The park is located on the path of an oldRoman road which remained in use through the Middle Ages.[1] The road connected the coastal plain with Jerusalem, passing throughBab al-Wad.[1] A fortifiedHospitaller building from theCrusader period, relatively well-preserved,[1] is arguably the main attraction, along with the streams and lush vegetation.
Aqua Bella nature reserveAqua Bella, Crusader ruinsWater well drilling in Ein Hemedn, c. 1964
TheCrusaders named itAqua Bella in Latin,[4] a name which was corrupted in Arabic toIqbalā, thus becomingKhirbet Iqbalā, "Iqbalā Ruins".[5] The 19th-century Arabic name wasDeir el-Benat, also spelledDayr al-Banat, meaning "convent of the maidens",[6] andKhurbet Ikbala, interpreted at the time to mean "the ruin of prosperity", or perhaps "the southern ruin"[7] or "the ruin opposite".[8]
TheKingdom of Jerusalem builtfortresses along the road to Jerusalem in order to control traffic and protectpilgrims visiting the Holy City. Farms were built using the spring water for irrigation.[citation needed]
Impressive ruins of a 30-by-40-metre (98 ft × 131 ft) Crusader courtyard building, whose southern wall survives to a height of 12 metres (39 ft), are located on the north site of the riverbed. The building has several gates and two arched halls. Archaeological investigations indicate that it was built circa 1140–1160, during the reign ofFulk of Jerusalem, in the same period as the fortresses onTzova andAbu Ghosh. South of the building are a nature reserve and a Muslim cemetery.[citation needed]
The area today known as Ein Hemed was historically on the village lands ofBeit Naqquba as shown in this 1940s map; the village was depopulated in 1948 (its inhabitants returning to createEin Naqquba in 1962) and was replaced by the moshav ofBeit Nekofa.
The castle of Ein Hemed was historically on the village lands ofBeit Naqquba. The village was depopulated in 1948 (its inhabitants returning to createEin Naqquba in 1962) and was replaced by the moshav ofBeit Nekofa.
In 1925, an American Jew named Isaac Segal Feller purchased a plot of 600dunams on a hill above the springs. This land was called "Nachalat Yitzchak" or "Kiryat YaSaF" after its founder.[9] During the1936–1939 Arab revolt and1948 Arab–Israeli War, it served as a base forHagana training and military operations. Since 1994, there have been disputes over development of the site for residential or tourism purposes.[10]
The nature reserve and park were established in 1968.[11] The cemetery includes the grave of Sheikh Abdullah, in whose honour the oak and terebinth trees in the nature reserve were never cut down. A picnic site has been created nearby. Four layer springs issue from the riverbed and nearby caves, and unite into a flow of water which continues for about 400 metres. Several dams have been built, creating pools, the largest of which is 20 by 20 metres (66 ft × 66 ft) and 1 metre (3.3 ft) deep.[12]
^Cytryn-Silverman, Katia (2007). "The Fifth Mīl from Jerusalem: Another Umayyad Milestone from Southern Bilād Al-shām".Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.70 (3):603–610.doi:10.1017/s0041977x07000857.JSTOR40378940.S2CID162314029.
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