al-Karmil

al-Karmil (Arabic: خربة الكرمل‎) is a Palestinian village located twelve kilometers south of Hebron. The village is in the Hebron Governorate Southern West Bank, within Area A under total Palestinian control.[1] According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the village had a population of 3,741 in 2007.[2] The primary health care facilities for the village are designated by the Ministry of Health as level 2.[3]

For the Palestinian newspaper of the same name, see Al-Karmil (newspaper). For the nearby modern Israeli settlement named after the Biblical Carmel, see Carmel, Har Hebron.

al-Karmil
Municipality type D (Village council)
Arabic transcription(s)
 • Arabicخربة الكرمل
 • LatinKhirbat al-Karmil (official)
Al-Karmil
al-Karmil
Location of al-Karmil within Palestine
Coordinates: 31°25′25″N 35°07′59″E
Palestine grid162/092
StateState of Palestine
GovernorateHebron
Government
 • TypeVillage council
Population
 (2007)
 • Total3,741

History

There are three references to al-Karmil in the Bible. "Carmel" is mentioned as a city of Judah, the place where Saul erects a monument after the expedition against the Amalekites, and where Nabal the Carmelite resides.[4][5][6][7]

In the Byzantine era, around the 6th or 7th century CE, a church was built here, on the western side of the remains. In the 19th century, it was described as having three casemated arrow-slits on the east side.[8][9][10] Outlines of a further two churches were uncovered to the immediate north and south.[11]

Al-Muqaddasi describes it in 985 as "a village in the further limits of the Hebron territory, in Jund Filastin. This is the Carmel mentioned in Joshua xv.55."[12]

It was mentioned in Crusader sources in 1172/3,[13][14] as the place King Amalric of Jerusalem assembled his army.[10]

Ottoman era

In 1838 Edward Robinson noted here the remains of an ancient tower and an ancient church.[15]

In 1863, Victor Guérin visited, and noted the remains of an ancient church.[16]

In October 1874, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) found here extensive ruins, and a reservoir filled with water. Remains of a castle, possibly of Crusader origin, in addition to a church were also found.[17]

The SWP also traced an ancient road from Jerusalem to Al-Karmil.[18]

Modern period

During the Jordanian era (1948-1967), the census of 1961 found 146 inhabitants in al-Karmil.[19]

In 1967, in a census conducted by Israel after it occupied, the West Bank in the Six-day War, the village was reported to have 76 residents in 17 households.[20]

The site contains an ancient reservoir, Birket Al-Karmel, which has been transformed into a major recreation area, with a swimming pool. Gideon Levy writes:

The terraces, decorative landscaping, Hebron stones, washrooms and a spring that gushes from the rock next to the pool – all make this one of the most spectacular outdoor sites in the West Bank.[1]

Twice, in 2015, settler tourists under IDF guard, made incursions into the park, after the army forced the local children out of the pool and allotted them to a corner while the settlers enjoyed the pool and the site.[1]

Footnotes
  1. Gideon Levy and Alex Levac, 'Bitter waters: Settlers invade ancient pool under Palestinian control,' Haaretz 12 June 2015
  2. 2007 PCBS Census Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. p.120.
  3. West Bank Health care Archived 2006-03-13 at the Library of Congress Web Archives
  4. Joshua ch xv verse 55, 1 Samuel ch xv verse 12 and 1 Samuel ch xxv
  5. Nabal and Abigail
  6. Calmet's Dictionary of the Holy Bible, 1832. p 280
  7. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 312
  8. Rey, 1871, pp. 102-104
  9. Mader, 1918, pp. 177-185
  10. Pringle, 1997, p. 61
  11. Doron Bar, 'The Christianisation of Rural Palestine during_Late Antiquity,' Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 54, No. 3 July 2003 pp.401-421 p.413.
  12. le Strange, 1890, pp. 487-8
  13. Guérin, 1869, p. 170
  14. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 372
  15. Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, pp. 196-197
  16. Guérin, 1869, pp. 166-170
  17. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, pp. 372-4
  18. Conder and Kitchener, 1883, SWP III, p. 317
  19. Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 23
  20. Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (1967–1970). Joel Perlmann (ed.). "The 1967 Census of the West Bank and Gaza Strip: A Digitized Version". Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, 2011–2012. Volume 1, Table 2.

Bibliography
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