Damietta
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Damietta ( arz, دمياط ' ; cop, ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲁϯ, Tamiati) is a
port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
city and the capital of the
Damietta Governorate Damietta Governorate ( ar, محافظة دمياط ' ) is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is located in the northeastern part of the country, and has a population of over 1 million. Its capital is the city of Damietta. Damietta (city) is fa ...
in
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, a former
bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
and present multiple Catholic
titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...
. It is located at the Damietta branch, an eastern
distributary A distributary, or a distributary channel, is a stream that branches off and flows away from a main stream channel. Distributaries are a common feature of river deltas. The phenomenon is known as river bifurcation. The opposite of a distributar ...
of the
Nile Delta The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Po ...
, from the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
, about north of
Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
. Damietta joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities.


Etymology

The modern name of the town comes from its Coptic name Tamiati ( cop, ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲁϯ} Late Coptic: ), which in turn most likely comes from Ancient Egyptian ("harbour, port"), although
al-Maqrizi Al-Maqrīzī or Maḳrīzī (Arabic: ), whose full name was Taqī al-Dīn Abū al-'Abbās Aḥmad ibn 'Alī ibn 'Abd al-Qādir ibn Muḥammad al-Maqrīzī (Arabic: ) (1364–1442) was a medieval Egyptian Arab historian during the Mamluk era, kn ...
suggested a
Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...
etymology.


History

Mentioned by the 6th-century geographer Stephanus Byzantius,Siméon Vailhé, "Damietta" in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' (New York 1908)
/ref> it was called ''Tamiathis'' () in the
Hellenistic period In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...
. Under Caliph Omar (579–644), the Arabs took the town and successfully resisted the attempts by the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
to recover it, especially in 739, 821, 921 and 968. The
Abbasids The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
used
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
, Damietta,
Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
and
Siraf Bandar Siraf ( fa, بندر سیراف), also Romanized as Bandar-e Sīraf; also known as Sīraf, Ṭāherī, and Tāhiri; as well as Bandar-e Ṭāherī and Bandar-i Ṭāhirī ( fa, بندر طاهری, Bandar-e Ṭāherī), is a city in the Ce ...
as entry ports to India and the
Tang Empire The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...
of
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. Damietta was an important naval base during the Abbasid,
Tulunid The Tulunids (), were a Mamluk dynasty of Turkic origin who were the first independent dynasty to rule Egypt, as well as much of Syria, since the Ptolemaic dynasty. They were independent from 868, when they broke away from the central authority ...
and
Fatimid The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dy ...
periods. This led to several attacks by the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
, most notably the sack and destruction of the city in May 853. Damietta was again important in the 12th and 13th centuries during the time of the
Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
. In 1169, a fleet from the
Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem ( la, Regnum Hierosolymitanum; fro, Roiaume de Jherusalem), officially known as the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem or the Frankish Kingdom of Palestine,Example (title of works): was a Crusader state that was establishe ...
, with support from the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
, attacked the port, but the besiegers returned home without any success to capture the port, which was defended by
Saladin Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سه‌لاحه‌دین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
. During preparations for the
Fifth Crusade The Fifth Crusade (1217–1221) was a campaign in a series of Crusades by Western Europeans to reacquire Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land by first conquering Egypt, ruled by the powerful Ayyubid sultanate, led by Al-Adil I, al-Adil, brothe ...
in 1217, it was decided that Damietta should be the focus of attack. Control of Damietta meant control of the Nile, and from there the crusaders believed they would be able to conquer
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. From Egypt they could then attack Palestine and recapture
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. After the siege of Damietta of 1218–1219, the port was occupied by the Crusaders. The siege devastated the population of Damietta. After the crusaders captured Damietta in November 1219 they looted the city. Earlier that year,
Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...
had arrived to peaceably negotiate with the Muslim ruler. In 1221 the Crusaders attempted to march to Cairo, but were destroyed by the combination of nature and Muslim defenses. Damietta was also the object of the Seventh Crusade, led by
Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the ...
. His fleet arrived there in 1249 and quickly captured the fort, which he refused to hand over to the nominal king of Jerusalem, to whom it had been promised during the Fifth Crusade. However, having been taken prisoner with his army in April 1250, Louis was obliged to surrender Damietta as ransom. Hearing that Louis was preparing a new crusade, the
Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...
Sultan
Baibars Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari ( ar, الملك الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري, ''al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Bunduqdārī'') (1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), of Turkic Kipchak ...
– in view of the importance of the town to the Crusaders – destroyed it in 1251 and rebuilt it with stronger fortifications a few kilometers from the river in the early 1260s, making the mouth of the Nile at Damietta impassable for ships.


