What Is in a Name? 'Akko
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
What is in a Name? ‘Akko - Ptolemais - ‘Akka - Acre ¿Qué hay en un nombre? ‘Akko - Ptolemais - ‘Akka - Acre Michal ARTZY University of Haifa [email protected] Recibido: 12-03-2015 Aceptado: 20-03-2015 ABSTRACT The modern city of ‘Akko in Israel has borne many names over the centuries of its extended settlement. The name Acre, as it is known in the Western World, is the remnant of the name, St. Jean d’Acre, given to it by its Crusader settlers in the 12th century CE. However, the name ‘Akko and its derivatives has a long history. It appeared as such already in written sources at the beginning of the 2nd Millennium BCE when the first urbanization of the site took place. It remained as ‘Akko, ‘Ake, etc… throughout the subsequent centuries, despite attempts by its varied rulers to change it. The settlement shifted, following the changes of the coastline and the Na’aman (Belos) River, from the ancient Tel Akko, to the bay, where an artificial harbor was established, re-constructed and repeatedly renovated during the 2000 or more years. The first known name of the original site of the settlement, the tell, is dated to the Crusader period. It experienced alteration of name, echoing the transformation of ‘Akko’s history, in which the Western (European) intervention played a major role. KEY WORDS: Tel Akko, ‘Akka, Ptolemais, Saint Jean d’Acre, Crusaders, Napoleon. RESUMEN La actual ciudad de Akko in Israel, ha tenido muchos nombres a lo largo de los siglos de su prolongado asentamiento. El nombre de Acre, con el que se le conoce en el mundo Occidental, es el residuo del nombre de San Juan de Acre que le dieron sus habitantes cruzados en el s. XII de la era Cristiana. Sin embargo, el nombre de ‘Akko y sus derivados, tienen una larga historia. Bajo tal nombre, aparece ya en las fuentes escritas de comienzos el II Milenio a.C., cuando e produjo la primera urbanización del lugar. Se mantuvo como ‘Akko, ‘Ake, etc…a lo largo de los siglos posteriors, a pesar de los inentos de varios dirigentes de cambiarelo. El asentamiento se trasladó, a causa de los cambios en la línea de costa y del río Na’aman o Belos, desde el antiguo Tel Akko a la bahía, en la que se estableció un puerto artificial,reconstruido y renovado reiteradamente durante más de 2000 años. El primer nombre conocido del sitio original del asentamiento, el tell, data de época de los cruzados. Este sufrió una alteración de su nombre, reflejo de la transformación de la historia de Akko, en la que la intervención occidental (europea9, jugó un papel decisivo. PALABAS CLAVE: Tel Akko, ‘Akka, Ptolemais, San Juan de Acre, cruzados, Napoleón. Complutum, 2015, Vol. 26 (1): 205-212 205 ISSN: 1131-6993 http://dx.doi.org/10.5209/rev_CMPL.2015.v26.n1.49349 Michal Artzy What is in a Name? ‘Akko - Ptolemais - ‘Akka - Acre Akko/Akka/Aca well as public buildings like khans and mosques are preserved. Akko served as an important har- Akko/Acre one of the longest-settled sites in bor and eventually the capital of the Crusaders the world. Its official name is Akko today and after the fall of Jerusalem in the 13th century CE. the locals refer to it is either Akko or ‘Akka, the Today, this ancient part of ‘Akko is referred to as Hebrew and Arabic versions of the name. It is a the “Old City.” multi-cultural city, where Mosques, Churches, Over the centuries, Akko has seen sever- Synagogues and an important Bahai center live al changes. The site of Akko may appear in the side by side. Hebrew and Arabic intermingle with Ebla texts dating to ca. 2400-2250 BCE (Matthi- the languages of the newcomers and tourists in ae 1981, Fig. 9). Akko is one of several coastal this colorful city. Its urbanized history starts at sites, including Byblos, Sidon, Dor, Ashdod and least 4000 years ago, when the site of Tel Akko Gaza, on the itinerary of a merchant from Ebla, was fortified with an impressive rampart. In ad- although no archaeological remains dating to the dition, the effects of the urbanization were not- Early Bronze II or III, which are the periods cor- ed in the changes in ecological remains at about responding to the fluorite in the Ebla tablet were the same period (Kaniewski et al. 2013). The found so far on the tell. Remains of the Early tell, situated today ca. 2 kilometers from the sea, Bronze I, however, were documented previous- continued to be inhabited until the early to mid ly. The city was mentioned again in the early 2nd century BCE (fig. 1). It was at this time that Egyptian Execration Texts of the 2nd Millennium the main habitation shifted