Ptolemais

TOLEMAIDE. – Maritime city of northern Palestine, 16 km northwest of Caifa, situated on a rocky promontory that limits its bay to the north. Its primitive name was ‘Akkô, perpetuated in the Arabic ‘Akkâ; it was called Ptolemais after Ptolemy III Philadelphus (285–246 B.C.).

Conquered by Thutmosis III, in the 14th century B.C. it was equipped with an Egyptian garrison of 400 soldiers and 40 chariots. Although assigned by Joshua to the tribe of Asher (Ios. 19, 30), the Hebrews were unable to take possession of it (Iudc. 1, 31). It took part in the revolts of Phoenicia and Israel against the Assyrians; but Sennacherib (v.) and then punished by Ashurbanipal through the deportation of its citizens. It subsequently came under the sovereignty of the Persians and the Seleucids. Destroyed in 302 by Ptolemy I, it was restored and embellished by Ptolemy II. Its inhabitants were hostile to the Jews (I Mach. 5, 15, 22; II Mach. 13, 25); Ionathan, at first received with honors, was taken prisoner there and met his death (I Mach. 10, 39, 56, 60; 11, 22, 26; 12, 45). Alexander Jannaeus attempted to conquer it in 103 B.C.; but he abandoned the siege for fear of Ptolemy III. Briefly occupied by Tigranes of Armenia, it was incorporated in 47 B.C. into the Roman province of Syria and became an autonomous colony called Colonia Claudio Ptolemos.

Christianity had followers there from the beginning, and St. Paul (Act. 21, 7) visited its community on his journey from Caesarea to Rome. The city, which was an episcopal see, was occupied by the Muslims in 634, from whom the Crusaders took it in 1104; but in 1187 it was captured by Saladin. Two years later it was besieged by Guy of Lusignan and, in July 1191, occupied by Richard the Lionheart. Accon, as it was called by the Latins, became the metropolis of the Crusader Kingdom, taking within its walls all the remnants of the army. Each prince had his residence there, each maritime republic its quarter, and each military order its fortress. In 1229 it was placed under the control of the Knights of St. John. After the end of the Latin Kingdom, it steadily declined; the imposing ruins of the fortress of St. John earned it, among pilgrims and navigators, the title of St. John of Acre. Despite attempts at restoration in the 18th century, carried out by the emir Dāhir, town and port continued to lose importance. The primitive city stood on Tell el-Fubhār, 1,500 m east of the present city, where archaeological soundings have revealed signs of habitation from 2000 to 900 B.C. Although the tell continued to be occupied from 900 to 300 B.C., the urban center shifted to the maritime quarter.

TOLENTINO, DIOCESI di – Reliquary from the 15th century – Tolentino, church of S. Nicola.