Carmel was an ancient Israelite town in

Judea Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Hebrew language#Modern Hebrew, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian vocalization, Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous L ...

, lying about from

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after East J ...

, on the southeastern frontier of

Mount Hebron The Hebron Hills, also known as Mount Hebron ( ar, جبل الخليل, translit=Jabal al-Khalīl, he, הר חברון, translit=Har Hevron), are a mountain ridge, geographic region, and geologic formation, comprising the southern part of the J ...

.Amit (n.d.), pp. 226–228 Conder & Kitcherner (1883), p
312
/ref>

In the Hebrew Bible

There are several references to Carmel in the Bible. Carmel is mentioned as a city of Judah in the Book of Samuel and also in . It is mentioned as the place where

Saul Saul (; he, , ; , ; ) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first monarch of the United Kingdom of Israel. His reign, traditionally placed in the late 11th century BCE, supposedly marked the transition of Israel and Judah from a scattered tri ...

erects a monument after the expedition against the Amalekites (). Carmel is mentioned in as the place of

Nabal According to the 1st Book of Samuel Chapter 25, Nabal ( ''Nāḇāl'', "fool") was a rich Calebite, described as harsh and surly. He is featured in a story in which he is threatened by David over an insult, and ultimately killed by God. Biblica ...

's possessions, who was the husband of

Abigail Abigail () was an Israelite woman in the Hebrew Bible married to Nabal; she married the future King David after Nabal's death ( 1 Samuel ). Abigail was David's second wife, after Saul and Ahinoam's daughter, Michal, whom Saul later married ...

. Beside the agricultural importance of the site, Carmel had also a strategic importance because of it containing the only reliable natural spring of water in the immediate area, which waters are collected in a man-made pool. Carmel, in relation to Maon, lies directly to its north, within close proximity.

Roman and Byzantine period

Mentioned in

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...

' ''

Onomasticon Onomasticon may refer to: *Onomasticon (Eusebius) *Onomasticon of Amenope *Onomasticon of Joan Coromines *Onomasticon of Julius Pollux *Onomasticon of Johann Glandorp *''Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum Onomasticon may refer to: *Onomasticon (Eusebius ...

'' as a village "10 milestones east of

," the village housed a Roman garrison after the

Bar Kochba revolt The Bar Kokhba revolt ( he, , links=yes, ''Mereḏ Bar Kōḵḇāʾ‎''), or the 'Jewish Expedition' as the Romans named it ( la, Expeditio Judaica), was a rebellion by the Jews of the Roman province of Judea, led by Simon bar Kokhba, aga ...

. The Jewish settlement is thought to have prospered until the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

army of Chosroes forced the Roman garrison of

Heraclius Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was List of Byzantine emperors, Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exa ...

' army to leave Palestine. With a lack of market for their wine, the Jewish settlement declined, with the synagogue finally being abandoned in the 9th century. In the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

era, around the 6th or 7th century CE, a church was built here, on the western side of the remains. Outlines of a further two churches were uncovered to the immediate north and south. The abandoned synagogue, which still stands in the Palestinian town now known as al-Karmil, is one of the best preserved ancient synagogues in the West Bank. Avigail-Tel-Maon-Karmil-645

Crusade period

During the period of the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

in the 12-century CE, a castle was built at Carmel under the command of Renaud of Châtillon. Ellenblum (2007), pp. 108, 254, 309

William of Tyre William of Tyre ( la, Willelmus Tyrensis; 113029 September 1186) was a medieval prelate and chronicler. As archbishop of Tyre, he is sometimes known as William II to distinguish him from his predecessor, William I, the Englishman, a former ...

mentions Carmel as the camp of

King Amalric Amalric or Amaury I ( la, Amalricus; french: Amaury; 113611 July 1174) was King of Jerusalem from 1163, and Count of Jaffa and Ascalon before his accession. He was the second son of Melisende and Fulk of Jerusalem, and succeeded his older broth ...

in 1172.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * Kuhnen, H-P., ''Studien zur Chronologie und Siedlungsarchaologie des Karmel (Israel) zwischen Hellenismus und Spatantike'' (Wiesbaden, 1989). * Lozovyy, Joseph. (2006)
''Saul, Doeg, Nabal and the "Son of Jesse": Readings in 1 Samuel 16-25.''
Ph.D. Thesis at the University of Edinburgh * * * *

External links

*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 21:
IAAWikimedia commons
(''el-Kurmul'' shown on bottom part of map) {{DEFAULTSORT:Carmel (biblical settlement) Hebrew Bible cities District of Hebron Judea (Roman province) Ancient Jewish settlements of Judaea Crusade places Biblical geography Ancient villages in Israel Ancient Jewish history