Ecclesiastical history

Hellenistic Tamiathis became a Christian
bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
, a
suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...
of the
metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a t ...
of Pelusium, the capital of the
Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
of
Augustamnica Prima ''Augustamnica'' (Latin) or ''Augoustamnike'' (Greek) was a Roman province of Egypt created during the 5th century and was part of the Diocese of Oriens first and then of the Diocese of Egypt, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 640s. Some ...
, to which Tamiathis belonged. Its bishop Heraclius took part in the
Council of Ephesus The Council of Ephesus was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus (near present-day Selçuk in Turkey) in AD 431 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius II. This third ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the church th ...
in 431. Helpidius was a signatory of the decree of Patriarch
Gennadius of Constantinople Gennadius (Greek: Ἅγιος Γεννάδιος; d. 25 August 471) was the Patriarch of Constantinople from 458 until his death. Gennadius is known to have been a learned writer who followed the Antiochene school of literal exegesis, although ...
against simony in 459. Bassus was at the
Second Council of Constantinople The Second Council of Constantinople is the fifth of the first seven ecumenical councils recognized by both the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. It is also recognized by the Old Catholics and others. Protestant opinions and rec ...
(553). In a letter from
Patriarch Michael I of Alexandria Michael I served as Greek Patriarch of Alexandria between 860 and 870. References * 9th-century Patriarchs of Alexandria 9th-century Christian clergy {{EasternOrthodoxy-bishop-stub ...
read at the Photian
Council of Constantinople (879) The Fourth Council of Constantinople was held in 879–880. It confirmed the reinstatement of Photius I as patriarch of Constantinople. The result of this council is accepted by some Eastern Orthodox as having the authority of an ecumenical co ...
, mention is made of Zacharias of Tamiathis, who had attended a synod that Michael had convened in support of Photius. Later bishops too of Tamiathis are named in other documents. In 1249, when
Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the ...
captured the town, it became for a short time the seat of a
Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...
bishop. The Latin bishopric, no longer residential, is today listed by the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
twice as a
titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...
under the names Tamiathis (Latin) and Damiata (Curiate Italian), each at time of episcopal or
archiepiscopal In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...
rank, of the Latin and
Melkite Catholic el, Μελχιτική Ελληνική Καθολική Εκκλησία , image = Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Damascus, Syria.jpg , imagewidth = 200px , alt = , caption = , abbreviatio ...
Churches, for the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, having been until the early 20th century an important centre for that church.


