Transcript [00:13] Hello all Israel News viewers. I'm [00:15] Mariel Mulan. This is Levy from Discover [00:16] Israel Tour with Levy. Levy, where are [00:18] we and what are we doing here today? [00:20] >> So happy to be back. We are at Telk, one [00:24] of the most important strategic border [00:25] lines of Israel. One of the [00:27] international trade routes went through [00:29] where we are and we could see why. Look [00:30] at this abundance of fresh, clear water. [00:33] Anyone would want this place. I'm so [00:35] excited. Let's go. [00:50] Telk our strategic location based on one [00:54] of the major trade routes between two [00:56] ancient empires the Mesopotamian Empire [00:59] and the Egyptian Empire. Now trade [01:00] routes went through our fertile crescent [01:02] because they had nowhere else to go. It [01:04] would either be on the sea, which they [01:05] had the struggles of the storms and the [01:08] wind, pirates sometimes. You couldn't go [01:10] in the Jordan desert, this peninsula [01:12] over here, because it would just be so [01:14] barren with no water sources. This sort [01:16] of green demographic colorful parts of [01:19] the map were the only place to pass [01:21] through. Now, the historic via the way [01:24] of the sea was an ancient route which [01:26] many many nations used to cross. It [01:28] would have followed today's going [01:30] through Gaza up around route number four [01:34] and then moving towards route number six [01:37] and it would have stopped exactly where [01:38] we are right now called Telk for one [01:41] specific reason. We have this big river [01:43] called the Yalon River which goes right [01:45] through Tel a Viv which you couldn't [01:46] cross with your camels. So you had to [01:48] come to the source of the Yan River. Now [01:50] when we're looking for the source of the [01:51] Yan River, it's where we're standing [01:52] right now. Whoever controls this source [01:55] of the Arken River would be able to tax [01:57] ancient pilgrims. They'd be able to tax [02:00] trade routes. They'd be able to then [02:02] control all regions in this area. [02:18] So the Philistines were in control of [02:20] this region and the Judeans wanted to [02:22] come and conquer it. I don't need to [02:24] tell you why. You can just have a look [02:26] for yourself. Now when a Judean was [02:28] sitting here, he was wanted to make sure [02:30] that the Philistines wouldn't come and [02:32] conquer this region. So I'm going to [02:34] tell you a little trick that I learned [02:36] inside of the army. So we've got two [02:38] kinds of vision. We have the peripheral [02:41] vision and we have the focused vision. [02:42] Now, to connect to your peripheral [02:44] vision, when you're sitting on guard [02:46] duty for a long time and see if anyone's [02:48] coming, you want to see things that move [02:49] slightly. You want to see the colors [02:51] become brighter, but you want to see [02:52] further than just your focus vision. So, [02:54] what we're going to do is you're going [02:56] to take your hands, you're going to move [02:57] your fingers like this. You're going to [02:59] move it further and further and further [03:00] until the side all the way until your [03:02] peripheral vision kind of sees it. Now, [03:04] I want you to focus on your fingers over [03:07] there. And then when you've come into [03:08] this sort of days and hazy thing where [03:10] you can't see things focusly, but you [03:12] see further, then put your hands down [03:14] and focus on that. It should be able to [03:16] center your mind in a little bit of a [03:17] meditative way. Now, what you're looking [03:19] at now is a wider range of vision, but [03:22] they're not a focus rate of vision. So, [03:24] you'll see things that are moving [03:26] faster, colors become clearer, see [03:28] things running around you, and then when [03:30] you see something which causes a danger, [03:33] you then focus on it, and then you've [03:35] missed the rest of your vision. Right. [03:37] By focusing on this peripheral vision, [03:38] I've doubled doubled my ability to see [03:41] within a region yet. [03:46] Give it a try. [03:57] We're going to sneakily try to attack [04:00] that tower over there without them [04:02] seeing us because we want to reconquer [04:05] Ak [04:08] stood in our ground here twice by the [04:11] Philistines. We've had enough. So, it's [04:13] time to take it back and we're coming [04:15] around the back uh side to try to [04:18] strategically attack the tower. [04:30] We are moments before the attack to take [04:32] over Telafek. This is a critical moment. [04:34] They haven't spotted us yet. I'm kind of [04:37] hungry. My stomach is rumbling. Luckily [04:38] for me, I've kneled down on a plant [04:40] which I could eat called hobza. Arabic [04:42] hobb means bread. You can see the [04:44] thickness. So, quick snack before the [04:46] attack. [04:49] Got to be quiet. Right up. Surprise [04:52] attack. Three, two, one, charge. [05:17] And we've breached the city walls. We've [05:19] made it inside. Let's get the tower. [05:26] It is our now hours. [05:31] We're going up to the tower through the [05:34] normal route. [05:36] >> So, if you guys want, you just go up the [05:39] trail on the side and then see it from [05:41] up there. [05:42] >> We've already established dominance for [05:43] you. Don't worry. Safe and secure. All [05:45] you have to do is pay an entrance fee [05:47] now. No need to attack. I need to [05:49] attack. [06:02] 3,200 years ago, God commanded the Jews [06:04] to then take over this land. We've been [06:06] trying ever since. Let's talk about one [06:08] of the battles that we could see in [06:10] Samuel 1. Judges, this is around this [06:13] period called the Judges period where [06:15] our arch enemies, the Philistines, were [06:17] on this border. They had this as a [06:19] fought city and it was in it was [06:21] essential for us to then uh take over [06:23] this land to secure the borders of our [06:25] capital which was in Jerusalem. Multiple [06:27] battles happened after that. Sadly [06:29] Joshua Benoon doesn't manage to actually [06:31] capture the place. We see this as a [06:32] place of great loss of the Judeian [06:34] people and the Israelites in this [06:36] region. The later periods in the [06:38] Israelites there were specific periods [06:39] when we did have control over this [06:41] place. The next major period where we [06:43] see an establishment here is during the [06:45] Roman period. Hold on, I forgot one very [06:48] important detail. Predating the [06:50] Philistines, this was a Canananite city [06:53] called Ak mentioned in the Bible. The [06:55] Canananite city had to be captured by [06:56] Joshua Benoon. So the Canananites were [06:59] here, the Egyptians were here, including [07:01] the Philistines were here and afterwards [07:03] the Judeans were here all the way during [07:05] through the Roman period around 2,000 [07:07] years ago. Herod was an incredible [07:09] builder and he got most of his money [07:10] from the Judeans and then built these [07:13] beautiful lavish cities in this regions. [07:15] One of the lavish cities is where we're [07:17] standing right now. Right beneath me, we [07:19] could see the Roman Cardo from the city [07:22] of Antipatus built for Herod's father at [07:25] this strategic location. After the [07:27] Romans left and we have the destruction [07:29] of the second temple, this place lost [07:31] importance all the way until around the [07:34] 15th 16th century where the Ottomans [07:36] build a fortress here that you can see [07:38] protecting the roots and protecting [07:39] basically the spring and they called [07:41] this place Pinelbasi. Pagabasi which [07:45] mely means the head of the spring. [07:53] >> How do we know that this location is [07:55] affect? Well, let's look. First of all, [07:57] we know about its strategic importance [07:59] because of the multiple battles that [08:00] happen here. Second of all, we know that [08:02] it has strong water sources. Third of [08:04] all, look what we have before us. The [08:06] remainders of the Canananite city of Af. [08:08] as we've seen in other places or you can [08:10] see in other places such as Tel Belchva, [08:13] such as uh places dating back to Middle [08:16] Iron Age. So, we're talking about 3,800 [08:18] years ago, we can see this basin in [08:21] front of the city on the outside for the [08:22] cattle to then drink water. And we can [08:24] see this very well fortified gate. Now, [08:28] because God has blessed us with [08:29] wonderful rainfall, it's going to be a [08:31] little bit more difficult to get over, [08:32] but you can see the gates well [08:33] fortified. First, we have these stone [08:35] stones on top and then you'd have a