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Bahá’í WORLD 169
A review of the progress of the Bahá’í construction projects on Mount Carmel in Haya.
THE MOUNT CARMEL PROJECTS: THE ARC AND TERRACES
he Bahá’í Faith is unique among the world's independent religions in having its spiritual and
administrative centers in the same location. This circumstance gains added significance from the fact that the site is in a Land uniquely sacred to the religious history of much of humankind. The Haifa/Acre area of modem Israel is home not only to the Shrines of both Baha'u'llah and His Forerunner, the Báb. but also to the rapidly expanding complex of institutions that administer the international affairs of the Faith. These structures are set in the midst of magnificent gardens that have become one of the leading tourist attractions of the Near East.
The development of their International Centre has been one of the great undertakings uniting Bahá’ís of the world ever since ‘Abdu'l—Baha's assumption of the leadership of the Faith on His Father‘s passing in 1892. During his own subsequent ministry as the Faith's Guardian. Shoghi Effendi regularly devoted a sigmficant‘portion of his time and attention to the successive building projects that beautifled the Shrine of Bahá‘u'lláh, erected the superstructure of the Shrine of the Báb and the seat of the International Archives, and beautified and extended the settings of these and other Bahá’í sacred sites in the area surrounding the Bay of Haifa.
The World Centre conceived by Bahá’u’lláh Himself was developed by ‘Abdu'l—Baha and Shoghi Effendi as a focus of pilgrimage for the Bahá’í world, a place whose
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spiritual significance and outward beauty would awaken in the hearts of the individual Bahá’ís the deepest sense of identification with the mission of the Founders of their Faith. As well. the nine days the present-day pilgrim spends there. visiting the Shrines and other Bahá’í sacred places and historical sites. in the company of fellow Bahá’ís who have come together from the four comers of the globe. provide an experience of the oneness of humankind that lies at the heart of Bahá’u’lláh's message.
Four times. following His eventual release from confinement, Bahá’u’lláh visited Mount Camel. On one of these visits, towards the end of His life. He set in motion the process that was intended to trahsform the face of the mountain and prepare it to serve as the spiritual and administrative focus of the World Order He was calling into being. On a promontory near the cave of Elijah. Bahá’u’lláh revealed the Tablet of Carmel, the document that was to serve as the charter for the development of the institutions of the Faith at its World Centre:
Haste thee. O Camel. for 10. the light of the countenance of God. the Ruler of the Kingdom of Names and Fashioner of the heavens. hath been lifted upon thee Rejoice. for God hath In this Day established upon thee His throne. hath made thee the dawning—place of His signs and the daysprlng of the evidences of His Revelation Hasten forth and circumambulate the City of God that has descended from heaven Ere long will God sail His Ark upon theev and will manifest the people of 8311?: Who have been mentioned 1n the Book of Names.l
On another occasion. as He stood on the slopes of Mount Carmel. Bahá’u’lláh pointed out to ‘Abdu'l—Baha the very spot which was to serve as the site for the construction of the permanent resting place for the remains of the Báb. His martyred Herald—a task completed by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in 1909.
Acting on the guidance of the writings of Baha'u'llah and ‘Abdu’lvBaha. Shoghi Effendi took two major design decisions that have guided the developments that have slowly unfolded on Mount Carmel during the years since his passing. The first was to trace the outline of a path. in the shape of an are
1. Bahá’u’lláh. Tables of Bahli'u'lláh Revealed after the Kitfib-i-Aqdas (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust. 1988). 3—5.
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stretching across gardens east of the Shrine of the Báb and immediately above the group of monuments that mark the resting places of the daughter. the martyred son. and the wife of Bahá’u’lláh. The “far-flung are," as Shoghi Effendi termed it. was to serve as the site along which buildings for the principal administrative institutions of the World Centre would be erected. The second decision was to choose a classical 'Greek design for the International Bahá’í Archives Building. the first of the edifices on the Arc which. he announced. would follow a “harmonizing style of architecture." The Greek style. he said. had “stood the test of time." and he regarded it as befitting the nature of the administrative institutions to be housed at the World Centre.
In 1975. ground was broken for the erection of the central edifice on the Are. the Seat of the Universal House of Justice. the institution established by Baha'u'llah as the supreme legislative body of His Faith. This institution occupied its new home in January. 1983. The building's rooftop promenade offers not
Left: Excavations for the terraces above the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel.
