Hof Hasharon Regional Council - Arsuf, Yakum, Bnei Zion, Shefayim, Beit Yehoshua, Kfar Netter, Ga'ash, Glil Yam, Udim, Tel Yitzhak (Paperback)

Chapters: Arsuf, Yakum, Bnei Zion, Shefayim, Beit Yehoshua, Kfar Netter, Ga'ash, Glil Yam, Udim, Tel Yitzhak, Neve Hadassah, Rishpon, Batzra, Harutzim, Arsuf, Hof Hasharon. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 44. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Arsuf (Hebrew:, Arabic: ) also known as Arsur or Apollonia, was an ancient city and fortress located in Israel, about 15 kilometres north of modern Tel Aviv, on a cliff above the Mediterranean Sea. The city site, Tel Arsuf, was intensively excavated from 1994. In 2002 it became Apollonia National Park. In 1995 a new village by the name of Arsuf was established to the north of the ancient city. Town was settled by Phoenicians in the 6th or 5th century BC, and named Arshuf after Resheph, the Canaanite god of fertility and the underworld. It was then a part of the Persian Empire and governed from Sidon. Phoenicians of Arshuf produced precious purple dye, derived from murex mollusks, which they exported to the Aegean. During the Hellenistic period it was an anchorage town, ruled by Seleucids and re-named Apollonia, as the Greeks identified Reshef with Apollo. Under Roman rule, the size of the town increased. It was an important settlement between Jaffa and Caesarea along Via Maris, the coastal road. In 113 AD, Apollonia was destroyed partially by an earthquake, but recovered quickly. The harbor was built, and trade with Italy and North Africa developed. During the Byzantine period, the town extended to cover an area of 70 acres (280,000 m). In the 5th and 6th century AD it was the second largest city in Sharon valley, after Caesarea, populated by Christian and Samaritans, having an elaborate church and a prosperous glass industry. In 640 AD, the town was captured by Muslims, and the Semitic name Arsuf was restored. The town's area decreased to ab...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=405996