- Mount Carmel (Hebrew: הַר הַכַּרְמֶל, romanized: Har haKarmel; Arabic: جبل الكرمل, romanized: Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias (Arabic: جبل مار إلياس, romanized: Jabal Mār Ilyās, lit. ‘Mount Saint Elias/Elijah’; Hebrew: הַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ אֵלִיָּהוּ, romanized: Har haQadosh Eliyahu), is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. A number of towns are situated there, most notably Haifa, Israel’s third largest city, located on the northern and western slopes.
though on the day you set them out, you make them grow,
and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud,
yet the harvest will be as nothing
in the day of disease and incurable pain.
Isaiah 17:11 NIV
- While most of the sedimentary rock [of Mount Carmel] originates in the late Cretaceous, some of the north east sediments are from the early Cretaceous, and the edges also feature sediments from the Pleistocene.
- The [Mount Carmel] mountain formation is an admixture of limestone and flint, containing many caves, and covered in several volcanic rocks.
- Iamblichus describes Pythagoras visiting the mountain [Mount Carmel] on account of its reputation for sacredness, stating that it was the most holy of all mountains, and access was forbidden to many
- The [Mount] Carmel range is approximately 6.5 to 8 kilometres (4.0 to 5.0 miles) wide, sloping gradually towards the southwest, but forming a steep ridge on the northeastern face, 546 metres (1,791 feet) high.