Archaeology Magazine - January/February 1983 - 61

pational level became thicker.
Before exploring this level, archaeologists cleared a series of deep pits which
had been cut through walls and floors of
settlements dating from the Middle Iron
Age (1000-800b.c.) down to Hellenistic
times (third century b.c.). These pits
contained rich deposits of broken pottery
vessels which belonged mainly to the
classical Persian (550-330 b.c.) and
Hellenistic periods, including Phoenician
jars, trichrome vessels, Attic black-glaze
ware, and Rhodian and other Greek
amphoras. Among the hundreds of
stamped Rhodian amphora handles, none
was found which could be dated later
than the beginning of the second century.
Undisturbed levels below the pits
indicate that this part of the tell was
sparsely settled during the first half of
the Iron Age (1200-900b.c.). Iron Age
Akko did not flourish as a harbor town
before the Assyrians conquered the
southern Levantine coast in 734 b.c.
Even more interesting were the layers of
ash, remnants of domestic architecture,
and thick deposits of murex shells which
continue from the thirteenth through
the twelfth centuries b.c. Rarely in Israel
can continuous occupation be traced
through the Mycenaean.11IB (13th century B.c.) and Mycenaean UIC (12001050 b.c.) periods. The gap of a few
generations usually observed between
the final settlements of the Philistines
and other Sea Peoples does not occur
at Akko.
A mudbrick
gate
Beneath the crushed murex layer were
thick levels of loose sand which sloped
and thinned out toward the inner part of
the tell. This fill was laid on a hard,
well-leveledgray floor leading to a long
narrow gate complex made of sun-dried
mudbrick and massive stone walls plastered with smooth mud on the inner face.
This gate, just under 20 meters long,
creates a low passageway through the
rampart fortification. Outside the gate
is an open square with a beaten gray
floor; the entrance itself is through a
pair of pilasters leading into a brick
chamber measuring three square meters.
On the face of both pilasters is a preserved mud groove which almost certainly held the wooden door jambs in
place. A square ditch cut into the floor
between the pilasters evidently held a
wooden threshold. The entrance is only
1.8 meters wide, far too narrow to allow
wheeled vehicles to pass through the
gate. The side walls of the brick guard
chamber are preserved intact to a height
of almost three meters.
Proceeding through another pair of
pilasters, one reaches a descending floor
of a much larger and longer chamber.
Its side walls are of massive stone almost two meters thick which serve as
retaining walls for the rampart on either
side of the gate. The gate is asymmetrical
-the entranceway through the mud-

brick chamber is off-center to the east,
and the exit through the outer chamber
is off-center to the west. At the external
face of the rampart's retaining wall,
archaeologists discovered the surface of
a sloping glacis which apparently was
formed during the construction of the
wall. The wall continued above the surface of the glacis, with a diminished
width of 1.4 meters. It is likely that this
wall supported a roof over the gate. The
side walls of the gate's forechamber,
measuring 4.2 meters by 6.8 meters,
were carefully plastered with smooth
mud, a material which could not have
survived weather changes unless it was
protected by a roof. This plaster also
covers part of the mudbrick inner
chamber.
Along the inner face of the western
retaining wall is a compact mud bench
reminiscent of biblical writings which
mention judges or elders sitting by the
city gate. This wall continues to the
north for several meters outside the
gate. Its external end was shaved off
diagonally when the later glacis slope
was leveled. At its external face, the
surface of the glacis slopes inward toward the city. The offset course of the
rampart on the western side of the gate
may have provided an indirect approach
to the gate complex, running along the
foot of the eastern part of the glacis.
This construction design parallels the
Middle Bronze IIA gate at Megiddo.
Two earlier floors were discovered
beneath the floor of the gate's outer
chamber, each about 60 centimeters
lower than the one immediately preceding it. The ascent through the gate
appears to have been too steep because
of the terrain, so it was modified at a
later time. This alteration raised the
floor level just outside the gate, requiring a mudbrick extension of the eastern
wall. At this later stage, the ramp descending out from the gate seems to
have been rebuilt on the same axis as
the passage through the gate to create
a direct approach.
The earliest ramparts
Excavation below the floors of the
exterior chamber revealed that the steep
terrain was created by an earlier, precipitously sloped rampart. This rampart
was constructed totally out of compact
black mud, and its course deviates to
the left of the later glacis by 30 degrees.
The foundation of the western stone wall
was laid directly on the earlier glacis
and continued below the lowest floor of
the gate for more than two meters.
When the gate was no longer used, the
ends of the eastern and western stone
walls were chopped off diagonally.
The exceptional preservation of the
sun-dried brick and the mud plaster for
almost 4,000 years indicates that the
removal of the second floor and roof of
the gate and the addition of the sand
fill occurred at about the same time,

perhaps within a month of each other
in the summer. These alterations heightening the rampart, filling in the
gate, and fixing its entrance elsewhereclearly were made by people who had
decided to strengthen their fortifications. The refortification of their city
has left an invaluable legacy for archaeologists. Only because the glacis completely covered the gate has the complex
been so well preserved.
The three floor levels in the gate's
exterior chamber indicate that they were
used over a considerable period of time.
Changes in town planning and floor
levels near the gate inside the city reinforce this conclusion. Archaeologists
discovered the top of the earliest black
glacis and at least one floor level that
was laid on this rampart running beneath the gate. The builders of the gate
subsequently laid continuous layers of
black ash, about five centimeters thick,
to serve as a moisture-absorbing base
for the mudbrick structure. Inside the
city and perpendicular to the mudbrick
gate structure, at least three successive
floors were laid. The first two formed a
narrow street which was later blocked
by a stone wall.
A large quantity of pottery was collected from the various floors, from the
top of the earliest black rampart to the
sandy fill of the third rampart and above
its mudbrick covering. Even after careful study, however, it was not possible
to draw any certain distinctions between
the earliest and latest groups. Comparison with recently published material
from the Middle Bronze Age palace of
Tel Aphek suggests that the earliest
rampart at Akko dates from the beginning of the twentieth century b.c.
The discovery of the gate and three
successive lines of fortification of the
rampart and glacis type at Akko, all
apparently predating the Hyksosite
period, must put an end to the long and
often bitter arguments about the introduction of this type of fortification into
Palestine. These remarkable discoveries
may well help reconstruct a new historical picture in which full-scale urbanism,
at least in the northern coastal regions
of Palestine, existed by 2000 b.c.- suggesting that the generally held theory
of a total break in urban life in Palestine
between the Early and Middle Bronze
Ages should be reconsidered. Perhaps
the transitional period between the Early
and Middle Bronze Ages should be
viewed as being shorter, and not completely distinct in the northern coastal
regions. Evidence for the presence of a
Middle Bronze Age II fortified city in
Palestine, however, does not completely
invalidate the earlier theories. It is more
than likely that more than one way of
life existed in this region around 2000
b.c. At the same time the people of
Akko were building and fortifying their
city-state, the nomads of the region were
tending their flocks in the nearby hills.
1983
January/February

Archaeology Magazine - January/February 1983

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - January/February 1983