Below: The large supporting wall for the Centre for the Study of the Texts. located between the Seat of the Universal House of Justice and the International Archives Building.
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Above: Excavations for the International Teaching Centre where 175 mlcropllcs were installed dunng the Holy YeaL
Left: Earthwork on the five terraces Immediately beiow Lhe Shrine of the Bab was completed during the Holy Year.
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The Holy Year witnessed significant progress on the construction on the new bridge spanning Abbas Street below the Shrine of Lhe Báb.
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only a stunning View of Mount Carmel and the curve of the Bay of Haifa beyond. but also a vantage point from which the visitor can gain a perspective on the complex of gardens and buildings taking shape across the slopes of the mountain.
On 30 April 1987. the House of Justice announced that the way was now open for the erection of the remaining administrative edifices. The Bahá’í world was called on to respond sacrificially to the financial needs of this vast undertaking. In addition to an extension of the International Archives and initial preparations for the eventual erection of the International Library, the Arc Project would entail construction of the Centre for the Study of the Texts and the International Teaching Centre. as designed by architect Husayn Amanatt
A parallel project, designed by architect Fanborz Sahba. would involve the raising of a series of nine majestic terraces leading up Carmel from the bottom of the mountain to the Shrine of the Báb. and nine additional terraces continuing on to the ridge of the mountain. Gardens. sweeping stone balu5w trades. monumental staircases and fountains will transform the face of the mountain into one of the most spectacular beauty spots on the shores of the Mediterranean.
‘ Left: The public promenade on Yefe Nof street at the top
of the mountain over looking the terraces.
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To a greater extent perhaps than any other feature of this enormous project. the terraces dramatize ‘Abdu'l—Baha's and Shoghi Effendi's vision of the role that the Bahá’í World Centre will play in the emergence of the global society that Bahá’u’lláh's writings describe. Up this majestic ascending avenue will come those pilgrim kings and rulers who will in time recognize and accept Baha'u'llah's message. Having' paid their tributes at the Shrine of the Founder of the Faith. across the Bay in Acre, as Shoghi Effendi has written:
They will then make their way to this august and venerated city. and climb the slopes of Mount Carmel. With the utmost rapture. ardor and devotion. they will hasten toward this Sacred Spot and. with reverence and submissiveness. humility and lowliness. ascend these terraces to approach the luminous precincts of the sanctified and holy Shrine.
PROGRESS DURING THE HOLY YEAR. 1992-1993
The Holy Year was marked by a significant acceleration of the work on both the Arc and the terraces project. By Riḍván 1993 the entire face of the mountain had taken on the appearance of a vast construction site extending about one kilometer in width. The enormous excavations. some 35 meters deep. are among the largest of their type in Israel.
Earthwork on the five terraces immediately below the Shrine of the Báb was completed during the Holy Year. and work began on the next two terraces. entailing the constmction of a new bridge extending across ‘Abbas street. which bisects the flight of lower terraces.
A new phase of the projects began in December with the signing of contracts for excavations for the International Teaching Centre and the earthworks required for four of the upper terraces to rise above the Shrine. Within an impressively short time a wall of 200 micropiles had been installed on the site of the International Teaching Centre and some 10,000 cubic meters of rock, which had been removed from this location, had been used to supplement the support needed for several of the upper terraces.
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The design aspects of the enterprise moved ahead with equal speed. By Riḍván 1993 the design {or the International Teaching Centre had been completed and the production of the required drawings and associated technical specifications had begun in earnest. Drawings for the Centre for the Study of the T exts and the extension to the Archives arrived during the Rielvz'm festival itself.
No less important in the overall process was the publication in February 1993, in the official Gazette of the Government of Israel. of the proposed town planning scheme for the area covering the Bahá’í properties on Mount Carmel. The original town plan had not recognized the Bahá’í development and beautification projects, and the major revision in the February publication makes it possible to go ahead with the steps needed to secure the approval of the remaining government agencies.
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When completed. the Arc and Terraces, together with the monumental edifices for which they provide the setting. will stand as an embodiment of the will and commitment of a global community that represents a cross—section of humanity itself.
Below: The extension of the terrace of the Shrine of the Bab.
