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"Haifa"
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
The Largest City in Northern Israel
Fifth Day of my Holy Land Trip, Mount Zion, Jerusalem
My Holy Land Trip
"Haifa"
The Largest City in Northern Israel
Bahai hanging Gardens, Haifa, Northern Israel:
Haifa is the largest city in
northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of
over 291,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the
city including Daliyat al-Karmel,
the Krayot, Nesher, Tirat Carmel, and some Kibbuzim. Together these areas form a
contiguous urban area home to nearly 600,000 residents which makes up the inner
core of the Haifa metropolitan
area. It is also home to the Bahá'í
World Centre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
On the way to Haifa from Caesarea:
Built on the slopes of Mount Carmel, the history of
settlement at the site spans more than 3,000 years. The earliest known
settlement in the vicinity was Tell
Abu Hawam, a small port city established in the Late Bronze Age (14th century BCE). In the 3rd century CE, Haifa was known
as a dye-making center. Over the centuries, the city has changed hands; it has
been conquered and ruled by the Phoenicians,
Persians, Hasmoneans, Romans, Byzantines,
Arabs, Crusaders, Ottomans, Britain, and Israelis. Since the establishment
of the State of Israel in 1948; the city has been governed by the Haifa
Municipality.
On the way to Haifa from Caesarea:
Today, the city is a major seaport located on Israel's Mediterranean coastline in the Bay of Haifa covering 63.7 square kilometers
(24.6 sq mi). It is located about 90 kilometers (56 mi) north of Tel Aviv and is the major regional center of northern Israel. Two respected
academic institutions, the University
of Haifa and the Technion, are located in Haifa, and
the city plays an important role in Israel's economy.
It is home to Matam, one of the oldest and largest high-tech parks in the
country. Haifa Bay is a center of
heavy industry, petroleum refining and chemical processing. Haifa was formerly
the western terminus of an oil
pipeline from Iraq via Jordan.
Israeli Army head quarters on the way to Haifa, Israel:
The earliest named settlement within the domain of
modern-day Haifa was a city known as Sycaminum. The Arabic “Tell el-Semak” ("mound of the fish")
preserved and transformed this ancient name, with locals using it to refer to a
coastal tell at the foot of the Carmel Mountains
that contains its remains. In Hebrew, it is known as Tel Shiqmona or Shikmonah. Shiqmona is mentioned once in the Mishnah for the wild fruits that grow
around it.
Carmel Beach Hotel, David Elazar Street, Haifa, Israel:
The name Efa first appears during Roman rule, sometime after the end of
the 1st century, when a Roman fortress and small Jewish settlement were
established not far from Tell es-Samak. Haifa
is also mentioned more than 100 times in the Talmud,
a book central to Judaism. Hefa or Hepha in Eusebius
of Caesarea's 4th-century work, Onomasticon,
is said to be another name for Sycaminus. This synonymizing of the names is
explained by Moshe Sharon who writes that the twin ancient settlements, which
he calls Haifa-Sycaminon,
gradually expanded into one another, becoming a twin city known by the Greek
names Sycaminon or Sycaminos
Polis. References to this city
end with the Byzantine period.
Street beside the Mediterranean Sea, Haifa, the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, Israel:
Around the 6th century, Porphyreon or Porphyrea is mentioned in the writings of William of Tyre, and while it lies
within the area covered by modern Haifa, it was a settlement situated south of
Haifa-Sycaminon.
Following the Arab conquest in the 7th
century, Haifa was used to refer to a site
established on Tell es-Samak upon what were already the ruins of Sycaminon (Shiqmona) Haifa (or Haifah)
is mentioned by the mid-11th-century Persian chronicler Nasir Khusraw, and the 12th- and
13th-century Arab chroniclers, Muhammad
al-Idrisi and Yaqut al-Hamawi.
The tallest building in the view is The Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, a medical school that operates in Bat Galim neighborhood, Haifa Israel:
The Crusaders,
who captured Haifa briefly in the 12th century, call it Caiphas, and believe its name related to Cephas, the Greek name of Simon Peter. Eusebius is also said to have referred
to Hefa as Caiaphas
civitas, and Benjamin of Tudela, the 12th-century
Jewish traveler and chronicler, is said to have attributed the city's founding
to Caiaphas, the Jewish high
priest at the time of Jesus.
