Literary sources suggest that Mt. Carmel was a sacred site for the pagans, for the veneration and worship of Ba’al, as practiced there since the 9th century BCE through the erection of altars and temples/shrines in his honour. According to Iamblichus, the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, on his way to Egypt, visited the mountain in the second half of the 6th century BCE and sought solitude in a temple, or perhaps in a temenos. In the days of the Achaemenid king of Persia Darius I (521-486 BCE), the mountain seems to have been sacred to Zeus. Artistic and epigraphic evidence suggest that Elijah’s Cave, on the western slope of Mt. Carmel, had been used as a pagan cultic place, possibly a shrine, devoted to Ba’al Carmel (identified with Zeus/Jupiter) as well as to Pan and Eros as secondary deities. The visual representation of the cult statue (idol) of Ba’al Carmel, a libation vessel (kylix?) and the presumed figure of the priest or, alternatively, the altar within the aedicula, strengthen the assumption that the Cave was used in the Roman period, and perhaps even earlier. In addition, one of the Greek inscriptions, dated to the Roman period, indicates the sacred nature of the Cave and the prohibition of its profanation. When Elijah’s Cave ceased to be used for pagan worship it continued to be regarded as a holy site and was dedicated to Prophet Elijah, presumably in the Early Byzantine period. Following the tradition linking Elijah (so-called el-Khader) with Mt. Carmel, it became sacred to the Prophet and was used by supplicants (Jews, Christians, Muslims and Druze) to Elijah for aid, healing and salvation, a tradition that still persists to this day. There are no literary or historical sources which are recording the existence of Elijah’s Cave on Mt. Carmel prior to the 12th century. The earliest written testimony is that of the laconic description of the Russian Abbot Daniel, who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1106-1107, followed by Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, who visited the Land of Israel in 1165. Any earlier written material must have been lost over time, since it is unlikely that the Cave and its surroundings were entirely ignored before the 12th century. Table of Contents Preface Introduction Chapter I: Plan, Ornamentation and Surroundings (Asher Ovadiah) Chapter II: Mount Carmel and Elijah’s Cave: Context, Meaning and Function (Asher Ovadiah) Chapter III: Literary/Historical Sources (Asher Ovadiah) Chapter IV: The Inscriptions (Asher Ovadiah and Rosario Pierri) Epilogue (Asher Ovadiah and Rosario Pierri) Appendix I: Onomasticon of Masculine and Feminine Greek, Latin and Semitic Personal Names Appendix II: Hebrew Inscriptions (on the east wall, without continuation to the consecutive numbers of the inscriptions in Chapter IV) Appendix III: Formulae Appendix IV: Invocations Appendix V: Peculiar Expressions Appendix VI: Exclamations Abbreviations Bibliography Figures Index

Elijah’s Cave on Mount Carmel and its Inscriptions

History

Ovadiah, Asher

Pierri, Rosario

Asher, Ovadiah

Rosario, Pierri

Ancient Civilizations

Archaeopress Archaeology

Asher Ovadiah is Professor of Art History at Tel Aviv University, and an authority on the Classical and Byzantine monuments of Israel. This selection of articles, published over the last twenty-five years, falls into four groups and is gathered around a number of common themes. A first group is concerned with the architecture of pagan temples, early churches, synagogues and a Roman theatre. A second deals with sculpture and reliefs, with the emphasis on iconography, style and symbolism, while a third group is concerned with mosaics in secular and religious contexts, with reference to the Classical heritage and anti-Classical trends, philosophical concepts and links with artistic centres. Finally, a fourth group treats the symbolic and allegorical significance of various works of art and Greek laudatory inscriptions.

Art and Archaeology in Israel and Neighbouring Countries: Antiquity and Late Antiquity (English and French Edition)

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Pindar Pr

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ovadiah, Asher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Ovadiah, Asher