‘Akko, city in Israel, near Haifa, located on the Bay of Haifa, an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. Also called Acre, it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Founded before 1500 bc, it first appears in recorded history during the reign of the pharaoh Thutmose III, which lasted from 1479 to 1475 bc. The town was captured by the Assyrians around 700 bc and virtually depopulated under Ashurbanipal. In 332 bc it was incorporated into the empire of Alexander the Great. Ptolemy II, king of Egypt, seized the city in the 3rd century bc and from that time until the Middle Ages it was known as Ptolemaïs. During the pre-Christian era, ‘Akko was an important seaport and trading center and was successively a part of Syria and a colony of Rome.

After the permanent division of the Roman Empire in ad 395, ‘Akko belonged to the Eastern (later Byzantine) Empire. The Arabs seized it in 638 and held it until its capture by King Baldwin I of Jerusalem in 1104. Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria, recaptured ‘Akko in 1187, but the town was subsequently recovered by the Europeans during the Third Crusade (see Crusades). In 1291, after a long siege, ‘Akko fell to the Saracens. The Ottomans took possession of it in 1517. Napoleon Bonaparte's effort to advance up the Mediterranean coast from his base in Egypt was halted by the British at ‘Akko in 1799. ‘Akko was captured by British troops in 1918 and included in the British mandate of Palestine (1922-1948). The town was taken by the Israeli army in 1948 and incorporated into the state of Israel in 1949. It is now the center of the Israeli steel industry. Population 44,800 (1999 estimate).