I. Name
Carmel (Jebel Kurmul) is a promontory on the Mediterranean Coast of Israel near Haifa which since ancient times was considered as ‘holy’. A deity was worshipped there whose name occurs outside the Bible as “god of the Carmel”. In the OT Mount Carmel is known especially as scene of a trial of strength between the prophets of Baal and Elijah, or rather, between Baal and Yahweh (1 Kgs. 18).
II. Identity
The ‘holiness’ of the Carmel may already have been mentioned in the listing of countries and cities of the c…