ACRE, or AKKA, or ACCIO, a town and seaport of Palestine. VOL. II.
tine, in the pachaic of Acre, and in ancient times a celebrated city, called Ptolemais, from Ptolemy, king of Egypt. It was named Acra from its fortifications; and by the knights of St John of Jerusalem it was called St John d'Acre. No town has experienced greater changes from political revolutions and the calamities of war. It has been successively possessed by Alexander's successors, who ruled in Egypt, by the Romans, the Saracens, the Christian crusaders, and finally by the Turks. According to some travellers, this city was the Accho of the Scriptures, one of the strongholds of which the Israelites could not dispossess the Canaanites; and in confirmation of this supposition, Mr Buckingham, who visited Acre in 1816, found in the ditches which they were then digging around the wall, fragments of houses which bore marks of the highest antiquity; consisting of that highly sun-burnt brick, with a mixture of cement and sand, which was only used in buildings constructed in the remotest ages. It is only, however, during its possession by Ptolemy, and when it was called Ptolemais, that history gives any certain account of it. It was known during those ancient times to be a great city; and although no perfect monument of its grandeur now remains, yet throughout the modern town are seen fine marble and granite pillars, used at the thresholds of door-ways, or in other parts of ordinary buildings, or lying neglected on the ground. When the empire of the Romans began to extend over Asia, Ptolemais came into their possession; and it yielded in like manner to the growing power of the Saracens. They were expelled from it in 1110 by the crusaders, who retained it until 1187, when it was recovered by Saladin, sultan of Egypt. In 1191 it was retaken by Richard I. of England and Philip of France, who purchased this conquest by the sacrifice of 100,000 troops. They gave the town to the knights of St John of Jerusalem, and it afterwards became the principal scene of contest between the crusaders and the Saracens. It was at this time a large and extensive city, on the direct route to Jerusalem, and a place of great resort. It was accordingly populous and wealthy, and contained numerous churches, convents, and hospitals, of which no traces now remain. The city was under a peculiar system of government, being ruled by all the Christian powers both of Europe and Asia, 19 of whom exercised independent authority within its bounds. It was taken by the Saracens after a bloody siege in 1291, during which it suffered severely, and afterwards fell into decay. Under their dominion it remained till 1517, when it fell into the hands of the Turkish sultan, Selim I. So late as the year 1696, Maundrell, who visited it, states that it had never recovered from its last overthrow; and that, with the exception of the residences of the French factors, a mosque, and a few poor cottages, it presented a vast and spacious scene of ruin. After this period Acre again became a considerable city, and was much strengthened and improved. It is memorable in modern history for the gallantry with which it was defended in 1799 by the Turks, animated by the example and advice of Sir Sydney Smith, against Bonaparte, who, after spending sixty-one days before it, was obliged to retreat. It was afterwards strongly fortified by Jezzar Pacha, and continued to enjoy an increasing degree of prosperity till 1832. Though fettered by imposts and monopolies, it carried on a considerable foreign trade, and had resident consuls from most of the great states of Europe. During its siege by Ibrahim Pacha in the winter of 1831-32, which lasted five months and twenty-one days, its public and private buildings were mostly destroyed. The only one that escaped uninjured was the fountain of Djezzar. Its fortifications were subsequently repaired and improved; but on the 3d November 1840, the town was reduced to ruins by a three hours' bombardment from the British fleet, acting as the allies of the sultan.
The town is situate at the extremity of a plain on the edge of the sea-shore, and at the point of a bay formed by the promontory of Mount Carmel on the south-west, and the termination of the plain itself on the north-east. This bay faces the north-west, and from Cape Carmel to the city it may be about ten miles across. The bay affords no shelter in bad weather, being open to the north-west winds, which blow violently on the coast; and the port of Acre is a small hollow basin behind a ruined mole, scarcely capable of containing a dozen boats. Vessels coming to this coast, therefore, either to load or discharge their cargoes, generally frequent the road of Caipha, a place of anchorage on the south side of the bay, near which the river Kishon flows into the sea. Acre is now the chief mart for the cotton of Syria, and the principal commercial nations of Europe have consuls here. It is 80 miles N.N.W. of Jerusalem, and 27 S. of Tyre. Long. 36. 6. E. Lat. 32. 56. N.