On a warm and sunny winter's day, Amber and I set off first to explore the ancient Tefen fort, and then one of the nearby ruined Christian villages which it overlooks.
Although atop a prominent hilltop, the remains of Tefen fort are almost invisible from the valleys around it through which the roads run. Atop the ridge behind Deir al-Asad, north of Karmiel, and accessible from the Bet Ha'Emek Nature Reserve, the fort sits at 535 metres above sea level some 165 metrest above the Ha'Emek brook, with its remains of defensive walls and towers. The fort is just a kilometre north east of Kibbutz Kishor, which was established in 1980, the first Jewish settlement in the area, whose name is taken from the nearby Druze village of Kissra on mount Kishor. The picture below shows the Tefen hill from the south east.
The narrow, steep path up to the inaccessible summit is on the other side, to the west. Below Amber is seen climbing.
Very soon you reach the ruins of the defensive wall on the summit.
Inside the enclosure on the summit are the remains of a water reservoir.
Alongside the reservoir is a small rock-cut basin from which the water was possibly retrieved for use.
The pictures below show the remains of the western tower, made from large ashlars. You can gauge the scale from Amber. The third picture below shows the remains of the south eastern entrance doorway into the tower.
So what was this place? Tefen fortress was built, either by the Phoenicians or the Hasmonean Kings, during the Hellenistic period, (2nd century BCE). Although its precise function remains unknown, it is likely that it was built to protect the borders between the western Galilee – administered from Ptolemais (Acre) – and the central Galilee – administered from Sepphoris (Tzippori). The fortress was later held by the Hasmonean Kingdom as part of its border protection after the Galilee was added to the Kingdom in around 103 BCE by Judah Aristobulus I; the northern border passed here as it passed east to the river Jordan.
The Galilee was under Jewish control for forty years until Pompeius conquered Israel in 63 BCE. But the border remained in the same place throughout the period of Roman Judea and until the end of the Byzantine period, during which time the fortress served the purpose of protecting the new villages around it – Mehoz and Heshek (on its east side) and other villages on its south side.
During the Crusader period the fortress became part of their line of defences, and it was still in use until the Mamluke period, when it was abandoned.
The views from the fort are tremendous. Below is a panorama to the north, with Acre to the distant left, and the modern Tefen industrial park on the hilltop right of centre. In the hill in the foregrouns is moshav Lapidot.
Below is the view south east from the western tower.
This is the view west towards the Mediterranean.
Below is the view of the steep drop into the Bet Ha'Emek valley to the north.
To the west of the western tower is the remains of another large reservoir, above which is, again, a small stone pool.
These are the remains of the eastern walls, beyond which, on the lower hills, are the ruins of Mehoz and Heshek, two Christian villages dating from Byzantine times.
Two post holes to the east of the fort.
We found this piece of the drum from a column, abandoned half carved from the rock. Possibly the stone cracked and it was used as infill in the walls of the fort.
After descending the hill, we hiked up an adjacent hill a kilometre to the east to investigate the remnants of Mehoz. The hillside is terraced with stones reused from the village when an Ottoman farmstead was built on the ruins, although some of the terraces may date from earlier.
Like most of the western upper Galilee villages, Mehoz was a Christian village, and a church was unearthed here along with another at Heshek, some 200 metres further up the hill – we didn’t venture there this time however. Following the Persian and Arab conquests of the 7th century CE, the village was destroyed, and it was still in ruins when the Crusaders listed it in their archives as Gastina Mahuz (the ruins of Mahuz).
Below you can see re-used stones in the forground, supporting a terrace. The fresher-coloured stones have been placed more recently to butress the terrace. The wall in the background is likely earlier, from the times when Mehoz was occupied, as can be seen from the use of carefully shapoed ashlars rather than rough stone.
The Ottoman farm structures are still standing today but in a bad state. There are also a number of cisterns and underground storage rooms, some still in use by farmers and herdsmen.
To the south is the remains of a large reservoir, presumably converted in Ottoman times to store rooms associated with the farmstead. A Byzantine church with mosaic floor was found beneath these Ottoman structures, but is not visible today.
The wall of the cistern.
One of the arched structures.
Another of the valuts, made into a storeroom.
A little to the north, up the hill, are more vaults which continue in use as animal pens.
In the centre of the site is an Ottoman period sheepfold.
In the trees behind the sheep fold, covered with undergrowth, several large columns and associated bases and capitals can be found lying broken on the ground. These must surely be remnants of the Byzantine village, possibly the church.
The remains of a larger building - most likely the Ottoman farmstead, though possible earlier.
There are several cisterns arouynd the village, - you have to take care not to fall into some of them.
There are a lot of pot sherds lying about everywhere. Below is a nice one Amber picked up. All in all a pleasant walk with lots of history, albeit hard to find out much more about these small, unexcavated, obscure places than I have written here!
