2. (Sept XepftiK in Josh., 6 Kap/xf|Xoc in Sam. and Chron.) A town in the mountainous country of Ju^ dab (Josh, xv, 66), the residence of Nabal (1 Sam. XXV, 2, 6, 7, 40), and the native place of David*s fii- vorite wife, "Abigail the Carmelitess" (1 Sara, xxvii, 3 ; 1 Chron. iii, 1). Thb was doubtless the Carmel at which Saul set up a " place** (^^, a hand; compare 2 Sam. xviii, 18, "Absalom's place,'* where the same word b used) after hb victory over Amalek (1 Sam. XV, 12). This Carmel, and not the northern mount, must also have been the spot at which king Uzziah had hb vineyards (2 Chron xxvi, 10). In the time of Eusebius and Jerome it was the seat of a Boman garrison {Onomast, s. v. KappaiKoQ, Carmelus). The place appears in the wars of the Crusades, having been held by king Amalrich against Sabdin in 1172 (Wil- liam of Tjrre, De Bello Sacro, 80; in Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 993). The ruins of the town, now Kur- mul, still remain at ten miles below Hebron, in a slightly south-east direction, close to those of Main (Maon), Zif (Ziph), and other places named with Car- mel in Josh. XV, 66. They are described both by Rob- hison (Bib. Res, ii, 196-201 ; Bib, Sacr. 1848, p. 60) and by Van de Velde (Narrative, ii, 77-79), and appear to be of great extent. They lie around the semicircular head and along the shelving sides of a little valley, which b shut in by rugged limestone rocks. The houses are all in ruins, and their sites are covered with heaps of rubbbh and hewn stones. In the centre of the valley b a large artificial reservoir, supplied by a
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fountain among the neighboring rocks. This is men- tioned in the account of king Amalrich*B occupation of the place, and now gives the name of K(ur el'Bir* kehto & ruined castle of great strength, situated west- ward of the reservoir, on high ground, the most re- markable object in the place. Its walls are ten feet thick ; their sloping basement and bevelled masonry are evidently of Jewish origin, probably the work of Herod. The interior was remodelled, and the upper part rebuilt by the Saracens. Beside it are the ruins of a massive roQnd tower. Around and among the ruins of the locality are the foundations of several old churches, showing that the town had at one period a large Christian population. (See Seetzen, Reuey iii, 8, 9; Porter, Handbook for Syria, p. 61; Schwarz, Pa^ lest. p. 106.) See Cabmblitb.
Car'melite (Heb. KarmeU% ""^^"p^), the designa- tion of Nabal (Sept. Kap/iJJXfoc, 1 Sam. xxvii, 8 • xxx, 6 ; 2 Sam. ii, 2) and his wife Abigail (Sept. Kap/iiyXta, A. V. '*Carmelitess," 2 Sam. iii,. 3; 1 Chron. iii, 1); as also of one of David's warriors, Hezrai (Sept. Kap- finXioQt 2 Sam. xxiii, 86) or Hezro (Sept KapfiiaSi, 1 Chron. xi, 87); doubtless as being inhabitants of Cab- MEL (q. V.) in Judah (Josh, xv, 55).
CarmeliteB, the monastic order of " St. Mary of Mount Carmel." It was founded as an association of hermits by Berthold, count of Limoges, about 1156, on Mount Carmel, and received its first rule in 1209 from Albert, patriarch of Jerusalem, to whose diocese Mount Carmel belonged, which rule was sanctioned .by Pope Honorius III in 1224. The rule was founded on that of St. Basil, and enjoined that the prior be elected unani- mously or by majority ; to have places in deserts, sep- arate cells, common refectory ; all to remain in their cells meditating by day and night, excepting when at fit hours, in church, etc. ; to have all things common ; no flesh allowed save to the sick ; fast from Holyrood to Easter every day except to the sick; to observe chastity, to labor, and to keep silence from after Com- pline till Prime. The habit was at first White, as well as the mantle, of which the bottom was laced thick with yellow bands, an ornament suppressed by Hono- rius IV. They then assumed the robe of the Minims, and a white mantle. The Carmelites were also known by the name ot Barred or Barry Friars {Frsres Barrez\ because of the ftarred dress of black and white which the Saracens, when they took possession of the East, com- pelled them to wear, instead of the white dress, white being with them a mark of distinction. They came to Europe in 1238, and had seven establishments in Eng- land. The first General Chapter was held in 1245 hi England, after which, through the activity of their general, Simon Stock, and the protection of Innocent IV, they spread with great rapidity. From Innocent IV they received, in 1247, a new rule, which was bet- ter suited for their new situation, and which classed them among the mendicant orders. Instigated by the desire to excel their rivals, they invented the most absurd legends. They pretended that the prophet Elijah had been the founder of their order and the Vir- gin Mary a member, wherefore they called themselves Fratres Beata Maries de Monte Carmelo. The succes- sion of the generals of the order, according to their historians, has never been interrupted since the proph- et Elijah. They were duly castigated and ridiculed for such pretensions by the Jesuits, and particularly by the learned Bollandist Papebroch. Still the Church never decided against them; Pope Innocent FV im- posed silence on both parties, and the fables of the CarmeUtes can be read in their liturgical books to this day.