Daliyat al Karmel

History

In 1283 both Daliyat al-Karmel and Kh. Doubel (just south of Daliyat al-Karmel) were mentioned as part of the domain of the Crusaders, according to the hudna between the Crusaders in Acre and the Mamluk sultan Qalawun.

In 1870 a local guide showed French explorer Victor Guérin extensive ruins located south of Daliyat al-Karmel, called Khirbet Doubel. The ruins were the most extensive on Mt. Carmel. Guérin thought it might be the town on Mt. Carmel mentioned by Pliny. Conder and Kitchener surveyed the area and noted "traces of ruins" at a place SE of the village centre called Dubil. Later excavations have found remains there from Iron Age I, Early Roman and Byzantine periods, together with pottery from first century to the second–third centuries CE.

Ottoman era

In the 17th century, during the Ottoman period, Druze came from the hill country near Aleppo, Syria to Daliyat al-Karmel (lit. “Vine of the Carmel"), and in 1859 they were numbered by the English Consul Rogers to be 300 souls, who tilled twenty feddans.

In 1870, the French explorer Victor Guérin visited the village. He found four hundred inhabitants, all Druze. The houses were mostly built of adobe, with only a few stone houses. The locals worshipped inside a cave, where the explorer was not allowed.

In 1881, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine described the village as a "stone village of moderate size on a knoll of one of the spurs running out of the main watershed of Carmel. On the south there is a well, and fine springs on the west, near Umm esh Shukf. On the north is a little plain or open valley cultivated with corn (Merjat ed Dalieh). The inhabitants are all Druses." In the mid-1880s the population was estimated at 620 Druze.

British Mandate era

In the 1922 census of Palestine conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Daliat al-Carmel had a population of 993; 921 Druse and 21 Christians, increasing in the 1931 census when Daliet el Karmil had a population of 1173; 1154 Druse, 11 Christians and 8 Muslims, in a total of 236 houses.

In 1945 the population of Daliyat al-Karmel consisted of 2,060 Arabs, (20 Christians and 2,040 classified as "Others", that is: Druze) and the land area was 31,730 dunams, according to an official land and population survey. Of this, 1,506 dunams were designated for plantations and irrigable land, 18,174 for cereals, while 60 dunams were built-up areas.

State of Israel

An Israeli census conducted in November 1948 found 2,932 residents. At the end of 1951 the figure dropped to 2,769. The town was granted local council status in 1951. In 2003, Dalyat was merged with nearby Isfiya to create Carmel City. In 2008, the communities became separate once again. The town is famous for its colorful market.

In 2010, El Al, Israel's national airline, named one of its Boeing 767 airplanes Daliyat al-Karmel. Sheikh Muafak Tarif, leader of the Druze community, was presented with a miniature model of the plane at a special ceremony.

Landmarks

The shrine of Abu Ibrahim, whom the Druze consider a prophet, is in the oldest part of the town. Close by, is the home of Sir Laurence Oliphant, who spent his summers there in the 1880s with his wife Alice, and his secretary Naftali Herz Imber.

The Muharka Monastery located 2 kilometer southeast to Dalyat al-Karmel and marks the battle between prophet Elijah and the prophets of the Ba'al, it is belonging to the Carmelite Order.

The Carmel Center for Druze Heritage is a hands-on museum of the history, religion and culture of the Druze.

In 2011, the Garden of the Mothers was inaugurated in Daliyat al-Karmel, symbolizing the sisterhood of Christian, Druze, Jewish, and Muslim women who work together in northern Israel. Forty-four trees were planted in memory of the 44 Israel Prison Services personnel who died in the Mount Carmel forest fire in 2010.

Culture and sports

In 2012, a tennis school financed by the Freddie Krivine Foundation opened in Daliyat al-Karmel and 12 youngsters take part in a weekly co-existence program with children at the Israel Tennis Center in Yokneam.

Mevo Carmel high-tech park

Daliyat al-Karmel and Isfiya joined Yokneam Illit and the Megiddo Regional Council to develop the Mevo Carmel Jewish-Arab Industrial Park to benefit from the existing high-tech ecosystem.

Twin cities

In 2007, Daliyat al-Karmel signed a partnership agreement with Ungheni, Moldova. In 2008, the Ambassador of Moldova, Larisa Miculet visited Daliyat al-Karmel at the invitation of the mayor, Akram Hasson.

Notable residents