'Acre Ware' has been distinguished as a true Crusader production that dominates the twelfth and mainly the thirteenth century ceramic assemblages found in the Acre ('Akko) excavations (Stern 2012:34–38, type AC.PL). Production apparently ceased with the fall of Crusader Acre to the Mamluks in 1291. This was an all-purpose plain ware that potters used for many forms—from tableware to kraters, jugs, juglets, jars, basins, antilia (saqiye) jars, oil lamps, money boxes, vessels for sugar production, water pipes and zoomorphic vessels. The ‘Acre bowl’ form was the most typical and frequent bowl found in large quantities in the Hospitaller Compound, was probably intended for individual dining of the pilgrims and sick that were under their care and of the Hospitaller brothers. Some of the forms, mainly the jugs and storage jars, are similar in shape to simple unglazed pottery of the Fatimid period, suggesting some continuation of the pottery-production tradition of simple wares from the Fatimid to the Crusader periods (Arnon 2003:235–236, Pl. 109:9, 2008:311, Type 854c). The distribution of this ware is quite limited, mainly to Acre, sites inhabited by a Frankish population in its close vicinity or in northern Israel (see Stern 2012:36–37). 'Acre Ware' was also found in the Hospitaller castle at Arsur/Apollonia (Tal and Roll 2011:40, Fig. 33) and at Jaffa (Burke and Stern, forthcoming).

'Akko/Acre (Israel/Northern Coastal Plain)