Akko History

History

Long before it was graced with the royalty of Europe, Akko could already boast a distinguished and colourful history. It received mention in Egyptian sacred texts of the 19th century BC and it’s reputedly the place where Hercules, the Rambo of Greek mythology, took refuge to heal his wounds. Another theory on the origins of the town’s name suggests that it is derived from the Ancient Greek word ake, meaning ‘point’ (headland).

Always an important port, Alexander the Great established a mint here in 333 BC, which operated for 600 years. After the Greek conqueror’s death, Akko was taken by the Egyptian Ptolemites, who called it Ptolemais. In 200 BC they lost it to the Syrian Seleucids, who struggled to keep it until the Romans, led by Pompey, began two centuries of rule.

In 636, Akko fell to the Arabs, who enjoyed a fairly untroubled reign until the coming of the Crusaders. The arrival of the Christian armies heralded the most turbulent period in Akko’s history. The Crusaders seized the town and established it as their principal port and lifeline. They lost it to Saladin (Salah ad-Din) for a time, but it was retaken during the Third Crusade by armies under the command of Richard the Lionheart and King Philip of Spain.

Every now and again the differences had to be settled long enough to repel an attack from the Muslims, but in 1291 the Mamluks appeared with an army that outnumbered the defenders 10-to-one. After a two-month siege, during which most of Akko’s inhabitants escaped to Cyprus, the town fell. It was pounded to rubble by the Mamluks and remained in ruins for the next 450 years.

The rebirth of Akko was undertaken by an unlikely midwife, an Albanian mercenary, Ahmed Pasha al-Jazzar, known as ‘the Butcher’ (jazzar means ‘butcher’ in Arabic) – a nickname that had nothing to do with his skill with meat cutlets. Taking advantage of the weak and corrupt Ottoman administration, Al-Jazzar established a virtually independent fiefdom and bullied the port back into working order. Old Akko, as it exists today, was shaped by the decrees of Al-Jazzar. By 1799 the city had become important enough for Napoleon to attempt its capture, but he was repelled by Al-Jazzar with some help from the English fleet.

Akko remained in Turkish hands until the British captured Palestine in 1917. They set up their headquarters in Haifa, and Akko’s importance dwindled, although its citadel was maintained as the main prison in Palestine. During the 1930s, Akko became a hotbed of Arab hostility towards increased Jewish immigration and the notion of a Zionist state, but Jewish forces captured the town fairly easily in 1948.

Since then the Jews have more or less left Old Akko to the Arabs, preferring to develop their own new town east of Al- Jazzar’s walls. In May 2002 the city was awarded Unesco World Heritage status.