TY - JOUR
T1 - Archaeology, shared heritage, and community at Akko, Israel
AU - Killebrew, Ann E.
AU - DePietro, Dana
AU - Pangarkar, Reema
AU - Peleg, Shelley Anne
AU - Scham, Sandra
AU - Taylor, Evan
N1 - Funding Information:
The Wye River People-to-People Shared Heritage Project served as the first stage of our expanded community-based shared heritage program. This initial project, funded by the United States Department of State as part of the Wye River Memorandum between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in 1998, explored the shared heritage of Israelis and Palestinians. Teams from the University of Haifa and the PACE implemented community-based heritage projects at several locales in the West Bank and Israel (see, e.g., Balter 2002; Killebrew et al. 2006). Between 2001 and 2005, a team of archaeologists funded by the Wye River Project, in partnership with the Israel Antiquities Authority, implemented several programs dealing with Akko’s diverse communities. The Wye River Project had three major goals pertaining to Akko that have either been realized or are being implemented. First, the extensive British Mandate period archival material relating to Akko’s heritage has been digitized and made accessible to the public via the Israel Antiquities Authority website (“The scientific Archive 1919–1948”: http://www. iaa-archives.org.il/search.aspx?loc_id=15002&type_ id=). Second, diverse students from the University of Haifa and Wye River team members have completed a study of Akko’s tangible and intangible heritage and its community ties through collecting historical sources, documenting conservation efforts through the years, and recording community oral histories of 18 historic structures in the old city of Acre (see Fig. 17 for a list of the 18 historic monuments; Killebrew and Raz-Romeo 2010). These include houses of worship (the Jewish community/Ramchal Synagogue, Greek Orthodox community/ Church of St. George, the Malkite Greek community/ St. Andrew Cathedral, Muslim community/Al-Mualeq Mosque, and the Sufi Shadhiliyya-Yashrutiyya Zawiya), Ottoman-period structures and monuments (including Khan al-Umdan and the Serai) and 19th–early 20th century villas (e.g., the House of Crafts [Fig. 7] and the Khammer House/Beit Shukri [Figs. 10, 15, 16, and 18]). Lastly, a project that is currently in progress is community involvement in the conservation and protection of Akko’s heritage, now being implemented by the Tel Akko TAP (see below).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - The international significance of Akko’s heritage is best illustrated by the inscription of two UNESCO World Heritage sites in this town of just over 55,000 people. This article describes three projects that focus on the concept of a shared heritage at a World Heritage site in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, diverse town situated in a region that continues to experience ongoing religious and ethnic conflict. The most recent, and still ongoing, effort to balance archaeology and community interests is the Tel Akko Total Archaeology Project. While attempting to incorporate community building through archaeology and dialog, the Total Archaeology approach described here aims for a socially just and inclusive archaeology that will benefit local community stakeholders rather than disenfranchise them. It also emphasizes the need for local perspectives and experiences to play an active role in the interpretation of the past.
AB - The international significance of Akko’s heritage is best illustrated by the inscription of two UNESCO World Heritage sites in this town of just over 55,000 people. This article describes three projects that focus on the concept of a shared heritage at a World Heritage site in a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, diverse town situated in a region that continues to experience ongoing religious and ethnic conflict. The most recent, and still ongoing, effort to balance archaeology and community interests is the Tel Akko Total Archaeology Project. While attempting to incorporate community building through archaeology and dialog, the Total Archaeology approach described here aims for a socially just and inclusive archaeology that will benefit local community stakeholders rather than disenfranchise them. It also emphasizes the need for local perspectives and experiences to play an active role in the interpretation of the past.
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U2 - 10.5325/jeasmedarcherstu.5.3-4.0365
DO - 10.5325/jeasmedarcherstu.5.3-4.0365
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85035243126
SN - 2166-3548
VL - 5
SP - 365
EP - 392
JO - Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies
JF - Journal of Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology and Heritage Studies
IS - 3-4
ER -
