MOUNT CARMEL
The great attraction of Haifa is Mount Carmel. This
beautiful chain of mountains, in great part of limestone,
stretches from north to south for a distance of about 15 miles,
with a width that varies from 3 to 5 miles. On the north-
west its height scarcely exceeds 990 feet; but in the middle
it readies a height of 1,782 feet, and majestically overlooks
the sea on one side and tlie vast plain of Esdraelon on the
other.
In the Bible it is on one occasion called Carmelus Maris,
(Jos. xix 26),
in order to distinguish it from another mountain of the
same name situated in the south of Palestine.
History.-Carmel served as the boundary of four tribes:
the tribe of Aser towards the north-east, the tribe of
Zabulon and that of Issachar towards the east, and, lastly,
the half-tribe of Manasses to the south.
Carmel means in Hebrew a garden, or a place planted
with trees. In Holy Writ it appears less frequently as a geo-
graphical name than as a metaphor or type of fruitfulness
and beauty. Moreover, its sides, still so verdant, are grooved
by many dales and burrowed by innumerable grottos,
which afforded a safe refuge to those who were flying from
justice or persecution. They explain the words of the
prophet Amos (ix 2-3): " And though they be hid in the
top of Carmel, I will search and take them away from
thence."
What made this mountain for ever renowned was the
sojourn which the prophet Elias made upon it and the
wonders that he wrought there. Carmel even received,
in the language of the people, the name of Jebel Mar Elias,
the Mountain of St Elias.
By the side of the altar of the true God built upon the top
of Carmel there also stood an altar of Baal. Jezabel,
daughter of the King of Sidon and wife of Achab, King of
Israel, had led the mass of the people aside to idolatry.
Elias summoned to Carmel " all Israel " and the prophets
of Baal (450), who ate at Jezabel's table. After demon-
strating the powerlessness of the false god, the prophet
built an altar, placed the victim upon it, and called upon
the I-ord. Immediately fire came down from heaven and
consumed the holocaust. At the sight of this miracle the
people again proclaimed Jehovah as their God, and, under
the orders of Elias, the priests of Baal were taken down to
the torrent Cison and killed there(3 Kings xviii 1-40).
A long and terrible drought foretold by Elias had com-
pelled King Achab to take refuge with his horses in one of
the gorges of Carmel. The prophet besought the Lord to
put an end to tlie scourge, and after casting himself down
on the earth, he said to his servant: " Go up and look to-
wards the sea. The servant went up and looked, and said:
There is nothing. Elias said to him; Return seven times.
At the seventh time the servant said: Behold a little cloud
arising out of the sea as large as the palm of a man's hand.
Elias said: Go up and say to Achab: Prepare thy chariot
and go down, lest the rain prevent thee. Then little by
little the heavens grew dark with clouds and wind, and there
fell a great rain."(3 Kings xviii 42-45).
The cloud that appeared in the clear
sky after a long drought, and which announced to the
people the coming of the much-desired and beneficial rain,
has been looked upon by some Fathers of the Church as
the figure of the blessed Virgin, who bore within herself,
as the cloud bears the water, the abundance of every grace,
the principle of all fruitfulness.
Eliseus was at Carmel when a weeping mother came and
begged him to go to Sunam to call back to life her only
son, who had been killed by a sunstroke.1 This touching
episode tells us that on the days of Sabbath and of the
new moon the faithful of the kingdom of Israel used to go
up into this mountain to pray, to consult the prophets, and
to offer sacrifice to God.
The pagans themselves continued to visit Mount Carmel.
In the second century B.C. the celebrated philosopher
Pythagoras, as we are told by Jamblicus, his biographer,
often went to meditate " in the sacred place of Carmel."2
Moreover, in the days of Darius, son of Hystaspes (521 to
485 B.C.), the mountain seems to have been sacred to
Jupiter.3 Suetonius, however, and Tacitus claim that it
was the mountain itself that was adored as a god. " The
god Carmel," Tacitus adds, " has neither statue nor temple.
Such was the wish of the founders of his worship. We meet
here only an altar and worshippers."
Vespasian, at that time merely a general, offered sacrifice
in this place during the time that his mind was dwelling
upon hidden expectations. The priest Basilidis, after
examining the entrails of the victims, said to him: "What-
soever thou art thinking about ... a great seat is reserved
for thee."4 Josephus accounts for this recrudescence of
pagan superstitions on Carmel by informing us that at that
time the sacred mountain belonged to the Tyrians.5
This mountain, so eminently suited to the contemplative
life, drew to itself Christian anchorites at an early date.
About the year 570 Antonino of Piacenza points out, on the
south of Sycaminos and above the Camps of the Samaritans,
" the monastery of Eliseus the prophet, on the spot where
he was met by the woman whose son he raised." We still
see traces of this monastery in the Valley of the Martyrs
(p. 436). After the conquest of Palestine by the Franks,
a crusader, Berthold de Limoges, collected together again
the hermits of Greek rite who lived at the foot of Carmel.
The Spanish Jew, Benjamin of Tudela, says in 1160: " Not
far from Hepha and the Jewish cemetery is the cave of the
prophet Elias; two sons of Edom (i.e., two Christians) have
built a chapel there." He points out the beautiful grotto
known as the School of the Prophets. As to the monastery
visited by the Pilgrim of Piacenza, it was in ruins when John
Phocas, a Greek monk, visited it in 1181. " Nevertheless,"
1 4 Kings iv 17-37. 2 VttaPilhaK., iii 5. 3 Scylas., Pcriple, 42-
* Pliny, H. N., ii 17; cf. Suetonius, Vita Vespas., v.
s B.J., IIIv2.
he says, "a calabrlan monk. white with age, and invested
with the pnestly dignity, came to the place, built a little
wall around the ruins of the monastery, erected a tower
^ a chapd' and collected together some ten brethren "
When the Franks had to concentrate themselves around
St John of Acre after the loss of Jerusalem, the number of
the hermits of Carmel increased considerably. Those of the
Latin rite were placed under the direction of Brocard who
had been born of French parents in the Holy City In 1212
he begged Albert, apostolic Delegate and Patriarch of
Jerusalem, to make for them a new rule of life By this
rule the Carmelite order was definitely founded The
virtues of St Berthold and St Brocard caused vocations to
be multiplied, and from Carmel the Carmelites soon spread
themselves over Europe. St Simon Stock, General of the
Order, founded in 1245 the confraternity of the Scapular
of our Lady of Mount Carmel. '
At an early date the Religious were attacked by bands of
Saracens (in 1238). Then in 1260 many fell victims on
account of their faith. Finally, after the capture of St Tohn
of Acre by the Mussulmans in 1291, the monks who were
unable to fly were all mercilessly killed. The chapel of our
Lady in the Valley of the Martyrs remained from that time
abandoned.
In 1630 Father Prosper of the Holy Ghost, a Carmelite
of Spanish extraction, took up his abode with two com-
panions amid the ruins of the ancient monastery but he
was not long able to endure the vexations of the Mussulmans
in the neighbourhood. The Carmelites returned in 1767
and erected a new monastery on tlie top of the promontory
Bonaparte used it as a hospital for those of his soldiers
who were wounded under the walls of St John of Acre
or struck down with plague. But scarcely had he retired
from the country (May 9, 1799), when the monks and the
soldiers were massacred and the convent given to the
flames. In 1827 Brother John Baptist of Frascati laid
the first stone of the beautiful building which we still
admire here to-day, and three years later the Carmelites
again took possession of the holy mountain, to continue
upon it the divine offices.
