Myrrh of Bible (labdanum from Cistus Creticus) in Mount Carmel

Mount Carmel
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Mount Carmel (Hebrew: הַר הַכַּרְמֶל‎, Har HaKarmel (lit. God's vineyard); Greek: Κάρμηλος, Kármēlos; Arabic: الكرمل‎, Kurmul; Arabic: جبل مار إلياس‎, Jabal Mar Elyas, i.e. Mount St Elijah in Arabic) is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. Archaeologists have discovered ancient wine and oil presses at various locations on Mt. Carmel. The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve and a number of towns are located there, most notably the city of Haifa, Israel's third largest city, located on the northern slope.

As a sacred location

In ancient Canaanite culture, high places were frequently considered to be sacred, and Mount Carmel appears to have been no exception; Thutmose III lists a holy headland among his Canaanite territories, and if this equates to Carmel, as Egyptologists such as Maspero believe, then it would indicate that the mountain headland was considered sacred from at least the 15th century BC. According to the Books of Kings, there was an altar to Yahweh on the mountain, which had fallen into ruin by the time of Ahab, but was rebuilt by Elijah. Iamblichus describes Pythagoras visiting the mountain on account of its reputation for sacredness, stating that it was the most holy of all mountains, and access was forbidden to many, while Tacitus states that there was an oracle situated there, which Vespasian visited for a consultation;[2] Tacitus states that there was an altar there, but without any image upon it, and without a temple around it.

Elijah
The Grotto of Elijah

In mainstream Jewish, Christian, and Islamic[1] thought, it is Elijah that is indelibly associated with the mountain, and he is regarded as having sometimes resided in a grotto on the mountain. In the Books of Kings, Elijah challenges 450 prophets of a particular Baal to a contest at the altar on Mount Carmel to determine whose deity was genuinely in control of the Kingdom of Israel; since the narrative is set during the rule of Ahab and his association with the Phoenicians, biblical scholars suspect that the Baal in question was probably Melqart.

According to the bible in 1 Kings 18, the challenge was to see which deity could light a sacrifice by fire. After the prophets of Baal had failed to achieve this, Elijah had water poured on his sacrifice several times to saturate the wood altar, prostrated himself in prayer to God, fire fell from the sky, and consumed the sacrifice shortly afterwards, in the account, clouds gather, the sky turns black, and it rains heavily.

Though there is no biblical reason to assume that the account of Elijah's victory refers to any particular part of Mount Carmel,[1] Islamic tradition places it at a point known as El-Maharrakah, meaning the burning. In 1958, archaeologists discovered something on the mountain range that resembled an altar, which they assumed must have been Elijah's altar.

from site
Mount Carmel’s rich red soil is covered by a typical Mediterranean shrub forest. There are beautiful Kermes Oak groves and not only flowering trees and delicious fragrant herbs, but all the flora of the North of Israel seems gathered in this favored spot.
So early as November, the crocus, narcissus, pink cistus, and large daisy are in bloom, and the hawthorn in bud.
In spring, wild tulips, dark red anemones, pink phlox, cyclamen, purple stocks, marigolds, geranium, and pink (Cistus salvifolius) and white (Cistus creticus) rock-roses make it spectacular.