General Overview of the Akko Archaeology, Heritage and History Project

The Akko Archaeology, Heritage and History Project proposes to explore the ancient and modern heritage of this UNESCO World Heritage city via “total archaeology”. This approach recognizes that Akko’s rich past – both material and spiritual – is intertwined with the city’s present and future. The focus of our excavations and field school will be the ancient tel of Akko that was occupied from the late 4^th millennium BCE through the Hellenistic periods. But in addition to our quest to uncover Akko’s past, we, as archaeologists, have a responsibility to the city’s present communities and the preservation of its past for the future. Thus we will also be working together and in coordination with Akko’s major stakeholders that include Old Acre Development Company (a government company subordinate to the Ministry of Tourism), Amidar (Israel National Housing Company; owner of abandoned properties), UNESCO, Israel Antiquities Authority, the local municipality, numerous local and diverse communities, pre- and post-1948 communities, private investors and local businesses..

            The modern city of Akko, known in the past as Akka, Ptolemais or Acre, includes a mixture of communities that represent all of the major religious and cultural traditions of the region. Today it is the most holy site for the Baha’i community, a spiritual center for Sufis and houses several dozen additional religious and ethnic groups that call Akko home. In the Old City, elaborate, but deteriorating, Ottoman buildings exist side-by-side with and on top of the best-preserved Crusader site in the world. Just outside the modern town is Akko’s ancient tel which was the center of occupation from the third millennium through late first millennium BCE. During this time, Akko was one of the major Canaanite and Phoenician port cities, serving as a link between the western Mediterranean cultures and Near Eastern cultures in the interior. In the Hellenistic period the city, known as Ptolemais, expanded to the west, including parts of the present-day old and new city. In Byzantine times, Acre was the seat of a bishopric in the archdiocese of Tyre and had a large Samaritan community. During the Persian and Muslim conquests in the 7th century CE, the city’s original name, Akka, was restored. At the beginning of the twelfth century C.E., Acre was a Crusader naval base until it became their capital in 1191. It served as the port of disembarkation for both pilgrims and immigrants to Palestine. During this time Jews continued to live in the city and the community there was visited by a number of famous Jewish scholars including Maimonides who paid a visit in 1165 and Nahmanides, who first settled in Jerusalem, moved to Acre where he died in 1270. In 1291 the town was conquered and destroyed by the Mamluks, lead by al-Malik al-Ashraf. After the Ottoman conquest in 1516, Acre regained its importance as a port. Jews and Muslims continued to live together in the city. Jewish scholar Moses Hayyim Luzzato died there of the plague in 1742. His honorific title, the Ramhal, is the name of one of the synagogues still in use at Akko.

During the late 18^th century, Akko became the capital of the vilayet of Sidon under Pasha Ahmad al-Jazzar who refortified the town, built markets, inns (khans), and refurbished a water supply system. He developed Acre into a political and military center strong enough to deter Napoleon, who in 1799 unsuccessfully besieged Acre. Napoleon’s failure there marked the collapse of his Middle Eastern expeditions. Akko fell under British Mandate rule in 1918. Subsequently Akko was assigned to the Arabs in the 1947 partition of Palestine, but was captured by Israeli forces in the Arab-Israeli war in that same year. Today Akko is city of nearly 50,000 inhabitants and is quickly becoming a major tourist destination in Israel.

Our archaeological project and field school will entail a holistic approach to Akko’s archaeology, history and heritage that includes excavation, conservation, community outreach/education and heritage development components.