Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

JOPPA

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V15, Page 508 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

JOPPA , less correctly JAFFA (Arab. Yaf(i), a seaport on the See also:

coast of See also:Palestine. It is of See also:great antiquity, being mentioned in the See also:tribute lists of Tethmosis (Thothmes) III.; but as it never was in the territory of the pre-exilic Israelites it was to them a See also:place of no importance. Its ascription to the tribe of See also:Dan (Josh. xix. 46) is purely theoretical. According to the authors of See also:Chronicles (2 Chron. ii. 16), See also:Ezra (iii. 7) and See also:Jonah (i. 3) it was a seaport for importation of the See also:Lebanon See also:timber floated down the coasts or for See also:ships plying even to distant Tarshish. About 148 B.C. it was captured from the Syrians by See also:Jonathan 1blaccabaeus (1 Macc. x. 75) and later it was retaken and garrisoned by See also:Simon his See also:brother (xii. 33, xiii.

' I). It was restored to the Syrians by See also:

Pompey (Jos., See also:Ant. xiv. 4, 4) but again given back to the See also:Jews (ib. xiv. 10, 6) with an exemption from tax. St See also:Peter for a while lodged at Joppa, where he restored the benevolent widow Tabitha to See also:life, and had the See also:vision which taught him the universality of the See also:plan of See also:Christianity. According to See also:Strabo (xvi. ii.), who makes the See also:strange See also:mistake of saying that See also:Jerusalem is visible from Joppa, the place was a resort of pirates. It was destroyed by See also:Vespasian in the Jewish See also:War (68). Tradition connects the See also:story of See also:Andromeda and the See also:sea-See also:monster with the sea-coast of Joppa, and in See also:early times her chains were shown as well as the See also:skeleton of the monster itself (Jos. See also:Wars, iii. 9, 3). The site seems to have been shown even to some See also:medieval pilgrims, and curious traces of it have been detected in See also:modern Moslem legends. In the 5th and 11th centuries we hear from See also:time to time of bishops of Joppa, under the See also:metropolitan of Jerusalem.

In 1126 the See also:

district was captured by the knights of St See also:John, but lost to See also:Saladin in 1187. See also:Richard Cceur de See also:Lion retook it in 1191, but it was finally retaken by Malek el `Adil in 1196. It languished for a time; in the 16th See also:century it was an almost uninhabited ruin; but towards the end of the 17th century it began anew to develop as a seaport. In 1799 it was stormed by See also:Napoleon; the fortifications were repaired and strengthened by the See also:British. The modern See also:town of Joppa derives its importance, first, as a seaport for Jerusalem and the whole of See also:southern Palestine, and secondly as a centre of the See also:fruit-growing See also:industry. During the latter See also:part of the 19th century it greatly increased in See also:size. The old See also:city walls have been entirely removed. Its See also:population is about 35,000 (Moslems 23,000, Christians 500o, Jews 7000; with the Christians are included the " See also:Templars," a semi-religious, semi-agricultural See also:German See also:colony of about 320 souls). The town, which rises over a rounded hillock on the coast, about See also:loo ft. high, has a very picturesque See also:appearance from the sea. The See also:harbour (so-called) is one of the worst existing, being simply a natural See also:breakwater formed by a ledge of reefs, safe enough for small See also:Oriental See also:craft, but very dangerous for large vessels, which can only make use of the seaport in See also:calm See also:weather; these never come nearer than about a mile from the See also:shore. A railway and a See also:bad See also:carriage-road connect Joppa with Jerusalem. The See also:water of the town is derived from See also:wells, many of which have a brackish See also:taste.

The export See also:

trade of the town consists of See also:soap of See also:olive oil, See also:sesame, See also:barley, water melons, See also:wine and especially oranges (commonly known as Jaffa oranges), grown in the famous and ever-increasing gardens that See also:lie See also:north and See also:east of the town. The See also:chief imports are timber, See also:cotton and other textile goods, tiles, See also:iron, See also:rice, See also:coffee, See also:sugar and See also:petroleum. The value of the exports in 1900 was estimated at £264,950, the imports £382,405. Over ro,000 pilgrims, chiefly Russians, and some three or four thousand tourists See also:land annually at Joppa. The town is the seat of a kaimakam or See also:lieutenant-See also:governor, subordinate to the governor of Jerusalem, and contains See also:vice-consulates of Great See also:Britain, See also:France, See also:Germany, See also:America and other See also:powers. There are Latin, See also:Greek, Armenian and Coptic monasteries; and hospitals and See also:schools under British, See also:French and German auspices. (R. A. S.

End of Article: JOPPA

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
JOPLIN 		[next]
JOPVA

Site © 2006 - Net Industries