Acre Israel: Encyclopedia II - Acre Israel - History

Acre Israel - History

Few towns have had a more chequered or calamitous history. Of great antiquity, Acre is probably to be identified with the Aak of the tribute-lists of Thutmoses III (c. 1500 B.C.), and it is certainly the Akka of the Amarna letters. To the Hebrews it was known as Acre (Revised Version spelling), but it is mentioned only once in the Old Testament, namely Judges 1:31, as one of the places from which the Israelites did not drive out the Canaanite inhabitants. Theoretically it was in the territory of the tribe of Asher, and Josephus assigns it by name to the district of one of Solomon's provincial governors. Throughout the period of Hebrew domination, however, its political connections were always with Syria rather than with the Philistines: thus, about 725 BC it joined Sidon and Tyre in a revolt against Shalmaneser V. It had a stormy experience during the three centuries preceding the Christian era.

Acre Israel - The Greek and Roman periods

The Greek historians name it Ake (Josephus calls it also Akre); but the name was changed to Ptolemais, probably by Ptolemy Soter, after the partition of the kingdom of Alexander the Great.

Strabo refers to the city as once a rendezvous for the Persians in their expeditions against Egypt. About 165 BC Simon Maccabaeus defeated the Syrians in many battles in Galilee, and drove them into Ptolemais. About 153 BC Alexander Balas, son of Antiochus Epiphanes, contesting the Syrian 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 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 Syrians, who had grown suspicious of the Maccabees, enticed Jonathan into Ptolemais and there treacherously took him prisoner.

The city was also assaulted and captured by Alexander Jannaeus, by Cleopatra VII of Egypt and by 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).

Acre Israel - Arab rule and the Crusades

The Arabs captured the city in AD 638, and held it until they lost it to the crusaders in 1104. The latter made the town their chief port in Palestine. It was re-taken by Saladin in 1187, besieged by Guy of Lusignan in 1189 at the Battle of Acre, and again captured by Richard the Lionheart in 1191. It then became the capital of the remnant of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. In 1229 it was placed under the control of the Knights Hospitaller (whence came one of its alternative names). It was the final stronghold of the Crusader state, and fell to a bloody siege to the Mameluks in 1291. The Ottomans under Sultan Selim I captured the city in 1517, after which it fell into almost total decay. Maundrell in 1697 found it a complete ruin, save for a khan occupied by some French merchants, a mosque and a few poor cottages.

Acre Israel - Ottoman rule

Towards the end of the 18th century it revived under the rule of Daher El-Omar, the local sheikh: his successor, Jezzar Pasha, governor of Damascus, improved and fortified it, but by heavy imposts secured for himself all the benefits derived from his improvements. About 1780 Jezzar peremptorily banished the French trading colony, in spite of protests from the French government, and refused to receive a consul.

In 1799 Napoleon, in pursuance of his scheme for raising a Syrian rebellion against Turkish domination, appeared before Acre, but after a siege of two months (March--May) was repulsed by the Turks, aided by Sir Sidney Smith and a force of British sailors. Having lost his siege cannons to Smith, Napoleon attempted to lay siege to the walled city defended by Ottoman troops on 20 March 1799, using only his infantry and small-caliber cannons, a strategy which failed, leading to his retreat two months later on May 21.

Jezzar was succeeded on his death by his son Suleiman, under whose milder rule the town advanced in prosperity till 1831, when Ibrahim Pasha besieged and reduced the town and destroyed its buildings. On November 4, 1840 it was bombarded by the allied British, Austrian and French squadrons, and in the following year restored to Turkish rule.

Acre Israel - The British Mandate

The citadel of Acre was used by the British as a prison and a gallows, mainly for political prisoners. Jewish underground movement activists, such as Zeev Jabotinsky and Shlomo Ben-Yosef (Irgun activist) were jailed in the citadel-prison of Acre. Ben-Yosef was the first Jew to be executed by the British mandate.

On May 4, 1947, the Irgun broke into the Acre citadel prison in order to release Jewish activist imprisoned there by the British. 27 inmates succeeded in escaping (20 from the Irgun and 7 from Lehi). 9 were killed and 5 were captured during the raid.

Despite the heavy toll in human lives, the action was described by foreign journalists as "the greatest jail break in history." The London Ha'aretz correspondent wrote on May 5:

The New York Herald Tribune wrote that the underground had carried out "an ambitious mission, their most challenging so far, in perfect fashion."

Prison break

Acre Israel - Israeli rule

Israel has held sovereignty over the city since its independence in 1948.

• Modern city outside of the Old City walls. See: Akko (modern city).
• Archeological reservation works and excavations. See: Old Acre Development Company.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki