Charles Ellicott Commentary 1 Samuel 15:12

"And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a monument, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal." — 1 Samuel 15:12 (ASV)

And when Samuel rose early ... —After the revelations of that sad night, the prophet rose, and at once went to seek the guilty king. He was told Saul had come to Carmel, identical with Kurmul in Judah, to the south-east of Hebron; there the victorious monarch had erected a monument of his victory, literally, a hand.

In 2 Samuel 18:18, Absalom’s Pillar is styled Absalom’s Hand (yad), not “place,” as in the English Version. It has been suggested that very likely these victory cairns or columns erected by the Hebrews had a hand engraved upon them.