Acre (// or //, Hebrew: ??????, ?Akko; Arabic: ????, ?Akka, Ancient Greek, Akre, ?κρη)[2] is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. The city occupies an important location, as it sits on the coast of the Mediterranean, linking the waterways and commercial activity with the Levant [3] Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the world.
Historically, it was a strategic coastal link to the Levant. In crusader times it was known as St. John d'Acre after the Knights Hospitaller of St John order who had their headquarters there. Acre is the holiest city of the Bahá'í Faith. In 2011, the population was 46,464.[1] Acre is a mixed city, 72 percent Jewish and 28 percent Arab. The mayor is Shimon Lankri, who was re-elected in 2011.[4]
Etymology[edit]
The source of the name Akko is unknown. The Egyptians used it as long ago as the second millennium BC, but as it appears in the hieroglyphics as merely two consonants, its pronunciation is unknown.[5]
In the Amarna letters, written in Akkadian, the letter "H" is used to signify the guttural letters alef-heh-chet-ayin, and therefore it was possible to write the name of the city as if it were "Haca" or "Aca". Had the name not been preserved, we would not have been able to identify it with certainty with the name that appears in hieroglyphics. In Assyrian the name has been preserved with the spelling "AKK".[5]
An ancient Hebrew legend tells that the sea flooded the world and when it reached the shore of Acre it stopped short, as is written in the Book of Job (38:11) "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further." In the legend, the Hebrew words "Ad po" [Hitherto] become "Ad ko," and, hence, Akko [Acre].[5]
The city was renamed Ptolemais during the Hellenistic and later Roman-Byzantine period, but was restored to "Akka" following the Muslim conquest.
History[edit]
Remains of ancient harbor
Antiquity[edit]
Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the region.[6] The name Aak, which appears on the tribute-lists of Thutmose III (c. 16th century BC), may be a reference to Acre.[citation needed] The Amarna letters also mention a place named Akka,[7] as well as the Execration texts, that pre-date them.[8] First settlement at the site of Ancient Acre appears to have been in the Early Bronze Age, or about 3000 BCE [9] In the Hebrew Bible, (Judges 1:31), Akko is one of the places from which the Israelites did not drive out the Canaanites. It is later described in the territory of the tribe of Asher and according to Josephus, was ruled by one of Solomon's provincial governors. Throughout Israelite rule, it was politically and culturally affiliated with Phoenicia. Around 725 BC, Akko joined Sidon and Tyre in a revolt against Shalmaneser V.[10]
Greek, Judean and Roman periods[edit]
Greek historians refer to the city as Ake, meaning "cure." According to the Greek myth, Heracles found curative herbs here to heal his wounds.[11] Josephus calls it Akre. The name was changed to Antiochia Ptolemais (in Greek Αντι?χεια Πτολεμα?ς) shortly after Alexander the Great's conquest, and then to Ptolemais, probably by Ptolemy Soter, after the partition of the kingdom of Alexander the Great.[12]
Strabo refers to the city as once a rendezvous for the Persians in their expeditions against Egypt. About 165 BC Judas Maccabeus defeated the Seleucids in several battles in Galilee, and drove them into Ptolemais. About 153 BC Alexander Balas, son of Antiochus Epiphanes, contesting the Seleucid crown with Demetrius, seized the city, which opened its gates to him. Demetrius offered many bribes to the Maccabees to obtain Jewish support against his rival, including the revenues of Ptolemais for the benefit of the Temple in Jerusalem, but in vain. Jonathan Maccabaeus threw in his lot with Alexander, and in 150 BC he was received by him with great honour in Ptolemais. Some years later, however, Tryphon, an officer of the Seleucids, who had grown suspicious of the Maccabees, enticed Jonathan into Ptolemais and there treacherously took him prisoner.
The city was captured by Alexander Jannaeus, Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Tigranes II of Armenia. Here Herod built a gymnasium, and here the Jews met Petronius, sent to set up statues of the emperor in the Temple, and persuaded him to turn back. St Paul spent a day in Ptolemais (Acts 21:7). A Roman colonia was established at the city, Colonia Claudii Cæsaris.[citation needed]After the permanent division of the Roman Empire in 395 AD, Akko was administered by the Eastern (later Byzantine) Empire.
