Damietta (Coptic Tamiati, Greek Tamiathis, Arabic Dumyat), once a port of considerable importance, lies in the northeastern part of the Delta some 9mi/15km south of the mouth of the Damietta arm (known in antiquity as the Phatnitic arm) of the Nile, on a narrow strip of land between the river and Lake Manzala.
Formerly a place of some
consequence which rose to prosperity through its maritime trade and its craft industries, Damietta is now the chief town of a governorate, with silk-spinning mills and textile factories (cotton) and a lake harbor for small vessels. It has an Islamic university associated with the El-Azhar University in Cairo.
History
The town, originally situated rather farther north, gained renown during the Crusades through its resistance to a siege by the forces of King John of Jerusalem in 1218. With the aid of an ingenious fortified double boat, designed by an engineer from Cologne named Oliverius, Frisian and German troops succeeded, after fierce fighting, in taking the tower from which a chain stretched across the river; and in spite of the intervention of the Papal Legate Pelagius Gaivani and the vigilance of the Egyptian Sultan Malik el-Kamil the town itself finally fell. The victors gained much booty, sold the surviving inhabitants as slaves and converted the mosques into churches; but only three years later, in 1221, they were compelled to evacuate the town. In 1249 Louis IX of France occupied Damietta without striking a blow, the terrified defenders having hastily abandoned the place; but in the following year it was restored to the Muslims as part of the ransom for the King, following his capture at Mansura. The emirs then resolved to destroy the town and rebuild it on its present site on the east bank of the river. Thereafter Damietta rose to prosperity through its trade and its manufactures, becoming widely known for its leather goods and sesame oil, while its harbor was frequented by the ships of many nations. The construction of the Mahmudiya Canal deprived the town of much of its trade, and its decline was hastened by the rise of the ports on the Suez Canal.
Print this page
Add to Favorites
