Tel Hanaton - Later History

Later History

During the Early Arab Period, the site became a small agricultural village named Hotsfit, a name which survived into the Crusader Period.

In spite of a complete lack of reference from the Crusader Period, investigating historians have reached a consensus that the clearly visible physical evidence of typical Frankish construction with stone stairwells, large halls and arched ceilings, points to the presence at least of an 11th-century fortified agricultural settlement, which probably, together with the nearby Tzippori (Sephoris/Dioceserea), guarded the large surrounding tracts of intensive agriculture throughout the First and Second Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, falling to the Saracens only around the time of the fall of the city of Acre. The architecture, whilst having much in common with that of concurrent strongholds of the Ayyubid Period, has distinct Crusader features, such as the arch-free flat-roofed stairwells (see photo).

In the 1330s the region was conquered by the Mamelukes of Egypt, who used the Crusader Fort to house their garrison.

The Arabic name for the tel, Tal Badawiye relates to the Ottoman Period when a Caravanserai named Khan El Badawiye was established atop the tel.