Кармил

Carmel - 1) one of the mountains of Palestine, reaching 1,600 feet in height and 2,000 feet. above sea level. Lying on the southern border of the tribe of Asher and Manasseh, and in the west adjoining the inheritance of the tribe of Zebulun (Joshua 19:26, 11), it was subsequently included in the region of the Phoenician city of Tire (I. Flavius, On the War of Jude 3, 3:1). Protruding with its northern end into the Mediterranean Sea three miles from Ptolemais, in a southeastern direction, Carmel extends to the northwestern slope of the Samarian Mountains and throughout this entire length, equal to two and a half hours of travel, separates the Ezdrilon Valley from the Sharon Plain. Presented in St. Scripture is an example of beauty and splendor (Song.7:6; Isa.35:2; Jer.46:18, 50:19; Mic.7:14; Am.1:2; Nahum.1:4), the mountain was covered in ancient times with dense forests, meadows, pastures and fruitful fields, laurel and olive trees, completely dotted with hyacinths and others flowers, which is why it got its name “garden”, “fruitful field”. In history, Carmel is known primarily as the residence of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. The first built an altar here and asked fire from heaven for the sacrifice he made, which put the priests of Baal to shame (1 Kings 18:19–40). According to van de Velde, the place of sacrifice was located on one of the peaks of the southern part of Carmel, but since it is located at a distance of two to three hours from the brook Kishon (1 Kings 18:40), it is more natural for Robinson to indicate that it should be sought on the southeastern slope of the mountain. On it, after the sacrifice, St. Elijah asked for rain (1 Kings 18:42) and St. Elisha subsequently retired here (2 Kings 2:25, 4:25). Marked by these events, Mount Carmel in later times enjoyed the respect of not only Jews, but also pagans. According to the testimony of Tacitus, Suetonius and others, the latter called it holy, considering it the dwelling of Zeus, and came here for sacrifice. There was no church here, but the mountain itself and the oracle were revered as a deity (Tacitus 11, 78). During the Christian period, Empress Helena built a church on Carmel, of which no traces remain to date, and in the 6th century. Here the hermit Jacob the faster labored. In the 12th century. on the site of the supposed cave, Ave. Elias and the destroyed Christian monastery and church, a small church was built by the Calabrian priest Berthold, and the beginning of the Carmelite order was laid. Berthold's successor Brocard asked the Latin Patriarch Albert of Jerusalem for rules for monastic society, which were subsequently approved in 1226 by Honorius III and in 1230 by Gregory IX. In the same XIII century. The Carmelites built a new monastery and church, which was subsequently destroyed and restored several times. The last time it was destroyed to the ground in 1821 by the Turkish pasha of the city of Acre. The modern monastery was restored under the care of the simple monk Giovani Battista and donations from the French king Charles X. Its main sanctuary is the so-called grotto of St. Elijah. This is a natural cave expanded artificially. In the grotto there is a throne named after St. Elijah, on which there is a sculptured statue of a praying prophet, and above the grotto rises an altar in the name of Our Lady of Carmel, on which the Madonna sits in a richly decorated dress. Currently, Carmel is surrounded, as before, by charming views, but it itself is far from what it used to be. Its top and sides are still covered with flowers, but are completely devoid of trees; only a few olive trees bloom at the bottom and on the slopes; The fields are bare at the bottom and, in general, everything bears the stamp of neglect. 2) Carmel is a mountain and city west of the Dead Sea, in the tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:55). On it, Saul erected a monument to himself after his victory over the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:12); Here David hid from his persecution (1 Sam. 25). At Carmel, Uzziah the leper subsequently built towers and cut out reservoirs, because he had many livestock, farmers and gardeners in the area (2 Chron. 26:10).