Archaeological Site
Antipatris (Tel Afek)
an-TIP-uh-triss · Modern Yarkon-Tel Afek National Park, near Rosh HaAyin, Israel · Also called Antipatris, Tel Afek · 32.1050° N, 34.9304° E
A city founded by Herod the Great around 9 BC and named for his father Antipater, built at the headwaters of the Yarkon River astride the ancient Via Maris. In Acts 23:31, Roman soldiers escorting Paul from Jerusalem to Caesarea by night bring him as far as Antipatris before handing him off to a smaller mounted escort for the rest of the journey.
Archaeology
Tel Afek has been excavated across multiple expeditions since the 1970s, revealing a stratified mound with occupation spanning the Chalcolithic through Ottoman periods, including Canaanite, Egyptian, Philistine, Hellenistic, and Roman remains. The Herodian and Roman-period city is archaeologically well attested through pottery, road remains, and structural fragments, though the precise building Paul's escort would have stopped at is not individually identifiable; the visible Ottoman fortress (Binar Bashi, 1571-1574) sits atop and postdates the New Testament-era city.
On a modern map
Further reading
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