Editing Antipatris (section)

==History==
[[File:1תל אפק.JPG|thumb|Tel Afek]]
[[File:האגם_הגדול_בתל_אפק.jpg|thumb]]

===Aphek===
The [[Bronze Age]] saw the construction of defensive walls, {{convert|2.5|m|ft}} to {{convert|3.5|m|ft}} wide, and a series of palaces. One of these is described as an Egyptian governor residence of the 15th century BC, and within, an array of [[cuneiform]] tablets were found. Philistine ware is found in the site in 12th century BC layers.<ref name=EANE/>

Most scholars agree that there were more than one Aphek. While Tel-Aphek (Antipatris) is one of them, [[Claude Reignier Conder|C.R. Conder]] identified the Aphek of Eben-Ezer<ref>The account in 1 Samuel 4:1 of the battle at Aphek and Eben-ezer</ref> with a ruin (''Khirbet'') some {{convert|6|km|mi|order=flip}} distant from [[Dayr Aban]] (believed to be Eben-Ezer<ref>[[Claude Reignier Conder|C.R. Conder]], ''Notes from the Memoir'', [[Palestine Exploration Quarterly]], vol. 18, London 1876, p. 149; Conder & Kitchener, ''The Survey of Western Palestine'', vol. iii (Judaea), London 1883, p. 24</ref>), and known by the name ''Marj al-Fikiya''; the name ''al-Fikiya'' being an Arabic corruption of Aphek.<ref>{{cite journal |last=North |first=Robert |title= Ap(h)eq(a) and 'Azeqa|journal= Biblica|volume= 41|issue= 1|pages= 61–63 |jstor= 42637769|date=1960}}</ref> [[Eusebius]], when writing about Eben-ezer in his ''Onomasticon'', says that it is "the place from which the Gentiles seized the Ark, between Jerusalem and Ascalon, near the village of Bethsamys (Beit Shemesh),"<ref>''Eusebius Werke'', [[Erich Klostermann]] (ed.), Leipig 1904, p. 33,24.</ref> a locale that corresponds with Conder's identification.

The historian [[Josephus]] mentions a certain tower called ''Aphek'', not far from Antipatris, and which was burnt by a contingent of Roman soldiers.<ref>Josephus, ''[[The Jewish War]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0148%3Abook%3D2%3Awhiston+chapter%3D19%3Awhiston+section%3D1 2.19.1]</ref>

===Antipatris===
Antipatris was a city built by [[Herod the Great]], and named in honor of his father, [[Antipater the Idumaean|Antipater II of Judea]]. It lay between [[Caesarea Maritima]] and [[Lod|Lydda]], on the great Roman road from Caesarea to [[Jerusalem]],<ref name=cebd/> and figures prominently in Roman-era history. Today, the nearby river bears the town's old namesake in Arabic ({{langx|ar|نهر أبو فطرس|Nahr Abī Fuṭrus}}).

According to [[Josephus]], Antipatris was built on the site of an older town that was formerly called ''Chabarzaba'' ({{Langx|he|'''כפר סבא'''}}), a place so-named in classical Jewish literature and in the [[Mosaic of Rehob]].<ref>[[Josephus]], ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'' xvi.v.§2; xiii.xv.§1; cf. Jerusalem Talmud, ''Demai'' 2:1 (8a). In the [[Mosaic of Rehob]], the variant spelling is '''כפר סבה'''; Conder and Kitchener, SWP II, London 1881, [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/258/mode/1up pp. 258-ff.].</ref> During the outbreak of the Jewish war with Rome in 66 CE, the Roman army under [[Cestius Gallus|Cestius]] was routed as far as Antipatris.<ref>[[Josephus]], ''Wars of the Jews'' (book ii, chapter xix); (''Bell. Jud.'' ii. 14-20)</ref>

[[Paul the Apostle]] was brought by night from [[Jerusalem]] to Antipatris and next day from there to [[Caesarea Maritima]], to stand trial before the governor [[Antonius Felix]].<ref>{{bibleverse||Acts of the Apostles|23:31-32|ESV}}.</ref>

