Aphik

Aphik (a variant spelling of Aphek meaning "fortress," distinct from the Aphek in the Sharon Plain or east of the Sea of Galilee) was one of seven coastal cities Asher could not drive out (Judges 1:31). It also appears in Joshua 19:30 in Asher's tribal boundary list. The site is identified with Tell Kabri in the northern coastal plain about 12 km east of Acco, where excavations have uncovered a major Middle Bronze Age palace with painted plaster decorations — one of the most spectacular finds in Levantine archaeology. The persistence of strong Canaanite cities like Aphik kept Asher politically marginal compared to Judah, Ephraim, or Manasseh.