Ancient Phoenician
port city located north of the Mount Carmel peninsula on a 4
mile wide plain at the foot of the Galilean mountains. cAkko
was built at one of the few natural harbors on the Palestinian
coast. During the Israelite conquest of Canaan (12th c.
BCE),
the tribe of Asher failed to conquer the city but instead melded
with the Canaanite population in the surrounding area.
After the
Hellenistic conquest (4th c. BCE) it was renamed "the city
of Ptolemy" for Ptolemy
II &
retained that name through the period of Roman occupation. It
was a major base for Greek & Roman forces during the series
of Jewish revolts from 165 BCE to 135
CE. The Greco-Roman
citadel that the crusaders called "Acre" was the site
of several key battles between Muslims & Christians in the
12th-13th c. CE.
Though this city was just 24 miles from Nazareth
& was one end of the route from Damascus to the sea that
passed through Capernaum,
it is never mentioned in the gospels. But Acts portrays
Paul as paying a brief visit to local Christians on his fateful
final trip to Jerusalem
(ca. 60 CE).
The ancient harbor eventually lost its importance
due to extensive silting & the city was abandoned in favor
of Haifa a few miles to the south.
References:
Josephus,
Antiquities 13.81-83,
190-192, 324-336, 347-353;
14.333, 394;
15.191; 17.287-288; 18.262-263.
_____, War 2.67-68,
188-191, 501-507.
_____, Life 105,
118, 213-215, 342, 410.
Acts 21:7
For further recent information about archaeological & historical evidence, see:
-
Buttrick, G. A., ed. Interpreter's
Dictionary of the Bible. vol. 1 (NY/Nashville: Abingdon Press,
1962) p. 24-25.
Other resources
on line: