Home > Sites > West Galilee > West Nahal Zippori

 

Contents: Background Location History Aerial Map Photos   -Flour Mills    -Carmelites    -Creek References Etymology

 

This page reviews the west  section of the creek of Sepphoris (Zippori),  which flows into the Kishon river. It describes the natural and pre-historical sites, as well as the flour mills.

 

In this area there are also ancient sites, and are detailed in another page - Khali. 

 

Background:

 

The Zippori creek flows year round into the Kishon river. It starts from the springs near the ancient city of Sepphoris (Zippori), and winds down and westward in a valley between the hills of lower Galilee.  It flow is slow and snake-like,  finding its way between the low hills. The fields in the basin of the valley are always green and the soil is great for agriculture. Even today, the farmers have ideal conditions.

 

The flow of water made the construction of flour mills possible. These were important for the local farming. In this area there are 2 sites of such mills: a pair of mills near Tell West Khali, and the Carmelite monks flour mill. The flour mills were in use for hundreds of years.

 

Close to the plains of the bay of Haifa, where the creek flows into the Kishon river, there are also a number of ancient villages in the last 3 KM before the end of the valley. This area was inhabited over thousands of years. These ancient sites are: Tell Allil (Khali), Tell West Khali, Khirbet Govit and Khirbet Sasay.

 

Location:

 

The entrance to the valley is 3 KM south-east of Kiryat Atta, or 4KM south of Somech junction. It can be approached by driving off the highway, following directions to Khwalad, an Arab village in the entrance to the valley.

 

History of the place:

 

(a) Early man

 

Along the creek there are many sites, starting from prehistoric times. In almost the whole stretch of the valley you can walk the banks of the creek and pick up early man's flint stones. They are scattered in many sites, showing that the area was inhabited in the prehistoric periods. According to the Archaeological survey (see reference) most of the prehistoric findings in this area (as seen in 3 sites along the west side of the creek) were from the Neolithic period (8,300 -4,500 BC) and Chalcolithic (Copper) period (4,500-3150BC).

 

(b) Later periods

 

These sites are described in a separate web page.

 

(c) Modern times

 

Today there are several settlements and villages around the area: Jewish settlements Adi, Harduf and Nofit (Pi-Ner) and Arab villages Khwalad and Ras 'Ali.

 

 

Map / Aerial view:

 

The following aerial view shows the points of interest. You can point on the purple points to navigate to the selected point. As you can see, the Zippori creek snakes around the low hills on its way to the sea, which is on the bottom side.

 

 

Photos:

 

(a) Flour Mills near Tell West Khali:

 

South of Tell West Khali (seen in the background of the photo below) is a set of 2 flour mills from the Ottoman period (the actual date is not clear). The flour mills were operated by the falling flow of water, which was diverted from the creek from an upstream point. As can be seen in the photo below, the water flowed through canals (now filled with dirt) and fell down on a wooden wheel that turned the grinding stone around -  thus crushing the wheat into flour. 

 

 

The photo shows the side view of the 2 mills. Each mill has 2 sections - the high wall where the water falls down (12.3M on the upper mill, and 10M at the lower mill). In the lower section a wheel turned turned the grindstone.

In the foreground - the tunnel that where the diverted water came through, after passing inside tunnels that brought the water from the creek and under the hillside.

 

In the background is the new village of Ras 'Ali, which is the site of Tell Alil.

 

 

A closer view of the 2 mills. The upper mill is one of the highest in Israel.

Over the years the mills were repaired and upgraded. In 1914 the wooden wheels were upgraded to iron wheels.

However, the era of water mills came to an end, and the stopped production in 1946.

 

 

A view of the mills from the south. You can see the farmers in the fields, watering them using the tractor pump.

 

 

 

(b) Carmelite Flour Mill:

 

About 1KM upstream is another flour mill that was operated by the Carmelite Monks.  They were initially built by Druze from Daliat-El-Carmel, then sold to the Carmelite monastery in the 19th C.

In the background - the new settlement of Harduf.

 

 

   A closer look on the flour mill: The water was diverted 2KM upstream and tunneled in the back of the house (you can see the tunnel on the top/right of the house). The house is a 2 story structure. The water came from Yivka springs, another ancient site located 2 KM upstream.

   The water was first divided to 2 tunnels in order to activate 2 mills. Then the water fell down through a pair of chimneys to the lower floor, turning the wheels and their grindstones. Inside each grindstone the wheat grains were crushed, turning them to flour.

   The water flowed under the floor of the upper level, through tunnels on top of the roof of the lower floor, and fell again through another pair of chimneys to the ground level, turning another pair of grindstones.

   This was one of the sources of income for the Carmelite monks in the 129th and 20th C. Today, this house is a restaurant and pub.

 

 

Another view of the valley - taken from Nofit from the south. In the center of the photo is the Carmelite the flour mill, and you can see the canal stretching from the house to the creek.

 

Behind the hill and the pine tree forest is the new settlement of Adi.  Behind it, in the far background, is Shefaram.

 

 

 

(c) Zippori Creek:

 

Between the Carmelite flour mill and Tell Allil is a charming section of the creek. In the following photo the creek is seen behind the Hazav (squill) flower, which flowers at the end of the summer (signaling the beginning of the Autumn season).

 

 

A closer look on the creek. In this area was a prehistoric site from the Neolithic period (8,300 -4,500 BC) and Chalcolithic (Copper) period (4,500-3150BC), according to the pottery and Flintstones.

 

 

Some of the ancient olive trees were burnt, resulting in a natural sculpture.

 

 

References:

 

• Archaeological survey of Israel Map of Shefar'am (24)  Y. Olami, Z. Gal [ISBN 965-406-157-0, 2003]

 

• Israel Guide -Lower Galilee and Kinneret Region [DOD & Keter publication 1978] pp170-172

 

 

Etymology (behind the name):

Zippori - Sepphoris in Hebrew. Zippor is "bird", so the creek is named after the birds. Nahal (Nakhal) - In Hebrew: Creek, brook.   Hazav (Khazav)- means "drills in", since the flower (squill) drills into the ground.

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