Migdal Afek

Migdal Aphek ({{langx|he|מגדל אפק}}; Ancient Greek: Αφεχού πύργος, 'Aphek Pyrgos') means 'Tower of Aphek' in both those languages.{{Cite journal |last=Avi-Yonah |first=Michael |date=1976 |title=Gazetteer of Roman Palestine |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43587090 |journal=Qedem |volume=5 |pages=29 |jstor=43587090 |issn=0333-5844}}

Migdal Tsedek means "Tower of Sadek" in Hebrew, referring to the name of Sheikh Sadek al-Rayyan.{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}}

{{main| Majdal Yaba}}

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 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) of Saint Kyriko.Nowakowski, Paweł (2017). [https://doi.org/10.25446/oxford.13836455.v1 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, 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.[https://archive.org/stream/byewaysinpalesti00finniala#page/130/mode/1up Byeways in Palestine, James Finn] 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 Majdal Yaba.

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 (forces of the Ottoman, German, and Austro-Hungarian empires) and the British imperial Egyptian Expeditionary Force.[http://www.antiquities.org.il/Article_eng.aspx?sec_id=25&subj_id=240&id=4281 Evidence of the World War I Battlefield was Exposed in Rosh Ha-Ayin], Israel Antiquities Authority

File:PikiWiki Israel 51 hagana military post.jpg, 1936]]

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. {{ISBN|978-965-229-298-8}}

The Arab village was depopulated by the IDF in July 1948, during the Nakba.{{Cite book |author= Benny Morris |title= The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisted |page= xvi |year= 2004 |publisher= Cambridge University Press}}{{Cite journal|last=Sela|first=Rona|title=Scouting Palestinian Territory, 1940-1948: Haganah Village Files, Aerial Photos, and Surveys|url=https://oldwebsite.palestine-studies.org/sites/default/files/jq-articles/JQ-52-Sela-Scouting_Palestinian_Territory_1940-1948_1.pdf#page=9&zoom=auto,-137,371|journal=Institute for Palestine Studies}}

==See also==

• National parks of Israel
• David Polus (1893–1975), sculptor who worked in the Labor Battalion at the quarry
• Solel Boneh, Jewish construction company that ran a Mandate-period quarry at Migdal Tzedek
• Ta'as, clandestine Mandate-period Jewish arms industry; used Migdal Tzedek quarry as testing range
• Eliyahu Tamler, Irgun commander who captured a lorry carrying explosives to Migdal Tzedek quarry
• Shabtai Teveth (1925–2014) Israeli historian who grew up in the workers' quarters at the quarry
• Vassals of the Kingdom of Jerusalem

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