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 Akhziv  22 pictures
 2 minutes HQ video The town Akhziv was located in the National Park area. The town was established during the Canaanite period (18th Century B. C.), using its natural fortification for its advantage, i.e., the sea being the western boundary, a natural bay as a southern boundary and from north, Kziv river. The site  On the east, the residents dug a moat, connecting Kziv River and the bay. A spring was flowing east of the town. The town was considered a major one, being a port city, and one of the stops on the Sea Route (Derekh HaYam), passing along the shore. The first settlers dug deeper into the river's channel, making it an harbor. They dammed the upper channel, and shifted the estuary northward, in order to prevent the clogging of the harbor with sediments. The river, therefore, outfalls into the sea through an artificial opening which was quarried north of the town, in the gravel range. Consequently, the renewed channel became part of the fortification system of the site. Akhziv is referred to in the Bible as a Canaanite town, which was not conquered by the tribe of Asher, a sign of its strength. (Judges 1:31). During the rule of the Kings of Israel, the Pheonicians conquered the area, and improved Kziv Bay, which served as an important base for their trade sea trips. Assyrian sources report the conquest of the town by King Sankhrib on his third trip to Pheonicia and Israel (701 B. C.). Tombstones, bearing Hebrew names, such as "In memory of a king and slave, Shemes, son of…", were found in Kziv from that period/ During the Mishna period (the time when the Jewish text by that name was written), the place was named Kziv, or Gazib. It is suggested by the sources (Tosefta Terumot- the supplement of the Mishna discussing donations), that there was a synagogue in town, which has not been discovered yet. The settlers made a living from agriculture, fishing, and seamanship. There also was an additional, special source of income, characteristic of the settlers of shore cities- the production of pale blue and purple dye, out of murex (snails living under the sea). During Ancient Times, the dye was considered valuable. During the period in which the Crusades ruled Israel, the place was named Castle Inbert (Imbert), after Knight Hombertus de Pacci, who inherited the place from the Crusade king, Baldwin I (1104 A. D.). the Bibers, the Mamluk Sultan , conquered Akhziv in 1271. Ever since, a small village name A-zib, has been existed in the area, named similarly to the old town. Apparently, during that time, the settlers transferred their business and work to the bay located south of the ancient town, known as Mint A-Zib, (Akhziv Bay, in Arabic). Most traces found in the area, including the Masgel structure, are traces of A-Zib, an abandoned Arab village, and of the Crusade Castle that was once here. A few graveyards around Akhziv were excavated, revealing many findings: statuettes, tombstones, jugs (used for hoarding), and tools imported from neighboring countries. Among the findings were earthenware dyeed red, characterized by a unique potter's wheel processing, giving them the name "The Wares of Akhziv". The numerous quarrying found around the site, some on the sea rocks, and even in the islands, are mostly quarries where bricks for building were made. Ponds for breeding and storage of fish from the sea. Additionally, there were shallow ponds used for steaming sea water in order to produce salt, or in order to breed murex, used for producing purple dye. The northern shore Ancient buildings   Back to Israel Index
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