Tel Achziv (Tell ez-Zib) is situated some 14 km north of Acco and 25 km south of Tyre. The multi-period site of Achziv occupies between 55-70 dunams. Situated on the major route between the Lebanese coast to its north and Palestine’s Coastal Plain to its south, Achziv was a locus of interface between cultures. Providing that Achziv is one of the last important Phoenician sites in Palestine and given that previous exploration of the site was limited mostly to cemeteries and tombs with only limited exposed segments of public and domestic architecture, the lion’s share of the city remains unknown.

Between 2014 and 2017, Dr. Yifat Thareani (the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology – NGSBA) together with Dr. Michael Jasmin and Dr. Philippe Abrahami (University of Lille), with collaboration of the Honor Frost Foundation (HFF), the French Research Center at Jerusalem (CRFJ) and the French Foreign Affair Office (Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Development) launched an archaeological mission at Achziv.

Four seasons of excavations at Achziv have produced a number of important new stratigraphic and chronological observations regarding the Bronze and Iron ages settlements at the site.

Remains of a typical MBIIa features including child burials in storejars below floors were found in the northwestern corner of the mound. The remains of a relatively large edifice built atop terraces against the western slope were dated to the MBIIb-c.

Although limited in scope, excavation at the western part of the park (Area C) revealed important evidence for the ninth-seventh centuries BCE. One of a kind mold of an anthropomorphic mask was found together with a rich assemblage of ceramic vessels in a mudbrick building dated to the ninth century BCE. Remains of impressive seventh century BCE Phoenician masonry that belonged to a monumental building were uncovered to its south. To the north (Area F), an IAIIa (ninth century BCE) grave was uncovered with a small yet rich material culture assemblage attesting to a strong Phoenician presence at the city.