Hebrew Har ha-Karmel, "the vineyard of God" or "garden-land." A ridge approximately 13 miles long and 1,800 feet high in northern Israel, running southeast from the Mediterranean coast at modern Haifa. Its lush vegetation made it a byword for fruitfulness (Song of Solomon 7:5). But Carmel is best known for the showdown between the prophet Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18 — one of the most dramatic confrontations in the Bible and the defining moment of the Baal vs. Yahweh contest in Israel's history.
1 Kings 18: Israel has been under severe drought for three and a half years under Ahab and Jezebel's promotion of Baal worship. Elijah summons all Israel to Mount Carmel along with the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah. He challenges them: "How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow Him" (18:21). Two bulls, two altars, no fire. Whoever's god answers with fire is God. The prophets of Baal prepare their sacrifice, cut themselves, cry out all morning — nothing. Elijah mocks them: "Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened" (18:27). Then Elijah builds his altar, drenches it with water three times, prays a short prayer ("O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel"), and fire falls from heaven consuming the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the dust, and licking up the water. The people fall on their faces crying, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!" Elijah slaughters the prophets of Baal, and the three-year drought breaks. Mount Carmel is the biblical monument to the truth that God still answers by fire — sometimes literal, always real — and that decisive religious allegiance cannot forever be deferred.