Кармель тауы: Израильдің жағажай сілемдері мен ежелгі адам эволюциясының ортасы

Coastal mountain range in Israel and portions thereof

Mount Carmel (הַר הַכַּרְמֶל; جبل الكرمل), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias (link=no), is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. A number of towns are situated there, most notably Haifa, Israel's third largest city, located on the northern and western slopes.

The word karmel has been interpreted to mean: "garden land" (of uncertain origin); "vineyard of God", as a compound of kerem and el; or a clipping of kar male, meaning "full kernel." Martin Jan Mulder suggested a third etymology, that of kerem + l with a lamed sufformative, but this is considered unlikely as evidence for the existence of a lamed sufformative is weak.

The phrase "Mount Carmel" has been used in three distinct ways, referring to either one of the following three areas: between 1930 and 1932, Dorothy Garrod excavated four caves, and a number of rock shelters, in the Carmel mountain range at el Wad, el Tabun, and Es Skhul. Garrod discovered Neanderthal and early modern human remains, including the skeleton of a Neanderthal female, named Tabun I, which is regarded as one of the most important human fossils ever found. The excavation at el Tabun produced the longest stratigraphic record in the region, spanning 600,000 or more years of human activity. The four caves and rock shelters (Tabun, Jamal, el Wad, and Skhul) together yield results from the Lower Paleolithic to the present day, representing roughly a million years of human evolution. There are also several well preserved burials of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens and the transition from nomadic hunter gatherer groups to complex, sedentary agricultural societies is extensively documented at the site. Taken together, these emphasize the paramount significance of the Mount Carmel caves for the study of human cultural and biological evolution within the framework of palaeo ecological changes." In 2012, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee added the sites of human evolution at Mount Carmel to the List of World Heritage Sites. The World Heritage Site includes four caves (Tabun, Jamal, el Wad, and Skhul) on the southern side of the Nahal Me'arot/Wadi El Mughara Valley. The site fulfils criteria in two separate categories, "natural" and "cultural".

Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mount Carmel.

Due to the lush vegetation on the sloped hillside, and many caves on the steeper side, Carmel became the haunt of criminals. According to the Books of Kings, Elisha travelled to Carmel straight after cursing a group of young men because they had mocked him and the ascension of Elijah by jeering, "Go on up, bald man!" After this, bears came out of the forest and mauled 42 of them. This does not necessarily imply that Elisha had sought asylum there from any potential backlash,

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has its largest Israeli mosque on Mount Carmel, in the Kababir quarter of Haifa, known as the Mahmood Mosque. It is a unique structure with two minarets. The mosque was once visited by the president of Israel, Shimon Peres, for an iftar dinner.