Tel Afek

Tel Afek, (), also spelled Aphek and Afeq, is an archaeological site located in the coastal hinterland of the Ein Afek Nature Reserve, east of Kiryat Bialik, Israel. It is also known as Tel Kurdani.

History
The site is what remains of the biblical town of Aphik, which is mentioned in the  and  as belonging to the Tribe of Asher. According to  Biblical history, this area was part of Cabul and was given to Hiram I by Solomon as a reward for various services rendered to him in building the First Temple. .

Chalcolithic
Remains from the Chalcolithic age.

Bronze Age
There are tombs from the Middle Bronze Age and  Late Bronze Ages have been excavated here.

Classical Period
Pottery from the   Persian,  Hellenistic  Roman,  and the  Byzantine   eras have been found here.

Crusader/Mamluk era
Pottery from the   Crusader times  have been found here.
In  the Crusader era,  it was known as Recordane, and in  1154, the mill and village was acquired  the Hospitalliers.  The Hospitalliers owned the water mills here for a number of years.  Between 1235 and 1262 the Hospitalliers had a dispute with the Templars about water rights. 

Two aqueducts, dating from this era, have been excavated.

In 1283 it was still  part of the Crusader states, as it was mentioned as part of their domain in the hudna between the Crusaders based in Acre and the Mamluk sultan  Qalawun.

According to al-Maqrizi, it had come under Mamluk rule in 1291, when it was mentioned under the name of  Kerdanah  when  sultan al-Ashraf Khalil allocated the village's income to a waqf in Cairo.

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

Ottoman era
Incorporated into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, it appeared under the name Kufrdani   in the census of 1596,  located  in the Nahiya of Acca of the Liwa of Safad. The village was noted as "hali" (empty), but taxes were paid, a total of 1,800 akçe. All of the revenues went to a waqf.  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.

In 1856 it was named Kurdany on the map of Southern Palestine that Heinrich Kiepert published that year.

In  1881, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP)  found at Kh. Khurdaneh (east of the mill)  only heaps of stones. The name, Kh. Kurdâneh was taken to mean the ruin of Kurdâneh, p.n. 

In 1900, Gottlieb Schumacher found here markings on the mill which he took to be Phoenician.

British Mandate era
In 1925 a Zionist organisation purchased  1,500 dunums in Kordaneh, from Alfred Sursuk, of  the Sursuk family of Beirut.  At the time, there were 20 families living there.

In the 1931 census of Palestine,  Mathanat Kurdani was counted under  Shefa-'Amr.

Ein Afek nature reserve
The Ein Afek nature reserve, declared in 1979, covers 366 dunams. An additional 300 dunams were declared in 1994.
The highlights of the park include the Crusader fortress and the natural water canals and lake, which draw their waters from the year-long flowing springs of Afek, which are the source of the Naaman river.

See also
 Archaeology of Israel

References

Bibliography

 
 
 
 

  

Ornan, Tallay, 2007, "Labor Pangs: The Revadim Plaque Type", in Bickel, S., Schroer, S. and Uehlinger, Ch. (eds.), Bilder als Quellen / Images as Sources. Studies on Ancient Near Eastern Artefacts and the Bible inspired by the work of Othmar Keel, OBO Special Volume, Fribourg and Göttingen, 2007, pp. 215–235, pl.XXIV.  
 

 

 

 
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External links 
Survey of Western Palestine, Map 5:    IAA, Wikimedia commons

Category:Archaeological sites in Israel
Category:Ramsar sites in Israel
Category:Nature reserves in Israel
Category:Bronze Age palaces in Israel
Category:Former populated places in Southwest Asia
Tel Afek
Tel Afek
Category:Castles and fortifications of the Knights Hospitaller
Category:Castles and fortifications of the Knights Templar