Migdal Afek (), also Migdal Tsedek (Tzedek, Zedek; ), is a national park on the southeastern edge of

Rosh HaAyin Rosh HaAyin (; ) is a city in the Central District of Israel. It is located in the eastern ravine of the Sharon River, opposite the Samaria Mountains. The city is named after its location at the source of the Yarkon River (“Ras” meaning sou ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. The ruins of a fortified manor house built by a sheikh during the 19th century, among which remains of the Crusader castle of Mirabel can be seen, are today known in Hebrew as Migdal Afek or Migdal Tsedek. Abstract se
here
(accessed 6 Nov 2024). Download availabl
at Academia.edu
It is the site of the depopulated Palestinian village of

Majdal Yaba Majdal Yaba () was a Palestinian Arab village in the Ramle Subdistrict, northeast of Ramla and east of Jaffa. A walled Jewish settlement name Migdal Aphek (; Ancient Greek: ''Αφεχού πύργος'') stood at the same site as early as th ...

Etymology

Migdal Aphek (;

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

: ''Αφεχού πύργος'', 'Aphek Pyrgos') means 'Tower of Aphek' in both those languages. Migdal Tsedek means "Tower of Sadek" in Hebrew, referring to the name of Sheikh Sadek al-Rayyan.

History

The walled Jewish settlement of Migdal Aphek or Afek stood at the site as early as the second century BCE, and was destroyed by the Romans during the

First Jewish–Roman War The First Jewish–Roman War (66–74 CE), also known as the Great Jewish Revolt, the First Jewish Revolt, the War of Destruction, or the Jewish War, was the first of three major Jewish rebellions against the Roman Empire. Fought in the prov ...

in 67 CE. From a Byzantine-period church, a lintel set over a stone-built doorway survives, bearing the Greek inscription "ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΟΝ ΤΟΥ ΑΓΙΟΥ ΚΗΡΥΚΟΥ", ''Martyr shrine (

martyrion A ''martyrium'' (Latin) or ''martyrion'' (Greek) (: ''martyria)'', sometimes anglicized martyry (: "martyries"), is a church or shrine built over the tomb of a Christian martyr. It is associated with a specific architectural form, centered on ...

) of Saint Kyriko''.Nowakowski, Paweł (2017)
E03550: Greek building inscription for a shrine dedicated to Kyrikos (child martyr of Tarsus, S00007). Found at Medjdel-Yaba near Ras el-Ain, to the north of Diospolis/Lydda (Samaria, Roman province of Palaestina I). Probably 5th-7th c.

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, online resource. Based on Clermont-Ganneau (1896), p. 340. It refers to Kyrikos/Cyricus, child martyr of Tarsus (son of Ioulitta/Julitta). Retrieved 6 Nov 2024.Byeways in Palestine, James Finn
/ref> The room behind it was used by the al-Rayyan sheikh as a stable and for fodder storage. In the Crusader period, a castle named Mirabel was built at the site of ancient Migdal Afek. It was described in Muslim sources in 1225 as a village with a fortress called

. For a short time under Ottoman rule, its name was changed from that to Majdal Sadiq and then back again. In the 17th century, the village was taken over by the Rayyān family, who arrived from Transjordan and built a two-story manor house. During World War I, Migdal Afek was the site of battles between the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

(forces of the Ottoman, German, and Austro-Hungarian empires) and the British imperial

Egyptian Expeditionary Force The Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) was a military formation of the British Empire, formed on 10 March 1916 under the command of General Archibald Murray from the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force and the Force in Egypt (1914–1915), at the ...

In de 1940s, the Solel Boneh quarry at Migdal Tzedek was used by Ta'as, the underground Jewish arms industry, for testing the first weapons it produced. Sacharov, Eliahu (2004). ''Out of the Limelight: Events, Operations, Missions, and Personalities in Israeli History'', p. 19, Gefen Publishing House Ltd. The Arab village was depopulated by the IDF in July 1948, during the

Nakba The Nakba () is the ethnic cleansing; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; of Palestinian Arabs through their violent displacement and dispossession of land, property, and belongings, along with the destruction of their s ...

References

{{Authority control National parks of Israel Crusader castles Castles and fortifications of the Kingdom of Jerusalem Castles in Israel Protected areas of Central District (Israel) Buildings and structures in Central District (Israel)

Etymology

History

See also

References