[b-hebrew] Aphek
Yigal Levin
leviny1 at mail.biu.ac.il
Wed Feb 4 01:06:29 EST 2009
----- Original Message -----
From: "George Athas" <George.Athas at moore.edu.au>
> Wow, I'm going to note this day down-the day I begged to differ with Yigal
> Levin: 4 February 2009...
>
> Yigal, isn't there at least two? There certainly seems to be at least one
> locality called Aphek in the north, either by Lake Galilee (Ein Gev?)
> and/or somewhere between Haifa and Akko?
>
>
No, I don't think that you do. You just mis-read my post. What I wrote was
that of the 5 Apheks mentioned in the Bible, the Apheks of Josh. 12, 1 Sam.
4 and 1 Sam. 29 are all the same.
Following is the text on the entry for Aphek, that I've written for the
forthcoming Encyclopedia of the Bible and its Reception (EBR; De Gruyther;
Berlin). It's long, but no-one but you, Karl and Jim has to read it. The
Aphek that we're discussing in no. 4.
Aphek, Aphekah
The name of five places referred to in the biblical text. Despite Albright's
position (1922) that the name be derived from the Akkadian epêqu, "be
strong, firm, solid", the basic meaning of the name seems to be "source", as
in the source of a watercourse, and as such most of the places so named are
situated at the sources of perennial streams (cf. Aharoni 1979: 109, 125).
Aphek 01. of Asher - Listed next to last in the allotment of Asher (Josh.
19:30) after Ummah and before Rehob, and again (spelled "Aphik") in the list
of Asher's unconquered cities in Judges 1:31, also coupled with Rehob. Since
"Ummah" is generally considered to be a corruption of "Acco" (so in LXX and
so in the MT of Judges 1:31), this Aphek is generally identified at Tell
Kurdaneh, 9 km SE of Acco, besides a group of springs that feed into the Na'aman
stream (Alt 1928: 58-9; Mazar 1975: 160-166; Kallai 1986: 428). An
alternative identification at the more northern site now known as Tel Kabri
was first suggested by Saarisalo (1929: 32 n.1), followed by Frankel (1998:
64), although the excavator of Tel Kabri preferred to identify the site as
the Rehob of Josh. 19:27-28 (Kempinski 2002: 452). The site of Tel Aphek /
Kurdaneh and the surrounding wetland is now an Israeli nature reserve, and
the ancient name has been adopted by a nearby kibbutz.
Aphek 02. of Aram - The location at which Ben Hadad (II) of Damascus
mustered his troops to attack Israel (1 Kings 20:26) and to which he
retreated after his defeat (verse 30). Presumably the same location as that
referred to in Elisha's prophecy in 2 Kings 13:17. This Aphek, then, would
be on or near the border between Israel and Aram, in the region of Gilead.
Eusebius mentions "a large village called Apheka near Hippe"
(Freeman-Grenville 2003: 21), apparently referring to the site of Fiq, 4 km
east of Hippos/Susita in what is now called the southern Golan. Since no
Iron Age remains were found at Fiq, Dothan (1975) and Aharoni (1979: 335)
both suggested that the Iron Age town was at Khirbet el-'Asheq, now within
Kibbutz 'En Gev on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. This large
fortified site was first excavated by Mazar, Biran, Dothan and Dunayevsky in
1961. They uncovered a fortified site with five strata spanning from the
mid-tenth century BCE up to the Assyrian conquest of 733, with some evidence
of occupation through the Hellenistic Period. Cultic objects, including a
jar inscribed with the word lsqy< "of the cupbearer(s)", convinced Ahlström
(1985) that the site was in Aramean hands during the ninth and early eighth
centuries BCE (strata IV-II). Aharoni (1979: 344) interpreted the reference
in 2 Kings 13:17 as referring to the destruction of level II at 'En Gev. A
Japanese expedition directed by H. Kanaseki and H. Ogawa worked at the site
in 1991-2 as part of M. Kochavi's Geshur Regional Project, basically
confirming earlier results (Sugimoto 1999). An alternative identification
for Aphek, suggested by Ben-Ami, is the small Iron Age site of Tel Soreg,
just NW of Fiq (Kochavi 1989: 6-7). This site was fortified and then
destroyed in the mid-ninth century BCE (Kochavi 1996: 198; Kochavi himself
preferred to identify Aphek at the larger site of 'En Gev). The modern
kibbutz Afiq, founded in 1973, preserves the ancient toponym.
Aphek 03. of Lebanon - In Josh. 13:4-6, the northwestern sector of the
unconquered land is described as "and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians,
to Aphek, to the boundary of the Amorites and the land of the Gebalites, and
all Lebanon, toward the east, from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon to
Lebo-hamath, all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to
Misrephoth-maim, even all the Sidonians". Despite Dothan's understanding the
reference to Hermon and Lebo-hamath as indicating that this Aphek is to be
found on the eastern border of Canaan, in the area of Aphek 02 (1975), most
scholars believe that this Aphek is to found on or near the Phoenician
("Sidonian") coast of the Mediterranean Sea. As "the Gebalites" are the
inhabitants of the well-known city of Gebal/Byblos, modern Jubeil north of
Beirut, the Aphek mentioned here is commonly identified with the site of
Afqa, on the sources of the Nahr Ibrahim east of Byblos (Abel 1938: 247;
Aharoni 1979: 125). In Aharoni's view (Ibid. 73), the Nahr Ibrahim and
Byblos were the boundary between Late Bronze Age Canaan and the kingdom of
Amurru ("the boundary of the Amorites"), a boundary that was then adopted by
the biblical definitions of Canaan (though this date and background for the
boundary system has not been accepted universally - see Na'aman 1999; Levin
2006). From there, the northern border of Canaan passed eastward to
Lebo-hamath, identified by Mazar at Lebweh in the Lebanese Beqa' valley
(1975: 167-181).
Aphek 04. in Sharon - In the list of the kings defeated by Joshua: "The king
of Aphek, one; the king of Lasharon, one" (12:18 KJV, NRSV etc.). As
"Lasharon" seems to refer to the Sharon coastal region, most scholars prefer
to read "The king of Aphek in Sharon, one", just as verses 22-23 list "the
king of Jokneam of Carmel, one; the king of Dor of Naphath-Dor, one; the
king of Goiim in Gilgal (LXX: Galilee), one". This seems to be the same
Aphek as that from which the Philistines fought Israel at Eben-ezer (I Sam.
4:1), resulting in the capture of the Ark, and again, the place at which the
Philistines gathered on their way to victory over Saul at the battle of
Gilboa (I Sam. 29:1). Despite attempts to identify this Aphek in the
vicinity of the Jezreel Valley (Relandi 1714: 572; Schwartz 1852: 62-63) or
the Gilboa range (Tolkowsky 1922), Wellhausen (1894: 39) seems to have been
the first to suggest that this Aphek be sought in the Sharon region. However
the appearance of an <pqn on the topographical list of Thutmose III after
what would seem to be Ono and Lod and before Socho of the Sharon (Aharoni
1979: 161), as well as an "Apqu in the land of Samaria" that was conquered
by Esarhaddon on his way to Egypt in 671 BCE (ANET 292; Aharoni 1979: 401)
have led almost all more modern scholars to search for this Aphek in the
vicinity of Tell Ras el-'Ain, by the sources of Wadi el-'Aujja, today's
Yarkon river. Albright (1922), true to his understanding of the name Aphek
as "stronghold" and citing Josephus' mention of a "Tower of Aphek" near
Antipatris (War 2. 513), suggested the site of Majdal Yaba (today's Migdal
Tsedek) to the SE of the springs; Alt insisted that the city of Aphek was at
the large tell itself (1925: 51; cf. also Abel 1938: 246). Such a location
on a strategic section of the main international route would make the site a
critical one for any military power interested in controlling the region.
Two early rescue excavations, by J. Ory in 1934-36 and by A. Eitan in the
1960's, produced only limited results (for details see Kochavi 2000: 4-6).
Large-scale excavations, together with a regional survey, were conducted by
M. Kochavi in 1972-85. A preliminary summary of the excavations was
published in 1989. The first volume of the full report appeared in 2000;
additional volumes are forthcoming.
The earliest remains of settlement at the tell date to the Chalcolithic
Period (4500-3300 BCE). A large town founded during the Early Bronze Age I
(c. 3100 BCE) grew into a fortified city with a large palace and residential
structures. This city was abandoned around 2200 BCE. Remains of six distinct
strata reflect the Middle Bronze Age II, beginning with the site's
resettlement c. 2000 BCE. The city's acropolis, including a large palace
built on massive fills, was founded during the second phase. An additional
palace was built on the western slope of the tell during phase 3, in the
18th century. The excavators attributed the mention of Aphek in the Egyptian
Execration texts to this phase. During phase 4 the western palace was
replaced by a residential quarter and the city's administrative center
returned to the acropolis. A pottery-producing area was founded in the SW
quarter, near the springs. Additional finds from this period included
several cemeteries. The large palace on the acropolis remained in use
through phase 6, perhaps destroyed by the invading Egyptians c. 1550 BCE.
The Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 BCE) is the period of Egyptian rule in
Canaan. Like many cities, settlement at Aphek declined, though the acropolis
was occupied throughout. Aphek, due to its strategic location, is mentioned
in several Egyptian inscriptions, including the topographical list of
Thutmose III (c. 1480) and the annals of Amenhotep II (c. 1440). During the
final centuries of the LBA Aphek was became an Egyptian administrative
center, and a well-preserved two-story governor's residency replaced the
former palaces. This phase also produced a wealth of written material: two
Egyptian dedications, a royal Hattian stamp impression, fragments of two
cuneiform lexicons and an Akkadian letter from the governor of Ugarit, on
the northern coast of Syria (for which see Singer 1983). Other finds from
this phase include two wine-making installations, a tomb and pottery
imported from all over the eastern Mediterranean.
The residency at Aphek was destroyed c. 1230 BCE, and the piles of rubble
remained untouched for centuries to come. The first Iron Age settlement (c.
1200) consisted of well-dressed stone houses in two areas on the acropolis,
abandoned after a short time. During the late 12th century, the site was
occupied by the Philistines, as is shown by large amounts of bi-chrome ware
found at the site, together with a scarab bearing the cartouche of Ramses IV
(c. 1150 BCE). An inscription in an unknown script may be "early Philistine"
writing. Aphek's strategic importance is reflected in the biblical
traditions that mention it as a staging ground for the Philistine attacks on
Israel (1 Sam. 4:1-3; 29:1-4), one of a series of sites on the N Philistine
frontier (Gadot 2006). After the Philistines' withdrawal c. 1000 BCE,
perhaps driven from the site by David, the site was occupied by settlers
from the Israelite hill-country. The 10th century stratum includes
"silo"-pits, four-roomed houses and pottery typical of the period. The
sudden violent destruction of the site was attributed by the excavators to
the campaign of Shishak (c. 925 BCE). The 9-5th centuries produced
relatively few finds, due to both accelerated erosion of the upper strata of
the acropolis, and to the city's decline into a minor border-post.
Nevertheless, mention of the site in the LXX-L version of 2 Kings 13:22, in
Esarhaddon's description of his journey to "the stream of Egypt" and in an
Aramaic papyrus from Saqqarah from c. 600 BCE (Porten 1981) are all
testimony to the site's continued importance on the main road from Syria to
Egypt (Kochavi 1989: 90-91; 2000: 18). The site was eventually abandoned, to
be resettled only in the 3rd century BCE, renamed Pegae, later Antipatris.
Aphekah 05. of Judah - Known only from the Judahite town-list in Josh.
15:53, its position in district 6 of this list together with Dumah,
Beth-tappuah and Hebron places it in the central part of the Judean
hill-country. Within this area, different scholars have proposed various
Iron Age sites that are situated near major springs or watercourses. Alt
(1932: 16-17) suggested the site of Khirbet ed-Dharrameh, also called
Khirbet el-îadab, on a hill above the large spring of 'Ain Fawar, 7 km SW of
Hebron. Kochavi (1972: 29, site 176) at first accepted this proposal, but
later (1973: 51 note 16) suggested the site of Khirbet el-Marajim, near the
large springs in the Seil ed-Dilbeh valley (for the initial survey of this
site see Kochavi 1972: 66, site 168). Ofer (1993: 3: 18), who surveyed the
Judean hill-country intensively, accepted this identification. The site
shows evidence of settlement during the Iron I, Iron II, Persian and
Hellenistic periods. The alternative site of Khirbet Kan'an, suggested by
Abel (1938: 247) is considered untenable by more recent scholars because of
its distance from the springs and its being a "roadside fort" rather than a
tell (Kochavi 1972: 29, site 149; also cf. Kallai 1986: 388-9; Ofer 1993: 3:
18).
Bibliography
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Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible (2nd ed., Philadelphia 1979).
G.W. Ahlström, "The Cultroom at 'En Gev", Tel Aviv 12 (1985) 93-95.
W.F. Albright, "One Aphek or Four?", JPOS 2 (1922) 184-189.
A. Alt, "Das Institut im Jahre 1924", PJB 21 (1925) 5-58.
Id., "Das Institut im Jahre 1931", PJB 28 (1932) 5-47.
M. Dothan, "Aphek on the Israel-Aram Border and Aphek on the Amorite Border",
Eretz-Israel 12 (1975) 63-65 (Hebrew).
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Yigal Levin
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