Early Islamic era[edit]
Following the defeat of the Byzantine army of Heraclius by the Muslim army of Khalid ibn al-Walid in the Battle of Yarmouk, and the capitulation of the Christian city of Jerusalem to the Caliph Umar, Acre came under the rule of the Rashidun Caliphate beginning in 638.[6] According to the early Muslim chronicler al-Baladhuri, the actual conquest of Acre was led by Shurahbil ibn Hasana, and it likely surrendered without resistance.[13] The Arab conquest brought a revival to the town of Acre, and it served as the main port of Palestine through the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates that followed, and through Crusader rule into the 13th century.[6]
The first Umayyad caliph, Mu'awiyah (r. 661-680), regarded the coastal towns of the Levant as strategically important. Thus, he strengthened Acre's fortifications and settled Persians from other parts of Muslim Syria to inhabit the city. From Acre, which became one of the region's most important dockyards along with Tyre, Mu'awiyah launched an attack against Byzantine-held Cyprus. The Byzantines assaulted the coastal cities in 669, prompting Mu'awiyah to assemble and send shipbuilders and carpenters to Acre. The city would continue to serve as the principal naval base of Jund al-Urdunn ("Military District of Jordan") until the reign of Caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (723-743), who moved the bulk of the shipyards north to Tyre.[13] Nonetheless, Acre remained militarily significant through the early Abbasid period, with Caliph al-Mutawakkil issuing an order to make Acre into a major naval base in 861, equipping the city with battleships and combat troops.[14]
During the 10th-century, Acre was still part of Jund al-Urdunn.[15] Local Arab geographer al-Muqaddasi visited Acre during the early Fatimid era in 985, describing it as a fortified coastal city with a large mosque possessing a substantial olive grove. Fortifications had been previously built by the autonomous Emir Ibn Tulun of Egypt, who annexed the city in the 870s, and provided relative safety for merchant ships arriving at the city's port. When Persian traveller Nasir Khusraw visited Acre in 1047, he noted that the large Friday mosque was built of marble, located in the centre of the city and just south of it lay the "tomb of the Prophet Salih."[14][16] Khusraw provided a description of the city's size, which roughly translated as having a length of 1.24 kilometers and a width of 300 meters. This figure indicates that Acre at that time was larger than its current Old City area, most of which was built between the 18th and 19th centuries.[14]
Crusader and Mamluk period[edit]
After roughly four years of siege,[17] Acre finally capitulated to the forces of King Baldwin I of Jerusalem in 1104 during the First Crusade. The Crusaders also made the town their chief port in Palestine.[18] On the first Crusade, Fulcher relates his travels with the Crusading armies of King Baldwin, including initially staying over in Acre before the army’s advance to Jerusalem This demonstrates that even from the beginning, Acre was an important link between the Crusaders and their advance into the Levant.[19] Its function was to provide Crusaders with a foothold in the region and access to vibrant trade that made them prosperous, especially giving them access to the Asiatic spice trade [20] By the 1130s it had a population of around 25,000 and was only matched for size in the Crusader kingdom by the city of Jerusalem. Around 1170 it became the main port of the eastern Mediterranean, and the kingdom of Jerusalem was regarded in the west as enormously wealthy above all because of Acre. According to an English contemporary, it provided more for the Crusader crown than the total revenues of the king of England.[21]
The Andalusian geographer Ibn Jubayr wrote that in 1185 there was still a Muslim community in the city who worshiped in a small mosque. Acre, along with Beirut and Sidon, capitulated without a fight to the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187, after his decisive victory at Hattin and the subsequent Muslim capture of Jerusalem. It remained in Muslim hands until it was unexpectedly besieged by King Guy of Lusignan—reinforced by Pisan naval and ground forces—in August 1189. The siege was unique in the history of the Crusades since the Frankish besiegers were themselves besieged, by Saladin's troops. It was not captured until July 1191 when the forces of the Third Crusade, led by Richard I of England and Philip II of France, came to King Guy's aid. Acre then served as the de facto capital of the remnant Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1192 and later became a seat of the Knights Hospitaller military order. Acre continued to prosper as major commercial hub of the eastern Mediterranean, but also underwent turbulent times due to the bitter infighting among the Crusader factions that occasionally resulted in civil wars.[22]
The old part of the city, where the port and fort were located, protrudes from the coastline, exposing both sides of the narrow piece of land to the sea. This could maximize its production as a port and the narrow entrance to this protrusion served as a natural and easy defense to the old city. Both the archaeological record and Crusader texts emphasize Acre’s strategic importance- a city in which it was crucial to pass through, control, and, as evidenced by the massive walls, protect. Acre was the final stronghold of the Crusader states when much of the Levantine coastline was conquered by Mamluk forces. The city, having been isolated and largely abandoned by Europe, capitulated to the Mamluks led by Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil in a bloody siege in 1291. In line with Mamluk policy regarding the coastal cities (to prevent their future utilization by Crusader forces), Acre was entirely destroyed with the exception of a few religious edifices considered sacred by the Muslims, namely the Nabi Salih tomb and the Ayn Bakar spring. The destruction of the city led to popular Arabic sayings in the region enshrining its past glory.[22] In 1321 the Syrian geographer Abu'l Fida wrote that Acre was "a beautiful city" but still in ruins following its capture by the Mamluks. Nonetheless, the "spacious" port was still in use and the city was full of artisans.[23] Throughout the Mamluk era (1260-1517), Acre was succeeded by Safad as the principal city of its province.[22]
Ottoman era[edit]