The tallest building in the view is The Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, a medical school that operates in Bat Galim neighborhood, Haifa Israel:
Haifa al-'Atiqa (Arabic: "Ancient Haifa") is
another name used by locals to refer to Tell
es-Samak, as it was the site of Haifa when it was a hamlet of 250 residents,
before it was moved in 1764-5 to a new fortified site founded by Daher el-Omar 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometers) to the
east. The new village, the
nucleus of modern Haifa, was originally named al-imara
al-jadida (Arabic: "the new
construction"), but locals called it Haifa
al-Jadida (Arabic: "New
Haifa") at first, and then simply Haifa.
Bat Galim neighborhood, Haifa Israel:
In early 20th century Haifa al 'Atiqa was repopulated as a predominantly Arab Christian neighborhood as it expanded outward from
its new location.
The ultimate origin of the name Haifa remains unclear. One theory holds it
derives from the name of the high priest Caiaphas. Some Christians believe it was named for Saint Peter, whose
Aramaic name was Keiphah. Another theory holds it could be
derived from the Hebrew verb root (hafa), meaning to cover or
shield, i.e. Mount Carmel covers Haifa; others
point to a possible origin in the Hebrew word חו
(hof), meaning shore, or (hof yafe), meaning beautiful shore.
Bahai, Haifa Israel:
A small port city known today as Tell Abu Hawam was established Late Bronze age (14th century BCE)
during the 6th century BCE, Greek geographer Scylax told of a city "between the bay
and the Promontory of Zeus" (the Carmel) which may be a reference to Shikmona, a locality in the Haifa
area, during the Persian period. By Hellenistic times, the city had moved to a new
site south of what is now Bat
Galim because the port's harbour
had become blocked with sand. About the 3rd century CE, the city was first
mentioned in Talmudic literature, as a Jewish fishing
village and the home of Rabbi Avdimi and other Jewish scholars. A Greek-speaking
population living along the coast at this time was engaged in commerce.
Shore of Mediterranean Sea, Bat Galim neighborhood, Haifa, Israel:
Haifa was located near the town of Shikmona, a center for making the
traditional Tekhelet dye used in the garments of the high
priests in the Temple. The archaeological
site of Shikmona is southwest of
Bat Galim. Mount Carmel and the Kishon River are also mentioned in the Bible. A grotto on the top of Mount Carmel is
known as the "Cave of
Elijah", traditionally linked to the Prophet Elijah and his apprentice, Elisha. In Arabic, the highest peak of the
Carmel range is called the Muhraka,
or "place of burning," harking back to the burnt offerings and
sacrifices there in Canaanite and early Israelite times
Near the Bahai hanging Gardens, Haifa, Israel:
Early Haifa is believed to have occupied the
area which extends from the present-day Rambam Hospital to the Jewish Cemetery
on Yafo Street. The inhabitants
engaged in fishing and agriculture.
Under Byzantine rule, Haifa continued to grow but did
not assume major importance. Following
the Arab conquest of Palestine in the 630s-40s, Haifa was largely overlooked in
favor of the port city of 'Akka. Under the Rashidun Caliphate, Haifa began to
develop. In the 9th century under the Umayyad and Abbasid
Caliphates, Haifa established trading relations with Egyptianports and the city featured
several shipyards. The inhabitants, Arabs and Jews,
engaged in trade and maritime commerce. Glass production and dye-making from
marine snails were the city's most lucrative industries.
The Terraces of the Bahá'í
Faith, also known as the Hanging Gardens of Haifa, are garden terraces around the Shrine of the Báb on Mount
Carmel in Haifa, Israel. They are one of the most visited tourist attractions in Israel.
The architect is Fariborz
Sahba from Iran; the structural engineers are Karban and Co. from Haifa.
Along with the Baha'i Holy
Places in Western Galilee, it is a UNESCO World
Heritage Site.
In front of the Bahai hanging Gardens, Haifa, Israel:
The terraces represent the first eighteen
disciples of the Báb, who were designated "Letter
of the Living", although no individual terraces are
connected with individual Letters.
Nine
concentric circles provide the main geometry of the eighteen terraces. Just as
the identification of a circle presupposes a center, so the terraces have been
conceived as generated from the Shrine of the Báb. The eighteen terraces plus
the one terrace of the Shrine of the Báb make nineteen terraces total. Nineteen is a significant number within both the Bahá'í and Bábí
religions.
In front of the Bahai hanging Gardens, Haifa, Israel:
Fariborz Sahba began work in 1987 designing the gardens and
oversaw construction. The terraces were opened to the public in June 2001. Beginning at its base, the gardens
extend almost a kilometer up the side of Mount Carmel, covering some 200,000
square meters of land. The gardens are linked by a set of stairs flanked by
twin streams of running water cascading down the mountainside through the steps
and terrace bridges.
