The city is first recorded under its Greek name Apollonia in the final decades of the Persian period (mid-4th century BCE).

There is indeed no archaeological evidence for a settlement prior to the Persian period, and Izre'el (1999) upholds this identification, suggesting that the Semitic name might have been preserved by the Aramaic-speaking Samaritan community.

The Samaritan chronicle of Abu l-Fath (14th century, written in Arabic) records a toponym rʿšfyn (with ayin).

Izre'el (1999) considers the possibility of identifying this toponym with the Arabic Arsūf, assuming that the ayin may derive from a mater lectionis used in Samaritan Aramaic orthography.

[4] The name of the nearby Israeli settlement of Rishpon was given in 1936, inspired by a misreading of an inscription of Tiglath-Pileser III, where *rašpūna was read for kašpūna; recognition of the misreading rendered void the identification of Arsuf with a supposed Iron Age Phoenician settlement of *Rašpūna.

[7] 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.

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.

Under Roman rule, the town prospered and grew into the chief commercial and industrial centre of the region between the Poleg and Yarkon rivers.

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 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".

[15] The town's area decreased to about 22 acres (89,000 m2) 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.

[citation needed] Godfrey de Bouillon attempted to capture it, but failed for want of ships (William of Tyre, IX, x).

"[13] In 1265, sultan Baibars, ruler of the Mamluks, captured Arsuf after 40 days of siege,[17] after almost getting killed in the moat by a sortie of the defenders.

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).

[22] Due to the confusion with the other ancient city in classical Palestine known as Apollonia, it was also assigned under the name Antipatris.

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.

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 (שיכון עולים "immigrant housing") district of Herzeliya in the 1950s.

The above-ground remains before the excavations included the medieval city wall and moat, enclosing an area of about 90 dunam, a Crusader castle with a double-wall system with an area of about 4 dunam, a port with built jetties and a sheltered anchorage, protected by a sandstone reef.