot of Mount Carmel have yielded human remains representing apparently an intermediate or hybrid stage between palaeanthropic man (Homo neanderthalensis) and neanthropic man (Homo sapiens). From early times it was a holy place. In lists of Palestinian place-names in the records of Thothmes III. and later Egyptian kings it is probably Carmel that is meant by Rosh Qadesh ('holy headland'). There was a sanctuary of Yahweh there before Elijah's time, for he repaired Yahweh's ruined altar (1 K.18.30); there was probably an ancient Baal-sanctuary there too (whether of Baal-Shamem or the Tyrian Melkart is disputed; perhaps they were identified at Carmel), and this, in addition to its geographical situation, made it an eminently suitable place for the ordeal. Its pagan sanctity persisted for long. In Greek times it was sacred to Zeus; a stone foot was discovered in the vicinity a few_ years ago dedicated to 'Zeus Heliopoleites Karmelos.' Strabo (c AD 20) knew it as a place of asylum; Vespasian (AD 69) sacrificed here on the altar of the god 'Carmel' and obtained favourable auspices for his imperial ambitions; Iamblichus (c AD 330) describes the mountain as 'sacred above all mountains and not to be trodden (abaton) by the vulgar.' In later times the mountain gave its name to the order of Carmelite friars (founded 1156). [Article: Dictionary of the Bible, J.Hastings, 2nd Ed., T&T.Clark, 1963. - R.A.S.M. - F.F.B.]