' 



CAR 465 



Carmajj- and straight ; there is a number of spaciotu build- 

 ings ; and, upon the whole, it is a pretty place, hay. 

 ing the agreeable features of cleanliness and cheer- 

 fulness to recommend it to the stranger's eye. It is 

 the see of a Bishop, who has here an episcopal pa- 

 lace ; has the 38th vote in the order of the diet ; and, 

 according to Diurberg, contains 1800 inhabitants. 

 There is a mineral spring in its neighbourhood. It 

 has manufactories of linen and woollen ; imports su- 

 gar, tea, and spices ; and trades in iron and wood 

 across the Wenner. East Long. 13 18', North Lat. 

 51 21'. See Coxe's Travels m the North of Eu- 

 rope, vol. iv. ; and Kuttner's Travels through Den- 

 mar/., Sweden, SfC. in 1798 and 1799. (T) 



CARMAGNOLA, a town of France, in the de- 

 partment of the Po, and formerly in the marquisate 

 of Saluzzo, is situated at a small distance from the 

 right bank of the River Po. In the year 1691, the 

 French fortified this town with walls and ditches, 

 and enlarged the citadel. The Fauxbourgs, which 

 were too large, were demolished ; and it was thus 

 rendered one of the strongest places on the frontiers 

 of Piedmont. The came number of Fauxbourgs were 

 afterwards rebuilt at the distance of 500 paces from the 

 town, and as large as the former. Carmagnola is situat- 

 ed in a fertile country, abounding in grain, flax, and 

 silk ; and its market is much frequented not only by 

 the Piedmontese, but by the inhabitants of Dau- 

 phiny, Nice, and the country of Genoa. There is 

 only one parish within the walls of Carmagnola, and 

 four in the Fauxbourgs. The population of the 

 town and Fauxbourgs amounts to 12,000. East 

 Long. 7 43', North Lat. 44 50'. See Tynna's Al- 

 manack du Commerce, pour 1811, p. 779; Denina 

 Tableau Historique, Statistique, et morale de la Haute 

 Italie, p. 17, Paris, 1805. (m) 



CARMATHIANS, or KARMATHIANS. See 

 the article ARABIA, vol. ii. p. 304, col. 2. 



CARMEL, a celebrated mountain in Palestine. 

 Though spoken of in general as a single mountain, 

 it is in fact rather a mountainous region, the whole 

 of which is known by the name of Carmel, while to 

 one of the hills more elevated than the rest, that 

 name is commonly applied by way of eminence. It 

 has the plain of Sharon on the south ; overlooks 

 the bay of Acre on the north; and is bounded on the 

 west by the Mediterranean, forming one of the most 

 remarkable promontories that are to be seen on the 

 shores of that extensive sea. John Phocas, a Greek 

 monk, who visited Mount Carmel in the twelfth cen- 

 tury, describes it as having the form of a ridge, ex- 

 tending from the bay which winds by Ptolemais and 

 Caiphas, to the Galilean territory. Josephus says, 

 (de Bell. 1. iii. c. 3.) that Carmel was a mountain of 

 Galilee. In another place, (Aitttq. lib. v. c. 1.) he 

 states that Issachar, in length, had for its limits 

 Mount Carmel and the river ; and that the tribe of 

 Zabulon's lot included the land which belonged to 

 Carmel and the sea. Thcodoret (Comm. ad. c. 32. 

 Jesaia:) places Carmel in Saraaria. Hieronymus 

 ^w Comment, ad Jes. 29.) describes it as situated on 

 the confines of Phoenicia and Palestine, and overlook- 

 ing Ptolemais. In a passage of the 4th vol. of Hud- 

 son's Minor Gfoorap/icrs, it is represented as lying 

 immediately to the north of Dora. It belonged to the 



CAR 



VOL. V. TART II. 



tribe of Asher and Manasseh, according to the divi- 

 sion made by Joshua of the Holy Land. (See Jot/t. V *^V^* 

 xix. 26. J< eland. Palcest. Illust. torn. ii. p. 5:;9, and 

 Calmet's Dictionary.) St Jerome informs us, that 

 this tribe having remained in captivity with the other 

 tribes, Carmel returned into the possession of the 

 Phoenicians, its original masters. It is, according to 

 Volney, about two thousand feet in height. It has 

 the shape of a flattened cone. Its sides arc steep 

 and rugged. Its soil is neither deep nor rich. And 

 among the naked rocks, stinted plants, and wild 

 forests which it presents to the eye, there are few 

 traces of that fertility which every reader of scrip- 

 ture naturally associates with the idea of Mount 

 Carmel. Yet even Volney himself acknowledges, 

 that he found among the brambles, wild vines and 

 olive trees, which proved that the hand of industry- 

 had once been employed on this ungrateful spot. 

 Of its ancient productiveness there can be no doubt; 

 the etymology ar.d ordinary application of its name 

 being sufficient evidence of the fact. Carmel is 

 not only expressly mentioned in the sacred writings 

 as superior to other districts in that respect ; but 

 every place possessed of the same kind of excellence, 

 obtained from it the same appellation, in the language 

 both of the prophets and the people. Some ac- 

 cordingly suppose that Carmel was primarily the 

 name of the mountain, and that on account of its na- 

 tural or superinduced fertility, the name came to be 

 transferred to all places that were distinguished by a 

 similar character; while others think, that as the ori- 

 ginal signification of the word Carmel is a fertile 

 place, the mountain in question got that appellation 

 from its peculiar and acknowledged fertility. We 

 shall not attempt to determine which of these opi- 

 nions is the most correct Ben David himself de- 

 clines the task on account of its difficulty but each 

 of them implies a testimony to the ancient fruitful- 

 ness of Carmel. And it is curious, that the words 

 of which that name is compounded, as well as the 

 name itself, refer not only to the general quality 

 ascribed to Mount Carmel, but even to the particular 

 kinds of produce in which that quality appeared. 

 Thus n*)3 signifies to cut off, to prune, btt or xbn 

 to fill, BID, a vine, and H^ID a full ear of corn, a 

 fruitful field or country, a place planted with fruit- 

 trees. The word Carmel also signifies purple or 

 crimson ; because at the ,fbot of the mountain, on 

 the south side, a certain shell- fish was caught which 

 was of great use in dying that colour. See Song of 

 Solom. vii. 5. and aho Bochart de Animal. Sac. Scrip. 

 Mount Carmel is celebrated in scripture as the 

 abode of Elijah and Elisha. It was here that Elijah 

 opposed so successfully the false prophets of Baal ; 

 ( I Kings xviii.) and there is a certain part of the 

 mountain facing the west, and about eight miles 

 from the point of the promontory, which the Arabs 

 call Mansur, and the Europeans the Place of Sacrifice, 

 in commemoration of that miraculous event. Here 

 also, near the same place, is shown a cave, in which 

 it is alleged the prophet had his residence, and in 

 which, according to Phocas, "that wonderful man, af- 

 ter be had spent an angelic life, was translated into 

 heaven." There is a small spot, too, which tradition 

 represents to have been his garden. Marki observes, 

 3N- 



