 Remaining structures of az-Zeeb (today a recreational area), including its mosque, 2009 | |
  Shown within Northwest Israel  Achziv (Israel) | |
| Alternative name | Az-Zeeb (الزيب) al-Zib, al-Zaib[1] |
|---|---|
| Location | Israel |
| Region | Northern District |
| Coordinates | 33°02′52″N 35°06′08″E / 33.04778°N 35.10222°E |
| Area | 12.4 |
| History | |
| Cultures | Israeli, Coptic, Islamic |
| Events | Battle of Casal Imbert (1232), part of the War of the Lombards |
Achziv (Hebrew: אַכְזִיב ʾAḵzīḇ) or Az-Zeeb (Arabic: الزيب, romanized: Az-Zīb) is an ancient site on the Mediterranean coast of northern Israel, between the border with Lebanon and the city of Acre. It is located 13.5 kilometres (8.4 mi) north of Acre on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, within the municipal area of Nahariya. Today it is an Israeli national park.
Excavations have unearthed a fortified Canaanite city of the second millennium BCE. The Phoenician town of the first millennium BCE is known both from the Hebrew Bible and Assyrian sources. Phoenician Achzib went through ups and downs during the Persian and Hellenistic periods. In early Roman times the town, known as Acdippa, was a road station. The Bordeaux Pilgrim mentions it in 333-334 CE still as a road station; Jewish sources of the Byzantine period call it Kheziv and Gesiv. There is no information about settlement at the site for the early Muslim period. The Crusaders built a new village with a castle there. During the Mamluk and Ottoman periods a modest village occupied the old tell (archaeological mound).
In modern times the site was known as the Palestinian town of Az-Zeeb, with a population of almost 2,000. It was depopulated during the Haganah's Operation Ben-Ami, on May 14, 1948, the last day of the British Mandate for Palestine.
The sole permanent resident of Achziv since declaration of the State was Eli Avivi (1930-2018), an Israeli photographer and micronationalist who hosted visitors to the legally disputed micronation of "Akhzivland", a small stretch of beach where he lived since 1975 until his death.