In 363, the city was badly damaged by an earthquake.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}} Only one of the early bishops of the Christian [[bishopric]] of Antipatris, a [[suffragan]] of Caesarea, is mentioned by name in extant documentation: Polychronius, who was present both at the [[Robber Council of Ephesus]] in 449 and the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451.<ref>Michel Lequien, [http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ucm.5319060892;view=1up;seq=300 ''Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus''], Paris 1740, Vol. III, coll. 579-582</ref> No longer a residential bishopric, Antipatris is today listed by the [[Catholic Church]] as a [[titular see]].<ref>''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 834</ref> 

On 27 April 750, the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] general [[Abd Allah ibn Ali]], uncle of Caliph [[al-Saffah]] ({{reign|750|754}}), marched to Antipatris ('Abu Futrus'). There, he summoned around eighty members of the [[Umayyad dynasty]], whom the Abbasids had toppled earlier that year, with promises of fair surrender terms, only to have them massacred.<ref name=Strange55>Le Strange (1890), pp. [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/55/mode/1up 55]-56.</ref><ref>Gil (1997), p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=M0wUKoMJeccC&pg=PA88 88].</ref>

===Ottoman Ras al-Ayn===
[[File:Aphek Yarkon park 271012 02.jpg|thumb|''Binar Bashi'', the Ottoman fortress at the head of the [[Yarkon River]]]]

[[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] records indicate that a [[Mamluk]] fortress may have stood on the site.<ref>Heyd, 1960, p.108. Cited in Petersen, 2001, p. [https://www.academia.edu/21620056/Gazetteer_5_K-R 257]</ref> However, the Ottoman fortress was built following the publication of a [[Firman (decree)|firman]] in AD 1573 (981 H.):<blockquote>"You have sent a letter and have reported that four walls of the fortress Ras al-Ayn have been built, [..] I have commanded that when [this firman] arrives you shall [..have built] the above mentioned rooms and [[mosque]] with its [[minaret]] and have the guards remove the earth outside and clean and tidy [the place].<ref>Heyd, 1960, pp. 107-108. Cited in Petersen, 2001, p. [https://www.academia.edu/21620056/Gazetteer_5_K-R 257]</ref></blockquote>

The Turkish name of the place and fortress, ''pınar başı'', means "fountain-head" or simply "head of the springs", much like the Arabic and Hebrew names (Ras al-Ayin and Rosh ha-Ayin, "head of the springs"). Pronounced by Arabic-speakers, it became "Binar Bashi" (Arabic has no "p").

The fortress was built to protect a vulnerable stretch of the Cairo-Damascus highway (the [[Via Maris]]), and was provided with 100 horsemen and 30 foot soldiers. The fortress was also supposed to supply soldiers to protect the [[hajj]] route.<ref>Heyd, 1960, p. 106. Cited in Petersen, 2001, p. [https://www.academia.edu/21620056/Gazetteer_5_K-R 257]</ref> The fortress is a massive rectangular enclosure with four corner towers and a gate at the centre of the west side. The south-west tower is octagonal, while the three other towers have a square ground plan.<ref>Petersen, 2002, p. [https://www.academia.edu/21620056/Gazetteer_5_K-R 255]</ref>

It appeared named ''Chateau de Ras el Ain'' on the map that [[Pierre Jacotin]] compiled in [[French campaign in Egypt and Syria|1799]].<ref>Karmon, 1960, p. [http://www.jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf 171] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222063351/http://jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf |date=2019-12-22 }}</ref>

The Arab peasants deserted the village in the 1920s.<ref>Khalidi, 1992, p. 396</ref>
[[File:Antipatris.jpg|thumb|Antipatris fort. 1948]]
[[File:Al MIrr 1941.jpg|thumb|Ras al Ein 1941 1:20,000]]

===Yarkon-Tel Afek national park===
Currently, the site of Antipatris is included in the national park "Yarkon-Tel Afek", under the jurisdiction of the [[Israel Nature and Parks Authority]], incorporating the area of the Ottoman fortress, the remains of the Roman city and the British water pumping station.