Acra (fortress)

The Acra

Givati Parking Lot dig
Alternative name	Aκρα or חקרא
Location	Jerusalem
Coordinates	31°46′28″N 35°14′07″E / 31.77444°N 35.23528°E / 31.77444; 35.23528
Type	Fortress
History
Builder	Antiochus Epiphanes
Material	Stone
Founded	2nd century BCE
Abandoned	2nd century BCE
Periods	Hellenistic
Site notes
Excavation dates	1960s, 70s, 2010s
Archaeologists	Benjamin Mazar (for Ophel location). Doron Ben-Ami, Yana Tchekhanovets [ru], Salome Cohen (for Givati parking lot location).
Condition	Ruined
Public access	Yes

The Acra (also spelled Akra, from Ancient Greek: Ἄκρα, Hebrew: חקרא ,חקרה Ḥaqra(h)), with the meaning of "stronghold" (see under "Etymology"), was a place in Jerusalem thought to have had a fortified compound built by Antiochus Epiphanes, ruler of the Seleucid Empire, following his sack of the city in 168 BCE. The name Acra was also used at a later time for a city quarter probably associated with the by-then destroyed fortress, known in his time to Josephus (1st century CE) as both Acra and "the lower city". The fortress played a significant role in the events surrounding the Maccabean Revolt, which resulted in the formation of the Hasmonean Kingdom. The "upper city" was captured by Judas Maccabeus, with the Seleucid garrison taking refuge in the "Acra" below,^[1][2] and the task of destroying this last enemy stronghold inside Jerusalem fell to Simon Maccabeus surnamed Thassi.^[3] Our knowledge about the Acra is based almost exclusively on the writings of Josephus, which are of a later date, and on the First and Second Books of Maccabees, which were written not long after the described events.^[4][5][6][7]

The exact location of Acra within Jerusalem, and even the meaning of the term—fortress, fortified compound inside the city, or compound with an associated fortress—is critical to understanding Hellenistic Jerusalem, but it remains a matter of ongoing discussion. The fact that Josephus has used the name interchangeably with 'the lower city'^[8] certainly doesn't help. Historians and archaeologists have proposed various sites around Jerusalem, relying initially mainly on conclusions drawn from literary evidence. This approach began to change in the light of excavations which commenced in the late 1960s. New discoveries have prompted reassessments of the ancient literary sources, Jerusalem's geography, and previously discovered artifacts. The more recent theories combine archaeological and textual evidence and favour locations near the Temple Mount and south of it,^[9] but there are alternative theories as well (see "Location").

The ancient Greek term acra was used to describe other fortified structures during the Hellenistic period. The Acra is often called the Seleucid Acra to distinguish it from references to the Ptolemaic Baris as an acra and from the later city quarter of Jerusalem which inherited the name Acra.