mud [08:37] brick arch which covered the gate. Your [08:39] first entrance to the gate would have [08:41] been a place where you pay your taxes or [08:42] get judged and then you'd have the [08:44] people's houses inside. Now, we found [08:46] multiple important elements here that [08:48] shows the strategic importance of this [08:50] place. If this was a big trade route, [08:51] we'd find things from the Acadians, from [08:53] the Samaritans, from the Egyptians, from [08:56] from from Mesopotamia all the way down [08:58] to the Great Nile River. And this was [09:00] the trade route that would happen. So, [09:01] this would also be a meeting point. [09:03] Let's say uh traders wanted to then [09:05] switch out their product and go see [09:06] their wife after 3 weeks instead of a [09:08] month and a half. They would just meet [09:10] at this location. They would trade their [09:11] products and go back. So this was a [09:13] well-known place. [09:32] Wow, [09:33] these towers. [09:35] They're insane. They're amazing. They're [09:38] super strong. They're super tall. [09:40] They're high. And we're going to go [09:42] inside their minds again for a second. [09:44] You have to think about the fact that [09:46] you as an army are coming up here. And [09:49] you have to remember all the times of [09:51] which you've done this before, that you [09:53] can actually conquer this city. You can [09:55] overtake. And that's something that [09:56] actually King David would do a lot. [09:58] Joshua would do that. They would inquire [10:00] of God. Can I overtake this? Will you be [10:04] with me in this battle? And so imagine [10:06] they're running up from there. They see [10:08] the walls. The moment they step into [10:11] that gate, probably what was going into [10:13] their minds through their minds was, [10:15] "God is faithful. He did it again. He [10:18] did it for me again. God is with me." [10:20] When you face new challenges, that's [10:22] something that you must remember. You've [10:24] done this before. God was with you [10:26] before. He'll be with you again. [11:08] in the Ottoman built structure tower [11:11] would have looked exactly like the [11:12] Judean structure and tower that would [11:14] have guarded this place. So, if I would [11:15] have doing God duty, uh I don't know if [11:17] I would have had a magnifying glass back [11:19] there. But I'm looking over the fields [11:21] to make sure that the Philistines don't [11:23] try to infiltrate my territory. [11:43] This place is spectacular. I can't get [11:46] enough of all these tall structures and [11:49] uh remembering just how strong and brave [11:51] you had to be to come and conquer [11:52] places. Levy, how do you feel about [11:54] today? It's awesome exploring the [11:57] glorious land of Judea just looking [11:59] through the timeline of history and [12:01] experience it the more place the more [12:02] you know the stories there's one [12:04] specific element in the Bible that [12:06] without that faith and belief it's hard [12:08] to complete the other elements but when [12:09] you already have the ele other elements [12:11] the faith and belief of God really comes [12:13] and enhances itself you see the actual [12:16] physical elements so it's harder to deny [12:18] that one godly spirit in it [12:19] >> right God is definitely with us we have [12:21] had so much fun today we hope that you [12:23] have had fun if you want more Israel [12:25] related content, go to [12:25] allisraelnews.com, [12:27] hit the notification bell, hit [12:29] subscribe, and Levy and I will see you [12:30] in the next one.
Join All Israel News correspondent Oriel Moran at Tel Afek — one of the most strategically important sites in Israel’s history. Situated on a vital ancient trade route between the Egyptian and Mesopotamian empires, this location was fought over for thousands of years because of one critical reason: water.
Together with Levi from Discover Israel, Oriel explores the layers of history beneath our feet — from Canaanites and Philistines to Israelites, Romans, and Ottomans. They walk through fortified gates, ancient towers, and the remains of a city that once controlled trade, borders, and access to Jerusalem itself.
For more info about tours with Levi check out his website: https://www.levisimon.com/
or Instagram account: @tourisraelwithlevi
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