Search results
The 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. The Jezreel Valley lies to the immediate northeast.
Map: 32°49'33.0240"N, 034°58'18.0120"E. Israel. View from top of Mt Carmel (Patrick Brennan) The prophet Elijah’s fire-lighting challenge — one of the Old Testament ’s most spectacular contests between Yahweh, the God of the Israelites, and a pagan deity — took place on the south-eastern summit of Mount Carmel.
(1) A beautifully wooded mountain range running for about 13 miles in a south-easterly direction from the promontory which drops on the shore of the Mediterranean near Haifa, at the southern extremity of the plain of Acre, to the height of el-Machraqah which overlooks the plain of Esdraelon.
Map of Mount Carmel south of the sprawling Jezreel Valley in northern Israel, by the Mediterranean Sea.
Here the southern side of Mt. Carmel near the coast can be seen. Mt. Carmel was most significant in ancient times as a barrier to traffic along the coastal plain. The 1,500-foot (450-m) high limestone mountain impeded armies and merchants traveling to the Jezreel Valley.
From the crest of Carmel Elijah descried the coming storm, and, descending the mountain, ran before the chariot of Ahab to the gate of Jezreel (1 Kings 18:42). Under the monastery on the western promontory is a cave, said to be that of Elijah.
Mount Carmel is the only major Biblical mountain of Jewish interest located completely within the borders of Israel. It is also immediately next to the city of Haifa, approximately fifty miles north of Tel Aviv, making it extremely safe and accessible.
