Az-Zeeb - History

History

The Arabic name of the village, Az-Zeeb is a shortened form of the site's original ancient Canaanite/Phoenician name, Achzib. Achzib is mentioned in the Book of Joshua (19:29) and Book of Judges (1:31) as a town that became of the Asher tribe, though archaeological evidence indicates that it was Phoenician.

Human settlement at the site dates to as early as the 18th century BCE, and by the 10th century BCE it was a walled town. A tel in Az-Zeeb excavated between 1941–44 and 1959-1964 found evidence of settlement from the Middle Bronze Age II, through the Roman period and the Early Middle Ages.

Positioned on a passage between the plain of Akko and the city of Tyre, Achzib was an important road station. Between the 10th and 6th centuries BCE, it was a properous town, with public buildings and tombs with Phoenician inscriptions, attesting to the identity of its inhabitants at the time. Conquered by the Assyrians in 701 BCE and listed in Sennacherib's annals as Ak-zi-bi, the continuation of Phoenician settlement through this period and during the decline endured during the Persian period, is evidenced in 5th and 4th century BCE Phoenician inscriptions that were found at the site. Also mentioned in the writings of Pseudo-Scylax, the site likely regained some importance in Hellenistic times. During the Roman period, the imperial authorities called it Ecdippa. By the Early Middle Ages, Arab geographers were referring to the area as Az-Zeeb.

With the arrival of the Crusaders in 1099, the village was reestablished as "Casal Imbertia" or "Lambertie". Arab geographer Ibn Jubayr toured Palestine in 1182 and mentioned az-Zeeb as a large fortress with a village and adjoining lands between Acre and Tyre." Under Mamluk rule, in 1226, Arab geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi describes az-Zeeb as a large village on the coast whose name was also pronounced "az-Zaib".

In the early 16th century, az-Zeeb was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, and by 1596, it was a village in the nahiya ("subdistrict") of Akka, part of Sanjak Safad. It paid taxes on several agricultural items including, wheat, barley, "summer crops", fruits, cotton, beehives, goats, and water buffalo. The 18th century Islamic judge and scholar Abu al-Ali az-Zibi was born in the village. British traveler James Silk Buckingham describes az-Zeeb in the early 19th century as a small town built on a hill near the sea with few palm trees rising above its houses. By the late 19th century, most of the village houses were built of stone, a mosque and a clinic had been established, and the residents cultivated olives, figs, mulberries, and pomegranates. In 1882, the Ottomans established an elementary school in az-Zeeb.

Az-Zeeb became a part of the British Mandate of Palestine in 1922. During the period of British rule, the main economic sectors in the village were fishing and agriculture, particularly fruit cultivation, including bananas, citrus, olives, and figs. There were four olive presses: two mechanized and two animal-drawn. Between 1927 and 1945, the village's annual fish catch was 16 metric tons.