Visit to Mount Carmel
The monastery of our Lady of Mount Carmel is situated at
a height of 495 feet, and about 2 miles from the town of
Haifa- There is a A'-
Carmelite Monastery.-The convent is built on a vast
esplanade with the solidity of a fortress. Its thick walls,
its heavily barred windows, its low doors, protected by
loopholes and machicolations, present a fine specimen of
the monasteries of the Middle Ages in the East when they
were always exposed to the raids of bands of brigands and
other enemies. The first floor is used as a reception-house
for pilgrims, who always meet with a most cordial reception;
the second is reserved for the monks. From the lofty
terraces there is a very extended view. On the south may
be seen the ruins of Athlit, the Castrum Peregrinorum, and
those of Tantour, the ancient Dora (see Journey XX).
On the north are to be seen St John of Acre and the Ladder
of Tyre (see Journey XXIV). On the east stretch out the
mountains of Galilee as far as Great Hermon.
Church oi our Lady o£ Carmel ^.-The vast quadrangle
contains in its midst the church of our Lady of Carmel.
It is an octagonal building, or rather it has the shape of
a Greek cross of Italian eighteenth-century style, sur-
mounted by a dome. In the middle of the western fa9ade
of tlie monastery is a porch which opens into the church.
Opposite the door, at the other end of the building, a double
staircase in white marble leads to the choir, which contains
a magnificent altar on which stands the statue of our Lady
of the Scapular. Between the balustrades of the two flights
of stairs five steps lead down to a little grotto 16 feet wide
and 10 feet deep, which runs under the clioir. On the altar
stands a statue of St Elias in wood; an inscription near the
entrance says that this was one of tlic dwelling-places of the
prophet.
Monument oi the French Soldiers.-In the little garden
lying before tlie entrance to the monastery is a small
pyramid of stone surmounted by an iron cross, and standing
upon tlie remains of Bonaparte's soldiers that died at
Carmel. Tlie Religious piously gathered them together
from different parts of the mountain and placed them m
a common grave. The cross was erected on its pedestal
by the French sailors in 1875. The tomb was desecrated
by tlie Turks in tlie last war,' but the French navy erected
a new monument over it in 1919.
The Palazzo and Lighthouse.-In the middle of the vast
court a column of grey granite stands on a large pedestal
and supports the statue of Mary Immaculate. It is a gut
of tlie pilgrims from Chili. At tlie end of the court there is
a large building called thePalazzo. It is the pavilion which
Abdallah, Pasha of St Jolm of Acre, had constructed in
1821 with the ruins of the monastery. The large hall of the
building is used as a dining-room for pilgrims when they
are in great numbers. The same structure serves as the
base of the lighthouse built here by the Turkish Society
of Lighthouses. Its white light, which flashes every two
minutes, can be seen at a distance of 15 miles.
Visit to the School of the Prophets and the
Valley of the Martyrs
The school of the Prophets, the fountain of Elias, the convent of St
Bernard, and other places worth being visited by the pilgrim, are
situated at the foot of Carmel, almost on the sea-shore. The path that
leads down to them from the convent is very steep and inconvenient.
It is easier to get there by following the carriage road from Caiffa to
Athlit. From the school of the Prophets the carriage can go as far as
the entrance of the valley of the Martyrs. From that point one can go
by carriage up to the Carmel of the Germans by a road built in 1898,
and then go down again by another carriage road which leads to the
German colony.
Chapel of St Simon Stock.-As we come down from the
monastery wall we meet in five minutes with some ruined
buildings, among which, it is said. Father Prosper took up
his home in the seventeenth century. The grotto has
recently been transformed into an oratory dedicated to
St Simon Stock, who at one time lived at Carmel.
School of the Prophets.-After going farther down for
another ten minutes we reach first a Mussulman cemetery,
and then we come near a house whose back stands against
the mountain. In tlie courtyard of this building is the
Grotto of St Elias, more commonly called since the seven-
teenth century the School of the Prophets. It is used as
a mosque dedicated to el Khodr, the Verdant or the Living
One. It is thus that the Mussulmans style Elias, who,
according to the Bible, is not dead. The grotto is 46 feet
long, 22 feet wide, and 20 feet high. An artificial regularity
has been given to its shape, and its walls are covered with
a coating upon which innumerable pilgrims-Greek, Latin,
Arabian, &c.-have cut their names and invocations.
