It seems to me very doubtful how far we can rely on the identity of the site with that of Timnath Heres. It is certain that this is the place called Timnatha by Jerome, a town of importance, capital of a district in the hills, and on the road from Lydda to Jerusalem, the position of which is fixed by references to surrounding towns. But the Jewish tradition, and also that of the modern Samaritans, points to Kefr Hâris as the burial-place of Joshua, as already noticed in Chapter II. It is remarkable, however, that a village called Kefr Ishw'a, or "Joshua's hamlet,â exists in the immediate neighbourhood of the ruin of Tibneh.
With regard to Antipatris, we have fortunately far greater certainty; but the place is of less interest, being mentioned in the Bible only as the limit of St. Paul's night journey from Jerusalem (Acts xxiii. 31). It was well known in the fourth century, but its site was lost to the Crusaders, who identified it at Arsûf, the ancient Apollonia, where also the more ignorant supposed Ashdod to have stood. It is only within the last twenty years that attention has been directed to the true site.
Josephus describes Antipatris as a city in the plain, close to the hills, in a position well watered, with a river encompassing the city, and with groves of trees. Now, as there is but one river in the plain of Sharon, anywhere, near the required part, and as there is on that river but one important ancient site, surrounded by water and near the hills, we can have little doubt as to the locality of the town, first apparently identified by the late Consul Finn, in 1850; but, in addition to this, we have, in the old itineraries, various measurements to surrounding places which, though not quite exact, still serve to indicate the same site. They are as follows:
Antipatris to Galgula (_Kalkilia_) 6, measures 6-1/2 Antipatris to Lydda 10, " 11-1/2 Antipatris to Betthar (_Tireh_) 10, " 9-1/4 Antipatris to Cæsarea 28, " 30-1/2
These measurements on the Survey bring us to the Râs el 'Ain, a large mound covered with ruins, from the sides of which, on the north and west, the River 'Aujah (the Biblical Mejarkon, or "yellow waterâ) gushes forth, a full-sized stream.