Archaeology, Shared Heritage, and Community at Akko, Israel

Abstract

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.

Local voices on heritage: Understanding community perceptions towards archaeological sites in South Iraq

“…In other words, quoting Humphris and Bradshaw (2017), the present study points at 'understanding the community, before community archaeology'. Similar approaches have already been tested in other countries such as Jordan (Abu-Khafajah and Miqdadi 2019), Syria (Jamieson 2016;Moualla and McPherson 2019), Turkey (Atalay 2010;2012), Egypt (Moser et al 2002;Tully 2007;Lorenzon and Zermani 2016), Sudan (Humphris and Bradshaw 2017;Näser 2019;Kleinitz and Merlo 2014;Näser and Tully 2019) and Israel (Killebrew et al 2017), while in Iraq it represents one of the very first attempts (Isakhan and Meskell 2019). Overall, these studies have shown that the involvement of local communities in decision-making processes on the preservation and communication of cultural heritage can guarantee a long-term, effective and sustainable impact.…”

“…Most of these activities have already been successfully tested in several archaeological projects involving Muslim communities in Egypt (Tully 2007), Sudan (Näser 2019) or Israel (Killebrew et al 2017) among others. For example, in Sudan, following the request of the local residents, a dedicated website www.mogratarchaeology.com and the publication of the bilingual book 'Discovering Mograt Island Together' were jointly designed and developed (Tully and Näser 2016;Näser and Tully 2019).…”

The Value of Natural Stones to Gain in the Cultural and Geological Diversity of Our Global Heritage

“…Stones from Africa, Oceania, and other Asian areas, such as China and the Near and Middle East, remain unacknowledged in recognized scientific networks, even if European, Arabic, and Chinese architectural styles all emerged from long ancient civilizations. The stone-built heritage in countries such as Turkey [27,28], from which both Pavonazzetto marble and Urfa Limestone are published and described as candidates, have not yet been considered as important heritage stones in heritage; the heritage of Lebanon [29,30], Syria [31], Iraq [32], Israel [33], Jordan, [34], Palestine (where natural stone played an important role in the architecture of old cities in the mountain region, such as Jerusalem, Hebron, Bethlehem, and Nablus) [35,36], Saudi Arabia, other nations of the Arabian Peninsula [37], and Iran [38] is also as important as the heritage of the so-called occidental world. Unfortunately, some of these unrepresented areas are very unstable, with political conflicts (e.g., Syria, Iraq, and Palestine), natural hazards, such as earthquakes (e.g., Turkey), and anthropic hazards, such as wars and accidents (e.g., Taliban wars in Afghanistan, a gas explosion in Lebanon), frequently affecting communities.…”

Deep Adaptive Reuse

“…Furthermore, while Acre and Jaffa are not extreme cases of rapid deterioration, as the historic areas of Dubrovnik or Venice, these port cities are on the edge of becoming mass tourism attractions. The ongoing gentrification process in the areas jeopardises the fragile balance between the traditional livelihoods of locals and new economic activities linked to tourism owned by outsider business people (Killebrew et al, 2017;Sherwood, 2012Sherwood, , 2012. The Marina of Acre is one of the leading local and tourist assets in the city.…”