Antiquity Although some Chalcolithic and Iron Age remains were uncovered at the site, there is no evidence that there was a settlement prior to the Persian period (ca. 500 BCE). While the importance of the town was overshadowed by both
Jaffa and Caesarea, Apollonia developed into a regional center after the decline of its neighbouring site at
Tel Michal in the Late Persian period, and was likely the main city and harbour in the southern
Sharon Plain by the mid-4th century BCE. It is mentioned in the
Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax. During the
Hellenistic period it was a port town ruled by the
Seleucids. Under Roman rule, the town prospered and grew into the chief commercial and industrial centre of the region between the
Poleg and
Yarkon rivers. In 113 CE, Apollonia was partially destroyed by an earthquake, but recovered quickly. Apollonia is mentioned by
Pliny,
Hist. nat., V, 14, and
Ptolemy, V, xv, 2, between Cæsarea and Joppa, and by other ancient authors, including
Josephus,
Ant. jud., XIII, xv, 4,
Appianus,
Hist. rom. Syr., 57. The Roman proconsul,
Gabinius, found it ruined in 57 BCE, and had it rebuilt (Josephus,
Bel. jud., I, viii, 4). Apollonia is depicted in the
Tabula Peutingeriana, on the coastal highway between Joppa and Caesarea, at the distance of 22 miles from Caesarea, confirming the identification of Arsuf with Apollonia. There was no coin minting in Apollonia, confirming that the town did not have the role of a Roman provincial center but was rather considered a medium-sized coastal town like
Jamnia and
Azotus.
Sozusa in Palaestina was the name of the city in the late
Roman province of Palaestina Prima, and its
episcopal see was a
suffragan of
Caesarea, the provincial capital. The name had changed from Apollonia to Sozusa before 449, when Bishop Baruchius signed the acts of the
Robber Council of Ephesus with this title. The name Sozusa also occurs in the works of the Byzantine geographers
Hierocles and
George of Cyprus. Apart from Baruchius of 449, the names of two more of its bishops, Leontius in 518, and Damianus in 553, are also known. The death of
patriarch Modestus in 630 in the city is recorded in both Georgian and Arabic texts, the Georgian texts using
Sozos (for
Sozusa) and the Arabic texts
Arsuf, suggesting that both names remained in use for some time in the early medieval period. During the
Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, the city surrendered on terms in 614 to
Shahrbaraz and was in Sasanian hands until near the end of the war.
Early Muslim period In 640, the town
fell to the Muslims. The Arabic name
Arsuf or
Ursuf occurs in works of
Arab geographers from the 10th century, e.g.
Al-Muqaddasi said it was "smaller than Yafah, but strongly fortified and populous There is here a beautiful
pulpit, made in the first instance for the
Mosque of
Ar Ramlah, but which being found too small, was given to Arsuf". At the time of the Muslim conquest, Sozusa was inhabited by
Samaritans. In 809, following the death of
Harun al-Rashid, the local Samaritan community was destroyed and their synagogue ruined. In 809 the
Abbasids violently removed the large group of Samaritans that had been living in the city. The town's area decreased to about and, for the first time, it was surrounded by a fortified wall with buttresses, to resist the constant attacks of Byzantine fleets from the sea.
Crusader to Mamluk period Godfrey de Bouillon attempted to capture it, but failed for want of ships (
William of Tyre, IX, x). King
Baldwin I took it in 1102, after a siege by land and sea, allowing the inhabitants to withdraw to
Ascalon. The Crusaders, who called it
Arsur, rebuilt the city's walls and created the
Lordship of Arsur in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In 1187 Arsuf was recaptured by the Muslims, but fell again to the Crusaders on 7 September 1191 after the Battle of Arsuf, fought between the forces of
Richard I of England and
Saladin.
John of Ibelin, Lord of Beirut became Lord of Arsuf in 1207 when he married
Melisende of Arsuf. Their son
John of Arsuf (d. 1258) inherited the title. The title then passed to John of Arsuf's eldest son
Balian of Arsuf (d. 1277). He built new walls, the large castle and new harbor in 1241. In 1251
Louis IX of France re-erected its ramparts. From 1261, the city was ruled by the
Knights Hospitaller. In 1225,
Yakut wrote: "Arsuf remained in Muslim hands till taken by
Kund Furi [Godfrey of Bouillon], lord of Jerusalem, in the year 494 [
AH 494, i.e. 1101 CE], and it is in the hand of the Franks [Crusaders] at the present day." after almost getting killed in the moat by a sortie of the defenders. The inhabitants were killed or sold as slaves and the town completely razed. The destruction was so complete that the site was abandoned and never regained its urban character – in the 14th century the geographer
Abulfeda said it contained no inhabitants ("Tabula Syriæ", 82). According to
Mujir al-Din (writing c. 1496), the
Sidna Ali Mosque just south of Arsuf was dedicated by Baibars at the site of a saint's tomb where he prayed for victory prior to retaking Arsuf. In the Middle Ages, Sozusa was confused with
Antipatris. The identity of Arsuf with ancient Apollonia was first noted by Clermont-Ganneau in 1876. It appeared, just named "village" on the map that
Pierre Jacotin compiled during
Napoleon's invasion of 1799.
Catholic titular see until 1965 Sozusa in Palaestina is listed as a
titular see in the 2013
Annuario Pontificio. Due to the confusion with the other ancient city in classical
Palestine known as Apollonia, it was also assigned under the name
Antipatris. Its last titular bishop of the
Latin Church was Francis Joseph McSorley, the
Apostolic Vicar of Jolo (d. 1970). It has no longer been assigned since, in accordance with the practice established after the
Second Vatican Council regarding all titular sees situated in what were the eastern
patriarchates.
British Mandate and Israeli periods The site was incorporated in
Herzliya municipality in 1924. At the time, a village called
al-Haram existed adjacent to the ruins, but it was depopulated during the 1948
Nakba, and the area south of the site was built up as the
Shikun Olim ( "
immigrant housing") district of Herzeliya in the 1950s. Rishpon was established in 1936 to the immediate north-east of the site. It is part of the
Hof HaSharon Regional Council,
Central District. Arsuf is a modern "exclusive clifftop community" named for Arsuf, built in 1995 north of the site, in Hof HaSharon Regional Council. ==Archaeology==