from the tell to the BCE (Posner 1940:31-34) and archaeologically, peninsula, where today an active small harbor is besides the impressive rampart, imports from located (Artzy and Beeri 2010; Artzy and Quar- the Lebanese coast as well as from Cyprus were temaine 2014). It is this part which has been de- found in situ mainly during the excavations di- clared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO since rected by Moshe Dothan on the summit of the it is a historic site where remains of the Crusader tell and in and around the early 2nd Millennium Kingdom of Jerusalem (11th-13th centuries CE), city gate (Dothan 1976; Dothan and Raban 1990; and fortifications dating to the Ottoman period as Artzy and Beeri 2010; Beeri 2008). The same Fig. 1. Tel Akko with “Old City” in the background. (Photo: Michal Artzy). Complutum, 2015, Vol. 26 (1): 205-212 206 What is in a Name? ‘Akko - Ptolemais - ‘Akka - Acre Michal Artzy name of the city remained and appears in Egyp- Ptolemy II, Philadelphus was the instigator of the tian sources as well as Ugaritic ones. In the El massive construction. At that time the name of Amarna letters, Akko’s kings (father and son) the city was changed to Antiocha Ptolemais. The sent letters to the Pharaohs; it is mentioned sev- official name, and especially that appearing on eral times. In El Amarna 245 the king of Megid- coins minted at Akko during the Hellenistic and do, Biridiya blames Surata, the king of Akko for Roman periods, has been addressed in the past by letting yet another king, Lab’ayu of Shechem es- Kindler (1978). He mentions the name Ace-Ptol- cape when he was supposed to send him by ship emais, Germanica, during the reign of Claudius to the Pharaoh. We feel that this evidence points 41-54 CE (Kindler 1978:54), but accentuates the to the fact that Akko was used as the harbor for fact that the original name AKH reappears in a the Egyptian authorities. Further, in El Amarna mid 1st century BCE: letter 234, Satatna, king of Akka, writes: “Akka is like Magdalu in Egypt…” which accentuates This indicates that the original name per- the loyalty to the Egyptian authorities or to the sisted tenaciously in folk memory of the city Egyptian nature of Akko (Moran 1992:293, note and its use was never entirely abandoned… 5). Evidence for the importance of the city during (Kindler 178:54). that time can be noted in several letters. In one of the letters (EA 85), the king of Byblos (Gu- It is likely that the name Ptolemais continued bla), Rib Adda asks to have a comparable grant to be officially used until the Arab conquest, al- to that of Surata (King of Akko), which con- though this is not necessarily the name used by sists of 400 men and 30 pairs of horses (Moran the local inhabitants. Following the Seleucid rule 1947:156). Akko by that name was mentioned in the Romans used the harbor of Akko. It is likely the Old Testament as being a city ‘not inherited’ that the local population continued to be of Phoe- by the Israelites (Judges 1:31-32). It is likely that nician and Greek extraction. Akko was part of the payment of king Solomon For example, one of the coins minted under to king Hiram of Tyre, for the construction of the Nero (about 53 CE) shows the emperor plough- palaces and temple in Jerusalem, although it is ing the city borders with a plough harnessed to not mentioned by name (Kings 9:12). Accho, as a pair of oxen in a ceremony called pomerium, it appears in the King James is a town, which the a symbol for the establishment of a new colony Israelites, namely the Tribe of Asher, did not con- (Kindler 1978:54). Remains dating to the Ro- quer and so they settled among the Canaanites man period have been found, some alongside (Judges 1:31-32). The name of Akko continues later Hellenistic finds (2nd century BCE), mainly well into the 1st Millennium. It is mentioned by north of the Peninsula (Abu Hamid 2012). Oth- the Assyrians in the Annals of Senacharib and Es- er salvage excavations report Roman and early sarhaddon as well as by Assurbanipal. The name Byzantine finds, among them: Feig (2011) and did not change. It is further mentioned in the Tatcher (2010). A part of a Roman road, likely Persian Annals of king Artaxerxes II (Diodorus connecting the city with Damascus was also not- Siculus XV 41.1-3). It still bore the name Akko/ ed (Finkielsztejn 2007). A large Roman cemetery Akka/Aca (Dothan 1976). was found at the northwestern foothill of the tell (Tepper 2010). However, the latest Hellenistic/ Roman remains found so far on the tell date to Ptolemais the Second century BCE.Ptolemais, Ace-Ptole- mais, etc.