In front of the Bahai hanging Gardens, Haifa, Israel:
The gardens have elements of the Persian paradise gardens, isolating the site from the noise of the surroundings
and connecting the different Bahá'í
buildings on Mount Carmel
together.
In front of the Bahai hanging Gardens, Haifa, Israel:
The irrigation system includes
a computer which, based on meteorological data it receives, controls hundreds
of valves to distribute water throughout the gardens by sprinkling and
dripping. This is done at night and in the early morning, to avoid wasting
water by evaporation. The water that flows alongside the stairs is circulating
in a closed system within each terrace, so that little water is wasted.
The Wonderful Bahai hanging Gardens, Haifa, Israel:
After the Declaration
of the Establishment of the State of Israel on
14 May 1948, Haifa became the gateway for Jewish immigration into Israel.
During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War,
the neighborhoods of Haifa were sometimes contested. After the war, Jewish
immigrants were settled in new neighborhoods, among them Kiryat Hayim, Ramot Remez, Ramat
Shaul, Kiryat Sprinzak, and Kiryat
Eliezer. Bnei Zion Hospital (formerly Rothschild Hospital) and the Central Synagogue in Hadar Hacarmel date from this period. In 1953, a
master plan was created for transportation and the future architectural layout.
The Wonderful Bahai hanging Gardens, Haifa, Israel:
In 1959, a group of Sephardi and Mizrahi
Jews, mostly Moroccan Jews,
rioted in Wadi Salib, claiming
the state was discriminating against them. Their
demand for “bread and work” was directed at the state institutions and what
they viewed as Ashkenazi elite in the Labor Party and the Histadrut.
Bahai, Haifa, Israel:
Tel Aviv gained
in status, while Haifa suffered a decline in the role as regional capital. The
opening of Ashdod as a port exacerbated this. Tourism
shrank when the Israeli Ministry of Tourism placed emphasis on developing Tiberius as a tourist Centre.
Bahai, Haifa, Israel:
Nevertheless, Haifa's population had reached
200,000 by the early 1970s, and mass immigration from the former Soviet Union boosted the population by a further
35,000.
Many of Wadi Salib's historic Ottoman
buildings have now been demolished, and in the 1990s a major section of the Old
City was razed to make way for a new municipal center.
The Sail Tower, 36 Independence Road, Feisel Square, Haifa, Israel:
From 1999 to 2003, several Palestinian suicide attacks took place in Haifa (in Maxim and Matza restaurants, bus 37, and others), killing 68
civilians. In 2006, Haifa was hit by 93 Hezbollah
rockets during the Second Lebanon War, killing 11
civilians and leading to half of the city's population fleeing at the end of
the first week of the war. Among the places hit by rockets were a train depot
and the oil refinery complex.
The Sail Tower, 36 Independence Road, Feisel Square, Haifa, Israel:
Haifa is situated on the Israeli Mediterranean Coastal Plain,
the historic land bridge between Europe, Africa, and Asia. Located
on the northern slopes of Mount
Carmel and around Haifa Bay, the city is split over
three tiers. The lowest is the center of commerce and industry including the Port of Haifa. The middle level is on the slopes of Mount
Carmel and consists of older residential neighborhoods, while the upper level
consists of modern neighborhoods looking over the lower tiers. From here views can be had across the Western Galilee region of Israel towards Rosh Ha Nikra and the Lebanese border. Haifa is about 90 kilometers
(55.9 mi) north of the city of Tel
Aviv, and has a large number of beaches on the Mediterranean.
Haifa, Israel:
The Carmel Mountain has three main wadis:
Lotem, Amik and Si’ach. For the most part these valleys are undeveloped natural
corridors that run up through the city from the coast to the top of the
mountain. Marked hiking paths traverse these areas and they provide habitat for
wildlife such as wild boar, golden
jackal, hyrax, Egyptian mongoose, owls and
chameleons.
Haifa has developed in tiers, from the lower
to the upper city on the Carmel. The oldest neighborhood in the modern Haifa is Wadi Salib, the Old City center near
the port, which has been bisected by a major road and razed in part to make way
for government buildings. Wadi
Salib stretches across toWadi Nisnas, the center of Arab life in Haifa today.
In the 19th century, under Ottoman rule, the German
Colony was built, providing the
first model ofurban planning in Haifa.
Some of the buildings have been restored and the colony has turned into a
center of Haifa nightlife.
