Wikipedia

Tel Afek

For the site nearRosh HaAyinin central Israel, seeAntipatris.
For other uses, seeAfek (disambiguation).

Tel Afek,(Hebrew:תל אפק), also spelled Aphek and Afeq, is anarchaeological sitelocated in the coastal hinterland of theEin Afek Nature Reserve,east ofKiryat Bialik,Israel.It is also known as Tel Kurdani.[1]

Tel Afek
תל אפק
Afek Crusader mill and fortified tower
Tel Afek is located in Israel
Tel Afek
Shown within Israel
Alternative nameApheq,
Recordane (Crusader);
Kerdanah (Mamluk);
Kufrdani, Kurdany, Kh. Khurdaneh (Ottoman);
Kordaneh, Mathanat Kurdani (British Mandate);
LocationIsrael
Coordinates32°50′46″N35°06′43″E/ 32.846072°N 35.111969°E/32.846072; 35.111969
Grid position160/250PAL
History
PeriodsMiddle Bronze Age - Crusader period
General view of Ein Afek Crusader's dam and ponds

History

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Chalcolithic

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The site has remains dating back to theChalcolithicage.[citation needed]

Bronze Age

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Tombs from theMiddle Bronze Ageand Late Bronze Ages have been excavated here.[2]

A number of burial caves cut into chalk-like bedrock are dated to Middle Bronze Age IIA and are believed to have been reused during Late Bronze Age II. The pottery assemblage consists of vessel types from the Early, Middle and Late Bronze periods, with the later pottery finds presenting both local types and imports, such as Cypriot ‘milk bowls’ and bilbils as well as a few Mycenaean vessels.[3]

Classical Age

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The site is what remains of thebiblicaltown ofAphikor Aphek, which is mentioned inJoshua 19:30(as "Apheq" ) andJudges 1:31(as "Aphīq" ), belonging to theTribe of Asher.[4][5]According toBiblical history,this area was part ofCabuland was given toHiram IbySolomonas a reward for various services rendered to him in building theFirst Temple.1 Kings 9:12.[6]

Pottery from thePersian,[7]Hellenistic[2][7]Roman,[7]and theByzantineeras have been found here.[7]

Crusader/Mamluk era

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Pottery from theCrusader timeshave been found here.[7] In the Crusader era, it was known asRecordane,and in 1154, the mill and village was acquired theHospitalliers.[8]The Hospitalliers owned the water mills here for a number of years.[9]Between 1235 and 1262 the Hospitalliers had a dispute with theTemplarsabout water rights.[10]

Twoaqueducts,dating from this era, have been excavated.[2]

In 1283 it was still part of the Crusader states, as it was mentioned as part of their domain in thehudnabetween the Crusaders based inAcreand theMamluksultanQalawun.[11][12]

According toal-Maqrizi,it had come underMamlukrule in 1291, when it was mentioned under the name ofKerdanahwhen sultanal-Ashraf Khalilallocated the village's income to awaqfinCairo.[13][14]

A two-story fortress still stands. A water-powered flour mill operated on the lower floor.[15]

Tel Afek fortress 1926

Ottoman era

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Incorporated into theOttoman Empirein 1517, it appeared under the nameKufrdaniin thecensusof 1596, located in theNahiyaofAccaof theLiwaofSafad.The village was noted as "hali" (empty), but taxes were paid, a total of 1,800akçe.All of the revenues went to awaqf.[16][17]The stair to the tower roof of the mill, and two more wheel-chambers in the southern part of the mill was added in the Ottoman period.[15]

In 1856 it was namedKurdanyonKiepert's map of Palestinepublished that year.[18]

In 1875Victor Guérinvisited, and noted aboutTell el-Kerdaneh:"To the north and bottom of thistell,along the marsh, we observe the remains of an enclosure which measured 54 steps long by 40 wide, and which seems to have been that of a fortifiedkhan.All the walls have been removed; the inner blockage alone partly remained. "[19]About the surrounding march, and mill, he noted that it was the origin of theNahr Na'min,and "These springs, at their origin, are immediately abundant enough to form a considerable river and to turn the millstones of a millstone. Near this mill, we note the lower foundations of an old bridge and the remains of a tower pierced with loopholes andogival vaults.It had two floors, and was built withashlarson which many crosses were traced, and some at a height that the hand cannot reach. Therefore, these crosses could not be engraved there by passing travelers, who would have needed a ladder to place them so high, but they must go back to the time when this tower was occupied by Christians, and most likely date from the time of the Crusades. Above the front door was a mâchecoulis balcony, the trace of which is very visible. "[20]

In 1881, thePEF'sSurvey of Western Palestine(SWP)found atKh. Khurdaneh(east of the mill) only heaps of stones.[21]The name, Kh. Kurdâneh was taken to meanthe ruin of Kurdâneh,p.n.[22]

In 1900,Gottlieb Schumacherfound here markings on the mill which he took to bePhoenician.[23]

British Mandate era

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The area was acquired by the Jewish community under theSursock Purchase.In 1925 a Zionist organisation purchased 1,500dunumsinKordaneh,from Alfred Sursuk, of theSursuk familyofBeirut.At the time, there were 20 families living there.[24]

In the1931 census of Palestine,Mathanat Kurdaniwas counted underShefa-'Amr.[25]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Avner Kessler and Uri Kafri (2007). "Application of a cell model for operational management of the Na'aman groundwater basin, Israel".Israel Journal of Earth Sciences.56:29–46.doi:10.1560/ijes.56.1.29.
  2. ^abcPorat, 2010,Tel Afeq (East)
  3. ^Atiqot 2008
  4. ^Oxford Bible Atlas By Adrian Curtis, page 206
  5. ^The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography, ByYohanan Aharoni,page 430
  6. ^"Ein Afek nature reserve"(PDF).Israel Parks and Nature Authority. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2016-08-03.Retrieved2017-01-25.
  7. ^abcdeAbu Raya and Porat, 2012,Tel Afeq (Northeast)
  8. ^Röhricht, 1893, RRHNo 293;cited in Pringle, 1997, p.64
  9. ^Röhricht, 1893, RRHNo 293;RRHNo 1062;RRH AdNo 1319a;RRHNo 1322;all cited in Frankel, 1988, p. 261
  10. ^Pringle, 1997, p.64
  11. ^Theal-Qalqashandiversion of thehudna,referred in Barag, 1979, p. 205, #28
  12. ^Khamisy, 2013, p. 94, #37
  13. ^al-Maqrizi, 1845, vol 2, p.131
  14. ^Barag, 1979, p. 203
  15. ^abPringle, 1997, pp.62-64
  16. ^Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 192
  17. ^Note that Rhode, 1979, p.6Archived2019-04-20 at theWayback Machinewrites that the Safad register that Hütteroth and Abdulfattah studied was not from 1595/6, but from 1548/9.
  18. ^Kiepert, 1856,Map of Southern Palestine
  19. ^Guérin, 1880, p.430
  20. ^Guérin, 1880, p.428
  21. ^Conder and Kitchener, 1881, SWP I, p.314
  22. ^Palmer, 1881, p.112
  23. ^Schumacher, 1900, p.360
  24. ^List of villages sold by Sursocks and their partners to the Zionists since British occupation of Palestine,evidence to theShaw Commission,1930
  25. ^Mills, 1932,p. 96(PDF)

Bibliography

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