From the most remote ages this sanctuary has been the
object of the veneration of Jews, Christians, and Mussul-
mans. On the left on entering may be seen a large recess
cut out very regularly. According to a modern and very
improbable legend, the Holy Family on its way back from
Egypt passed the night in it.
The Valley of the Hermits or Martyrs.-We go down
from the School of the Prophets by a carriage road that
passes by within ten paces of it. Following it towards the
south, we soon leave on our right the artifical hill of Tell es
Semak, the ancient city of Sycaminos. Then, after passing
along by the side of the new enclosure of the property of
the Carmelites on our left, we cross the Wddy Gamik, Deep
Valley, and likewise leave on our left the road that goes up
to the Carmel of the Germans. At a distance of 2^ miles
from the School of the Prophets we reach the entrance of
a fertile valley planted with pomegranate, fig, and olive
trees. This valley has many names. The Arabs call it
Wddy Siyah, the Valley of the Hermits, and also Wddy
Ashlit el Heiyah, Valley of the Cascade of Serpents. This
latter name is not improbably a corruption of Ashlit
Eliyah, Cascade of Elias. From the seventeenth century
onwards the Christians have called it the Valley of the
Martyrs, because it was here that the servants of God of
whom we have spoken above were martyred.
This valley has been hallowed by Christian hermits from
the earliest ages of the Church. At the time of tlie Crusades
it contained tlic chapel of St Margaret of the Greek monks
and that of our Lady of the Latin monks or Carmelites.
Jacques de Viti-y, when speaking of tlic Carmelites, says that " the
convent, situated near the fountain of St Elias and inhabited by men
who copy the virtues of tlic prophet, was dedicated to St Margaret."
He referred doubtlessly to the monastery of the Greek monks, and not to
that of the Latins. These latter lived opposite, as we arc informed by
an interesting account belonging to tlic first half of Die thirteenth-
century. " On this same mountain is tlie abbey of Sl Margaret, which
belongs to the Greek monks, wlio there also possess a beautiful property.
In this abbey arc some good relics, and on the mountain-side is the place
where St Helves used to dwell, at which spot there is a chape] in the rock.
Near this abbey of St Margaret, on tlie side of this same mountain, is a
verv beautiful and delightful place where dwell tlic Latin hermits
called tlie Brothers of Carmel, where also is a little church of our Lady,
and everywhere at this spot is an abundance of waters that flow from
the rock of tlie mountain." 1
Ann Siyah.-In three minutes we reach A'in Siyah,
Fountain of the Hermits, which nows out from the felt
side of the valley.
This fountain to-day is known as tlie Fou-nlam of S! Klia^, but in the
eyes of the ancients tlic fountain of Elias is the A in Ounnn clFaraj,
which is higher up and in tlie middle ot cd Deir, tlic Monastery.
Convent of St Brocard and Church of our Lady.-Leaving
the Fountain of the Hermits, in ten minutes we reach
an enclosure recently built by tlic Carmelites round about
' See Vogue, Egliscs de T. S., 4^5.
some ancient ruins, and shaded by magnificent trees on the
side of the valley. Close at hand is an abundant spring of
fresh, good water, which flows from the rock and falls
into a tank entirely artificial and of curious workmanship.
The natives call this spot ed Deir, the Monastery, and the
spring, A'in Oumm el Faraj. Among the ruins we notice
remains of arches and vaults and a piece of wall running
parallel with the valley, built of well-wrought stones of
medium size. This is the convent pointed out by Antonino
of Piacenza, and amid the ruins of which Phocas visited the
" Calabrian monk . . . who built there an enclosure with
a tower and a chapel." It was in this spot, so specially
fertile and rich in springs, that the disciples of the great
prophet were living when the Legate Apostolic, St Albert,
granted the new rule " to our beloved son Brocard and
the beloved brother-hermits living under his obedience
near the Fountain of Elias on Mount Carmel." It was
here also that the first chapel of our Lady of Mount Carmel
was erected, of which mention is made in the thirteenth
century.
