Haifa
Haifa is the 3rd largest city in Israel. Its main facilities are the port of Haifa and the bay of Haifa with a refinery. Parts of the city are located on Mount Carmel.
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Haifa is the 3rd largest city in Israel, after Jerusalem and TelAviv. Its main facilities are the port of Haifa and the bay of Haifa with a refinery. Parts of the city are located on Mount Carmel.
Haifa is located in the north of Israel, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, at the south-west corner of the Galilee.
The following summarizes the history of the area of Haifa, including the Carmel and the coast of the Carmel.
(a) Prehistory:
Mount Carmel was a center of early man settlements, spanning over 150,000 years. There are over 200 sites around Haifa, some of them are famous prehistoric sites - like Carmel caves and Oren caves. During the early Bronze (Canaanite) period (31C-22C BC) there were some small settlements. They declined in the middle Bronze (Cannanite) period (22C - 15C BC) and the late Bronze (Canaanite) period (15C -12C BC).
(b) Israelite (Iron) period (12C - 586 BC)
During the Israelite period, there are still few sites in the area. In the old testament there are many references to Mount Carmel, including the acts of Elijah the prophet in the 9th C BC. In Kings I 18, Elijah slaughters 450 Baal false prophets: "... and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there". According to the tradition, his cave is located on the north west side of the Carmel.
King Solomon gave Hiram the cities on the west shore of the Galilee (Kings 1 9:11). This area probably included the whole area north of the Kishon river ( flows into the sea north of the Carmel), in the Western Galilee ("Kavul" area). Haifa was therefore the border of the Israelite Kingdom at that time. It was lost to the Assyrians in 733/2 BC, and the whole area south of Acre was under the rule of the port city of Dor, a port city south of Haifa.
(c) Babylonian and Persian period (586-332BC)
The coastal area saw a great development of sites at the Persian period (number of sites grew from 8 to 23 on mount Carmel and from 8 to 39 on the coast). Most of the coastal cities were controlled by the Phoenicians, who were great maritime merchants and worked in cooperation with the Persians.
(d) Hellenistic period (332BC - 37 BC)
The sites continued to prosper under the Greek rule, which was controlled by the Seleucid kingdoms. Although the number of sites remained the same on the Carmel, the sites on the coast of the Carmel reduced to half (39 to 17), maybe due to the effect of the invading armies along the coastal road ("Via Maris"). Most sites changed to Greek names. The area, excluding Acre, was later transferred to the Hasmonean Kingdom (Alexander Yanai).
(d) Roman period (Early: 37 BC-70AD, Late: 70AD-324AD, Byzantine: 324AD-640AD)
This period saw a jump in the number of sites on the Carmel and the coast (total of 150, 3 times more), mainly small agriculture villages on the Carmel (100). This increase was due to the relative calm and secure period under the Romans. The important cities were the large port cities : Herod's new city of Caesarea (the capital of Province of Judea after the destruction of the 2nd temple), Dor and Acre. There were some larger urban centers, like Shikmona (the ancient port city of Haifa) and Oren. Christianity started to influence only in the 6th C AD.
(e) Arab (636AD+) and Crusader period (1099-1187AD)
The Arab Conquest ruined most of the Carmel and Coastal sites, but Haifa saw a migration from the old site at Shikmona. The small fishing village of Haifa, located on the northeastern slopes of the Carmel, emerged as the 2nd most important port after Acre in the northern region. It was fortified with walls, and had a shipyard .
The Crusaders took the city in 1100AD, after a month of heavy resistance from the Jewish population. The city was important for them in order to protect the pilgrimage road from Acre to Jerusalem, and as a secondary port. They also founded several Monasteries in the Carmel, most dedicated to prophet Elijah.
Their rule collapsed on 1187AD; Haifa and Shefaram became the front bases against the remaining Crusaders presence in Acre. After then, the sites around Haifa declined.
(f) Mameluke Period (1250-1517AD)
In this period most of the sites around Haifa were in ruins, as part of the systematic destruction of the coast villages. In 1291 Haifa was completely abandoned.
(g) Turkish Ottoman Period (1517AD-)
The city gradually was resettled, but the real change was when an Arab- Bedouin called Daher El-Omar , made Acre his capital and Haifa his port. He leveled the old city (Haifa El-Atika, in the area where Rambam hospital is standing today), and moved the city 3KM to the east (near Zim offices today).
(h) The new Haifa under Daher El-Omar
Daher el-Omar built a wall around the new city, constructed a fort and governor palace. It was the nucleus of the new city, which started to grow steadily. After 1831, general Mohammad Pasha made the city his HQ at the time of his siege on Acre, which was severely hit during that war, and for the first time lost its supremacy to Haifa. Still, it was still a small and insignificant city of 4,000 in 1868.
(i) The German Templars (1868-)
The German Templars were a German Christian sect, an offshoot of the Protestants, who were sort of Christian "Zionists". They came in 1868-9, and established 7 villages in Israel within 40 years, starting from Haifa. The Haifa Colony was built west of the walled city. They planned a neat neighborhood of several dozen 2-story houses along a wide boulevard (Carmel-Strasse, now Ben-Gurion Avenue). Later they build the first residential houses on the Carmel. Their fields were planted west of the colony (wheat fields and other crops) and grapes on the slope of the Carmel (where the Golden shrine is today; Hagefen street was named after their grapevines). The Colony survived until WW2, when they were expelled by the British to Australia after sympathizing with the Nazis.
Their contribution was also building factories, and a commercial port to export the goods (at the north end of the Colony). The German Kaiser Willhelm II embarked in the port in 1898, starting his visit to the Holy Land. After this success of the port the Ottomans built the Hejaz railway from Haifa to Damascus in Syria (1905). This railway linked Haifa to Turkey and Arabia, and was another important contribution to the growth of Haifa. In 1911 there were already 20,000 inhabitants in Haifa, a growth of x5 within 40 years.
(j) British Mandate (1920-1947)
The drilling of Oil in the middle east marked a turning point for Haifa. The British built a large port and refinery for their Iraqi Petrol Company (IPC) and laid a pipeline from Iraq to Haifa. This gave a tremendous boost to the city. In 1933 the new deep water port was opened, after drying up the area where Independence Avenue is located, north of the old city. Many workers came to the city for work: Arabs settled in the west and east of the old city of Daher El-Omar, and Jews built their houses in Hadar (above the old city). The population surged to 50,000 (1931) then to 128,000 (1944). There were also new neighborhoods on the Carmel and in the bay of Haifa, close the the refineries and port.
(k) State of Israel (1948+)
After the British left the Country, the city was taken after a heavy battle by the Israeli forces within 48 hours (21, 22.4.1948). It took another 3 months to capture the rest of the Arab villages around Haifa.
Contents:
The following photo shows a view of the Bahai Golden Shrine and Gardens on the slopes of Mount Carmel. The gardens have been redesigned in recent years, and the site is a charming place to visit.
In the background, on the left of the shrine, is Dan Carmel hotel, one of the hotels on the top of the Mountain.
Click on the photos to view in higher resolution...
Just below the Shrine is the old section of the German Colony. The 150 year-old buildings were one of the first to be built by westerners in the 19th Century. The following photo shows the avenue between these houses, and the port of Haifa in the background. In fact, the German settlers built the first port at that area, which was one of the major factors why Haifa started to expand. After the initial success of the port the Ottomans built the Haifa railway to Damascus in Syria (1905). This railway linked Haifa to Syria, Turkey and Arabia, and was another important contribution to the growth of Haifa.
At nights, especially on weekends, the bars and restaurants are a center of nightlife activities in the City.
The closest house to the port in the German colony was located on the waterfront, before the area was dried out to build the new port. This house, seen below, was hit by a missile in the latest shelling from Lebanon (Aug 2006). The city was hit in several locations, including the port and the railway. The old house, and the other damaged sites, will hopefully be restored soon.
There are many ancient sites around Haifa, spanning from Prehistoric sites (like Carmel caves and Oren caves) up to recent years .
One of the ancient sites is Tell Shikmona, the ancient port of Haifa, on the west shore side of Mount Carmel. This site is from the late Bronze age, about 18C BC. It continued in the Israelite period, the Persian period, and then a Phoenician port before and during the Hellenistic period. It continued at the Roman and Byzantine, and the Arabic, Crusader and Mameluke periods. It stayed in ruins after then, until it was excavated in recent years.
A view from the main road that passes near Tell Shikmona. On the slopes of the Carmel there is an ancient stone quarry and tombs. This is the cemetery oif Shikmona, which is from the Roman and Byzantine period.
A possible option for the source of the name of Haifa - the name of the High priest at the times of Jesus:
3:1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
3:2 Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.
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