The earliest named settlement within the domain of modern @-@ day Haifa was a city known as Sycaminum . Tel Shikmona Hebrewed meaning " mound of the Ficus sycomorus " ( Arabic Tell el @-@ Semak or Tell es @-@ Samak , meaning " mound of the fish " ) preserved and transformed this ancient name and is mentioned once in the Mishnah ( composed c . 200 CE ) for the wild fruits that grow around it . , with locals using it to refer to a coastal tell at the foot of the Carmel Mountains that contain its remains .