Church of St Margaret.-Opposite Am Oumm el Faraj
a stone archway recently erected above the gorge leads on
tlie right side of the valley to a cave of two storeys. The
lower grotto measures 16 by 20 feet. In the middle a
natural pillar supports a rocky vault. On both sides runs
a bench cut out of tlie mass 31 inches high and 23 inches
wide. Each bench is divided into several scdilia, or stalls
of ancient style, hollowed out to a little depth, a large one
alternating with a small one throughout. On one side
there arc seven seats, and on the other only five; the rock
that rises up at the end of this last bench seems to have
been used as an altar. Near the north-east corner a cleft
in the rock opens over a winding staircase that leads through
tlie block to the upper storey. Tlie natural vault of this
latter grotto is partially perished on the valley side. It is
the " chapel in the rock " of tlie abbey of St Margaret
of which our chronicler of the thirteenth century speaks.
This very singular oratory belongs in any case to the most
ancient monuments of Christian archaeology.
Field of the Melons of Elias.-At a distance of a mile
above tlie convent of St Brocard, a little plain bears the
name of the Field of Melons of Elias. The ancient pilgrims
pointed out in this place some round stones resembling
melons in sliapc. They are geodes, empty inside, and the
sides of tlieir cavities arc crusted with crystals of quartz
or chalcedony. The Eastern imagination, so rich in
parables and lessons in fables, has made them the subject f
of a graceful legend, a worthy counterpart of the Field of
the Grey Peas near Bethlehem. !
Visit to the Moukhraqa, Place of Elias' Sacrifice
From the Carmelite monastery we can reach in four or
five hours on horseback the place of the Sacrifice of Elias,
which stands upon one of the highest peaks of the Carmel
chain (1,700 feet). A very well-made and pleasant road
runs along the crest of the mountain. It crosses first the
beautiful vineyards and pine-woods of the German colony.
Among the principal buildings we note the ancient Hfltel
Prosz, a large summer residence, Luftkurhaus, for the
people, and a convalescent home, Elias- Ruhe, of the Sisters
of St Charles. Esfiyah (1,780 feet), inhabited by Druses,
is the only village that we meet. Many others were d&.
stroyed in 1837 by Ibrahim Pasha.
The traditional spot on which Elias offered the victim
that was consumed by fire from heaven (see p. 349) is
marked by a chapel which the Carmelites built some years
ago. It has in the language of the people retained the name
of el Moukhraqa, the Sacrifice. The Moukhraqa is only
1,698 feet high, and looks towards the plain of Esdraelon.
The sea is not visible from it, a circumstance which fits
in very well with the order that Elias gave to His.
servant. '
At the foot of the mountain a hill situated on the bank
of the Nahr el Mouqatta, River of the Massacre, the Cison
of the Bible, bears the name of Tell el Qassis, Hill of the.
Priests, and also that of Tell el Qati, Hill of the Massacre,
in memory of the priests of Baal who were there put to death
by order of the prophet Elias.
At Kh. Sammdha. over 2 miles east of el Moukhraqa,
there are the ruins of an ancient synagogue (Mem., i 3I9)•
1. From Haifa (Caiffa) to Nazareth and Tiberias by
carriage: see Journeys XVI and XVII.
2. From Haifa to Nazareth (station Afule, 5^ miles)
and Tiberias (station Semakh) by train: see Journeys XIX
and XX (from Beyrout to Haifa via Damascus).
3. From Haifa to St John of Acre by train or carriage,
and from thence to Tyre, Saida, and Beyrout by carriage'
or motor: see Journey XXI. '
A. From Haifa to Jenin by carriage: see Journey XXV.