New insights on Maritime Akko revealed by Underwater and Coastal Archaeological Research Galili, E.¹, Rosen, B.¹, Stern, E. J.¹, Finkielsztejn, G.¹, Kool, R.¹, Bahat-Zilberstein, N.¹, Sharvit, Y.¹, Kahanov, Y.², Friedman, Z.², Zviely, D.² ¹Israel Antiquities Authority, udi@israntique.org.il Atlit POB 180, 30350. 2 Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, University of Haifa, Haifa, 31905, Israel. Introduction During the last decades, Akko (Acre), its harbor and its environment have been intensively investigated by archaeologists. However, some archaeological and historical questions have ot been completely solved. Among these are: the exact periods of the harbor's construction ze and spatial distribution of the harbor in various periods. Fig. 1. Location map of Akko Port; A) The sea-front of the Pisan quarter (insert Fig.6); B) The Western Basin, (insert Fig. 2b) Akko is a classical model of an historical Mediterranean fortified harbor city which has been functioning for thousands of years as one of the main centers of maritime activity in the Eastern Mediterranean. Akko Bay, which is protected from the north and west winds by the cape, provided a natural anchorage and later a base for one of the three built harbors along the Israeli coast in pre modern times. The harbor which served as a gate-way to Israel for armies, pilgrims and merchants and was visited regularly by ships from the whole Mediterranean is often mentioned in historical documents. The importance of the city as a harbor is n and destruction, and the location, si The present report summarizes and discusses finds from salvage excavations and surveys that were carried out in the harbor by the Israel Antiquities Authority while it was dredged during the years 1991 to 2004 (Figs. 1, 2). 64