Carmel, Mount

Carmel, Mount (kär`məl) [Heb.,=garden land], mountain ridge, NW Israel, extending 13 mi (21 km) NW from the plain of Esdraelon to the Mediterranean Sea, where it ends in a promontory marking the southern limit of the Bay of Haifa. Its highest point is 1,792 ft (546 m), and it is one of the most striking physical features of Israel. Long an object of veneration, it was associated in biblical times with the lives of the prophets Elijah and Elisha. From the mountainside vineyards comes the renowned Mt. Carmel wine; there are also olive groves. At the foot of Mt. Carmel is the port of Haifa, with the city rising up along its slopes and at its top. On its slopes are a Baha'ist garden shrine, with the tombs of Bab-ed-din and of Abdul Baha (see Baha'i), and a 19th-century Carmelite monastery.