What is in a Name? ‘Akko - Ptolemais - ‘Akka - Acre

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.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

Geoarchaeology of Magdala harbour and Tel Akko (Israel)

With the support of the MISTRALS-ENVIMED-GEOSISRAEL program and A*MIDEX GEOMED project, we have been able to reconstruct the palaeo-environmental evolution of two ancient harbours in Israel. Harbour geoarchaeology was mainly developed in Israel by the late Avner Raban, founding member of the RIMS multidisciplinary research unit in 1972 at Haifa University. Since these pionneering years, a series of geoarchaeological projects have focused on different ancient harbours, mainly at Caesarea, Dor, and Atlit. Paradoxically, landscape evolution of the major harbour sites of Magdala and Tel Akko have been neglected until two comprehensive multidisciplinary archaeological projects were recently started. Recent excavations undertaken in the ancient city of Magdala, located on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, have unearthed a harbour structure extending for more than 100 m, dating from the late Hellenistic (167-63 BC) to the middle Roman (70-270 AD) periods, with well-preserved quays and mooring stones. An integrated (geomorphological, sedimentological, micropalaeontological and archaeological) study of the sedimentary succession buried beneath the ancient harbour area reveals the harbour’s main evolutionary stages, shedding new light on the natural versus anthropogenic controls on sedimentation. Three sedimentary sequences reflect the recent palaeoenvironmental evolution of Magdala. These include: 1) a pre-harbour foundation sequence; 2) a harbour sequence from the 3rd-2nd centuries BC to the first half of the 1st century AD. The substantial increase of ostracod species (Pseudocandona albicans) preferring calm waters and fine-grained facies point to the establishment of a protected, shallow and organic-rich setting. The increase in sodium and potassium concentrations is accompanied by the sudden appearance of Heterocypris salina, a brackish-tolerant species, and by the dominance of noded valves of Cyprideis torosa ; and 3) a harbour abandonment sequence dated ca. 270-350 years AD. Archaeological excavations at Tel Akko, east of the present city, revealed imported artifacts and evidence for maritime trade from the Middle Bronze Age (2200–1500 years BC) onwards. The findings strongly indicated that a harbour had been developed on this site even though its exact location and associated facilities were still to be determined. Sedimentological and paleontological analyses together with 14C dating of cores provide new palaeo-environmental information allowing for the reconstruction of shoreline changes over the last 4000 years. Firstly, we propose that the southern face of the tell constituted the harbor environment,with lagoonal-marine characteristics until ca. 2800 years BP; and that the site was protected by a natural rocky breakwater and a spit which were eventually silted up and transformed into a continental marsh. This environment might have been used as a harbour by inhabitants before the archaic period. Secondly, it seems that the west side of the tell was lined by a sandy coast that had prograded offering an open anchorage until the Persian period. These results must be cross-validated by future archaeological excavations aimed at more accurately locating the ancient harbour structures. 2013, Kaniewski D., Van Campo E., Morhange C., Guiot J., Zviely D., Shaked I., Otto T., Artzy M., Early urban impact on Mediterranean coastal environments, Nature Scientific Reports, 3. 2013, Sarti G., Rossi V., Amorosi A., De Luca S., Lena A., Morhange C., Ribolini A., Sammartino I., Bertoni D., Zanchetta G., Magdala harbour sedimentation (sea of Galilee, Israel), from natural to anthropogenic control, Quaternary International, 303, pp. 120-131. 2014, Anthony E. J., Marriner N., Morhange C., Human influence and the changing geomorphology of Mediterranean deltas and coasts over the last 6000 years: from progradation to destruction phase? Earth Science Reviews, 139, pp. 336–361. 2014, Kaniewski D., Van Campo E., Morhange C., Guiot J., Zviely D., Le Burel S., Otto T., Artzy M., Vulnerability of ecosystems facing long-term changes along the Mediterranean coast of Israel, PLoS ONE, 9, 7. 2014, Marriner N., Morhange C., Kaniewski D., Carayon N., Ancient harbour infrastructure in the Levant: tracking the birth and rise of new forms of anthropogenic pressure, Nature Scientific Reports, 4, 5554. 2014, Morhange C., Salamon A., Bony G., Flaux C., Galili E., Goiran J.-P., Zviely D., Geoarchaeology of tsunamis and the revival of neo-catastrophism in the Eastern Mediterranean, in Rome "La Sapienza" Studies on the Archaeology of Palestine & Transjordan (ROSAPAT 11), Overcoming catastrophes, pp. 31-51. 2015, Morhange C., Marriner N., Carayon N., The geoarchaeology of ancient Mediterranean harbours, in French geoarchaeology in the 21st century, G. Arnaud-Fassetta and N. Carcaud eds., CNRS editions, Alpha, Paris, pp. 281-289. 2015, Rossi V., Sammartino I., Amorosi A., Sarti G., De Luca S., Lena A., Morhange C., New insights into the palaeoenvironmental evolution of Magdala ancient harbour (Sea of Galilee, Israel) from ostracod assemblages, geochemistry and sedimentology, Journal of Archaeological Science, 54, pp. 356-373

Refining Late-Holocene environmental changes of the Akko coastal plain and its impacts on the settlement and anchorage patterns of Tel Akko (Israel)

Acord transformatiu CRUE-CSICAltres ajuts: United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (Project number: 2016080)Akko/Acre, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2001, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the eastern Mediterranean. Tel Akko was a major maritime centre of the southern Levant from the Middle Bronze to the Late Persian period. The city was then moved 1500 m to the west on the Akko promontory where the 'Old City' of Saint-Jean d'Acre is located. The natural and anthropogenic evolution of Tel Akko area is reflected by persistent geographical and habitation pattern changes. We combine sedimentological and faunal analyses of radiocarbon dated cores as well as identification of ceramic sherds found in the cores with ground penetrating radar investigations to propose an up-to-date palaeogeographical reconstruction of landscape/environmental changes of the Akko coastal plain in order to understand the extent to which environmental pressures have played a role on the position of anchorage and habitation patterns. We highlight how the local population make use of the natural advantages of the area and adapted to environmental pressures. Following a constant sedimentary input and simultaneous coastal progradation of the Akko coastal plain the main anchorage areas where forced to move. While the 2nd Millennium BCE anchorage was on the southern area of the tell, the late-1st Millennium BCE (Phoenician-Persian) anchorage was relocated on the western area. Vicissitudes in settlement pattern noted in archaeological excavations and surveys on Tel Akko have, most likely, been the consequence of the changes in the position of the coastline

Using a multi-proxy approach to locate the elusive Phoenician/Persian anchorage of Tel Akko (Israel)

Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-MAltres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UABPrevious geoarchaeological research on the Akko coastal plain have contributed to the understanding of the ancient coastal interface and added evidence as to the location/shift of the ancient anchorages dating from the Middle Bronze Age (beginning of the 2nd Millennium BC) to the Early Hellenistic period (mid of the 2nd century BC) of the ancient site of Tel Akko. The present research provides new insights into the environmental changes and likely anchorage sites along the western edge of Tel Akko in the 1st Millennium BC (Iron Age II and III, periods associated with the Phoenician mariners and Persian army incursion). Our approach for locating the anchorage is based on a detailed investigation of subsurface sediments combining sedimentological and faunal analysis and radiocarbon dating of cores as well as identification of ceramic sherds found in the cores, and ground penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys. Paleoenvironmental changes are compared and contrasted with the results of the archaeological investigations on the tell and in its vicinity. Our new data demonstrates that the Phoenician/Persian maritime interface of Tel Akko was mainly oriented toward the southwestern area of the tell where a natural anchorage was likely to have been located. At that time, the water depth in this area was ca. 2m, allowing for the anchorage of seagoing vessels. Increasing sediment deposition lead to the deterioration of direct, and eventual loss of access, to the sea. These conditions initiated the abandonment of the tell in the Early Hellenistic period as well as the westward shift to habitation on the peninsula, now the 'Old city of Akko', the Crusaders' Saint Jean d'Acre

Exotic foods reveal contact between South Asia and the Near East during the second millennium BCE

Aunque el papel clave del comercio a larga distancia en la transformación de las cocinas en todo el mundo está bien documentado desde al menos la época romana, la prehistoria del comercio de alimentos euroasiático es menos visible. Con el fin de arrojar luz sobre la transformación de las cocinas del Mediterráneo oriental durante la Edad del Bronce y la Edad del Hierro Temprana, analizamos los microrestos y las proteínas conservadas en el cálculo dental de individuos que vivieron durante el segundo milenio a. Nuestros resultados proporcionan evidencia clara del consumo de alimentos básicos esperados, como cereales (Triticeae), sésamo ( Sesamum ) y dátiles ( Phoenix ). Además, informamos evidencia del consumo de soja ( glicina ), probable banano ( Musa ) y cúrcuma (Curcuma ), que hace retroceder la evidencia más antigua de estos alimentos en el Mediterráneo por siglos (cúrcuma) o incluso milenios (soja). Descubrimos que, desde principios del segundo milenio en adelante, al menos algunas personas en el Mediterráneo oriental tuvieron acceso a alimentos de lugares distantes, incluido el sur de Asia, y esos productos probablemente se consumieron en forma de aceites, frutos secos y especias. Estos conocimientos nos obligan a repensar la complejidad y la intensidad del comercio indo-mediterráneo durante la Edad del Bronce, así como el grado de globalización en la cocina del Mediterráneo oriental temprano. Although the key role of long-distance trade in the transformation of cuisines worldwide has been well-documented since at least the Roman era, the prehistory of the Eurasian food trade is less visible. In order to shed light on the transformation of Eastern Mediterranean cuisines during the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, we analyzed microremains and proteins preserved in the dental calculus of individuals who lived during the second millennium BCE in the Southern Levant. Our results provide clear evidence for the consumption of expected staple foods, such as cereals (Triticeae), sesame (Sesamum), and dates (Phoenix). We additionally report evidence for the consumption of soybean (Glycine), probable banana (Musa), and turmeric (Curcuma), which pushes back the earliest evidence of these foods in the Mediterranean by centuries (turmeric) or even millennia (soybean). We find that, from the early second millennium onwards, at least some people in the Eastern Mediterranean had access to food from distant locations, including South Asia, and such goods were likely consumed as oils, dried fruits, and spices. These insights force us to rethink the complexity and intensity of Indo-Mediterranean trade during the Bronze Age as well as the degree of globalization in early Eastern Mediterranean cuisine

From Akko/Acco to Beit She’an/Beth Shan in the Late Bronze Age. Ägypten und Levante|Ägypten und Levante XXVII 28|

Tel Akko is an imposing site on the northern side of the Haifa Bay. It was active as a maritime hub in the Eastern Mediterranean during the 2nd millennium BCE. This study proposes that during the Late Bronze Age, especially in Late Bronze II, Akko’s anchorage on the southern outskirts of the tell was the main maritime contact between Egypt and the Egyptian administrative centre in Beit She’an. This stood in contrast to the anchorage of the same period at Tell Abu Hawam, situated on the same bay, whose main trade network was with sites that lay to the north and west in the Eastern Mediterranean. The study deals with the route used for travelling between Akko and Beit She’an, as well as with textual accounts and petrographic analyses of the el-Amarna Letters