Titular Latin see

The diocese was nominally restored in the 17th century when established as Latin
titular archbishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...
of Tamiathis of the Romans (Latin; Damiata in Curiate Italian) and had the following incumbents of the intermediary (archiepiscopal) rank : * Bernardino Spada (later Cardinal) (1623.12.04 – 1626.01.19) * Cardinal Cesare Facchinetti (1639.09.05 – 1672.11.14) * Neri Corsini (later Cardinal) (1652.08.12 – 1664.01.14) *
Angelo Maria Ranuzzi Angelo is an Italian masculine given name and surname meaning "angel", or "messenger". People People with the given name *Angelo Accattino (born 1966), Italian prelate of the Catholic Church *Angelo Acciaioli (bishop) (1298–1357), Italian Rom ...
(later Cardinal) (1668.04.30 – 1678.04.18) * Ercole Visconti (1678.07.18 – ?) * Marco Antonio Ansidei (later Cardinal) (1724.06.12 – 1726.12.16) * Raffaele Cosimo De Girolami (later Cardinal) (1728.03.08 – 1743.09.09) * Paul Alpheran de Bussan,
Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...
(O.B.E.) (1746.09.19 – 1757.04.20) * Vincenzo Maria de Francisco e Galletti,
Dominican Order The Order of Preachers ( la, Ordo Praedicatorum) abbreviated OP, also known as the Dominicans, is a Catholic mendicant order of Pontifical Right for men founded in Toulouse, France, by the Spanish priest, saint and mystic Dominic of Cal ...
(O.P.) (1757.12.19 – 1769.07.19) * Bonaventura Prestandrea,
Conventual Franciscans The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFM Conv) is a male religious fraternity in the Roman Catholic Church that is a branch of the Franciscans. The friars in OFM CONV are also known as Conventual Franciscans, or Minorites. Dating back to ...
(O.F.M. Conv.) (1769.12.18 – 1777.12.21) * Bartolomeo Pacca (later Cardinal) (1785.09.26 – 1801.02.23) * Giovanni Francesco Compagnoni Marefoschi (1816.04.29 – 1820.09.17) * Giovanni Giacomo Sinibaldi (1821.08.13 – 1843.01.27) (later Patriarch)* * Vincenzo Gioacchino Pecci (later
Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...
) (1843.01.27 – 1846.01.19) * Diego Planeta (1850.01.07 – 1858.06.05) *
Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano Luigi Oreglia di Santo Stefano (9 July 1828, Bene Vagienna, Italy – 7 December 1913, Rome, Italy) was a cardinal of the Catholic Church in the late nineteenth century. He was Bishop of Ostia e Velletri and Dean of the Sacred College of Cardi ...
(later Cardinal) (1866.05.04 – 1873.12.22) * Eugène-Louis-Marie Lion, O.P. (1874.03.13 – 1883.08.08) * Eugenio Lachat,
Missionaries of the Precious Blood The Missionaries of the Precious Blood ( la, Congregatio Missionariorum Pretiosissimi Sanguinis) is a Catholic community of priests and brothers. The society was founded by Saint Gaspar del Bufalo in 1815. The Missionaries of the Precious Bl ...
(C.PP.S.) (1885.03.23 – 1886.11.01) * Ignazio Persico (德斯馬曾), O.F.M. Cap. (later Cardinal) (1887.03.14 – 1893.01.16) *
Andrea Aiuti Andrea Aiuti (17 June 1849 – 28 April 1905) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See and in the Roman Curia. He was made a cardinal in 1903. Biography Andrea Aiuti was born in Rome on ...
(later Cardinal) (1893.06.12 – 1903.06.22) * Edoardo Carlo Gastone Pöttickh de Pettenegg,
Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
(O.T.) (1904.11.14 – 1918.10.01) * Sebastião Leite de Vasconcellos (1919.12.15 – 1923.01.29) * Luigi Pellizzo (1923.03.24 – 1936.08.14) Demoted in 1925 as Titular bishopric, it has been vacant for decades, having had the following incumbents, all of the episcopal (lowest) rank: * Guglielmo Grassi (1937.01.13 – 1954.09.14) * Eugenio Beitia Aldazabal (1954.10.30 – 1962.01.27) * Marco Caliaro, Scalabrinians (C.S.) (1962.02.10 – 1962.05.23) * Antonio Cece (1962.08.06 – 1966.03.31)


Titular Melkite see

Established in 1900 as
titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...
of Damiata of the Melkite Greeks (Italian; Latin Tamiathis), it was suppressed in 1935, after a single incumbent of this episcopal (lowest) rank: * Titular Bishop Paul-Raphaël Abi-Mourad (1900.07.02 – 1935.08.08) Restored in 1961 as Titular archbishopric, it has had the following incumbents of the archiepiscopal (intermediary) rank: * Titular Archbishop Antonio Farage (1961.03.07 – 1963.11.09) * Titular Archbishop Nicolas Hajj (1965.07.30 – 1984.11.03) * Titular Archbishop Joseph Jules Zerey (2001.06.22 – ... ),
protosyncellus A protosyncellus or protosynkellos ( el, πρωτοσύγκελλος) is the principal deputy of the bishop of an eparchy for the exercise of administrative authority in an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic church. The equivalent position in t ...
of Jerusalem of the Greek-Melkites (Palestine)


Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as
hot desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one ...
(BWh), but blowing winds from the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
greatly moderate the temperatures, typical to the Egypt's north coast, making its summers moderately hot and humid while its winters mild and moderately wet where sleet and
hail Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets generally fal ...
are also common.
Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...
, Kosseir,
Ras El Bar Ras El Bar ( ar, رأس البر ', ), which translates to "head of land", is a resort city in the Governorate of Damietta, Egypt. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea at the mouth of the Damietta Nile branch. There are approximately 25,000 ...
,
Baltim Baltim ( ar, بلطيم  ) is a city in the Kafr El Sheikh Governorate, in the north coast of Egypt. History The second part of the town's name preserves "end, furthest part (of Egypt)". Baltim was the beneficiary of a tax reduction und ...
, Damietta and
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
have the least temperature variation in
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
.


Economy

Damietta is very famous for its furniture industry. In addition to the Egyptian market, its furniture is sold in Arab countries, Africa, Europe, US, and almost all over the world. Today, there is a canal connecting it to the
Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...
, which has made it an important port once again. Containers are transported through the new
Damietta Port Egypt's Damietta Port is located 10 km west of the Nile river of Damietta branch westward Ras El-Bar, 70 km to the west of Port Said and 200 km from Alexandria Port. The port installations extend on an area of 11.8 km2. The ...
. The Damietta governorate has a population of about 1,093,580 (2006). It contains the
SEGAS LNG The Hellenic Athletics Federation (Greek: ; abbreviated SEGAS) is Greece's governing body for amateur sport. SEGAS was created in 1897 and has been the principal organiser of many international sporting competitions held in Greece. The associatio ...
(Liquefied Natural Gas) plant, which will ultimately have a capacity of 9.6 million ton/year through two trains. The plant is owned by Segas, a joint venture of the Spanish utility
Unión Fenosa ''Unión Fenosa, S.A.'' was, until its acquisition by ''Gas Natural'' in 2009, a large Spanish company dedicated to the production and distribution of gas and electricity. It installed capacity of 11,120 megawatts of power and 8.9 million custome ...
(40%), Italian oil company Eni (40%) and the Egyptian companies EGAS and EGPC (10% each). The plant is unusual since it is not supplied from a dedicated field, but is supplied with gas from the Egyptian grid. , EMethanex, the Egyptian division of Methanex Corporation, a Canadian owned company, was building a 3600 MTPD methanol plant. Damietta also has a woodworking industry and is also noted for its White
Domiati Domiati cheese, also referred to as white cheese ( arz, جبنة بيضا '  ), is a soft white salty cheese made primarily in Egypt, but also in Sudan and other Middle Eastern countries. Typically made from buffalo milk, cow milk, or a m ...
cheese and other dairy products and
Pâtisserie A () is a type of Italian, French or Belgian bakery that specializes in pastries and sweets, as well as a term for such food items. In some countries, it is a legally controlled title that may only be used by bakeries that employ a licensed ...
and Egyptian desserts. It is also a fishing port.


Main sights

;Mosques * Amr ibn al-A'as Mosque (al-Fateh), the second mosque to be built in Egypt and Africa by the Arabs after entering Egypt. It has been converted to a church twice during occupation by the crusaders.
Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the ...
's son, John Tristan, was baptized by a legate of the pope in this mosque. * Al-Bahr Mosque, dating to the Ottoman rule era. * Al-Hadidy Mosque in Faraskour, 200 years old. * Al-Maainy Mosque, dating to the reign of al-Naser Mohammed ibn Qalawon. * Al-Matbuly Mosque, dating to the Mamluk era. * Al-Radwaniya Mosque, dating to the Mamluk era. ;Other * Tabiet Ahmed Urabi, ruins of Damietta Fort at
Ezbet El-Borg Ezbet El Borg ( ar, عزبة البرج, ; also Arabic transliteration, transliterated ', lit. ''Village of the Tower'') is a coastal city with a large fishing industry in Damietta Governorate, Egypt. It is 15 km (9 mi) northeast of Dam ...
. * The Old Bridge (), dating to the early 20th century. * Souk al-Hesba, the old town centre, dating to the Abbasi rule era.


Notable people

* Kamal al-Din Muhammad ibn Musa
Al-Damiri Al-Damiri (1341–1405), the common name of Kamal al-Din Muhammad ibn Musa al-Damiri ( ar, كمال الدين محمد بن موسى الدميري), was an Arab Muslim writer from Egypt on canon law and natural history. He wrote the first work ...
, (1344–1405), writer on canon law and natural history *
Refaat Al-Gammal Refaat Ali Suleiman Al-Gammal ( ar, رفعت علي سليمان الجمال) (July 1, 1927 – January 30, 1982), better known as Raafat Al-Haggan ( ar, رأفت الهجّان) in Egypt and as Jack Bitton in Israel, was an Egyptian spy who spe ...
(Raafat el-Haggan), Egyptian spy * Professor
Aisha Abd al-Rahman Aisha Abd al-Rahman (Arabic: عائشة عبد الرحمن; 18 November 1913 – 1 December 1998) was an Egyptian author and professor of literature who published under the pen name Bint al-Shaṭiʾ ( بِنْت ٱلشّاطِئ"Daughter of the ...
(Bent Al Shatea), journalist and Muslim philosopher *
Latifa al-Zayyat Latifa al-Zayyat ( ar, لطيفة الزيات) (8 August 1923 – 10 September 1996) was an Egyptian activist and writer, most famous for her novel ''The Open Door'', which won the inaugural Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature. Biography Al Zay ...
, activist and writer * Professor
Abdel Rahman Badawi Abdel Rahman Badawi (Arabic: ) (February 17, 1917 – July 25, 2002) was an Egyptian existentialist philosopher, professor of philosophy and poet. He has been called the "foremost master of Arab existentialism." He published more than 150 wor ...
, professor of philosophy * St. Sidhom Bishay, Coptic martyr *
Rifaat El-Fanagily Rifaat El-Fanagily ( ar, رفعت الفناجيلي; 1 May 1936, in Damietta – 23 June 2004) was an Egyptian footballer who played as a midfielder for Al-Ahly. He also played for the Egyptian national team, and was part of the team that won ...
, football player * Mohamed Fahim ElGindy, who established and developed the furniture industry during 20th century in Damietta *
Rifaat el-Mahgoub Rifat (also transliterated as Rifaat, ar, رفعت, , a conjugated form of the Arabic verb رفع with the meaning "lifted", "elated", "joyous") is a masculine name. Variants also include Refat, Rafat, Refaat, etc. Notable people with the name i ...
, former Head of the Egyptian Parliament and a member of the ruling National Democratic Party * Besheer El-Tabei, football player *
Mohammed Hassan El-Zayyat Mohammed Hassan El-Zayyat (14 February 1915 – 25 February 1993) was an Egyptian diplomat and Minister of Foreign Affairs. El-Zayyat served as the Permanent Representative A permanent representative is a diplomat who is the head of a country ...
, former minister of foreign affairs. *
Farag Foda Farag Foda or Fouda ( ar, فرج فودة ; 20 August 1945 – 8 June 1992) was a prominent Egyptian professor, writer, columnist, and human rights activist. He was assassinated on 8 June 1992 by members of the Islamist group El Gama'a El Isl ...
, secular writer shot to death in his office on 8 June 1992 by two Islamic fundamentalists from the
Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya ( ar, الجماعة الإسلامية, "the Islamic Group"; also transliterated El Gama'a El Islamiyya; also called "Islamic Groups" and transliterated Gamaat Islamiya, al Jamaat al Islamiya, is an Egyptian Sunni Islamist movement, and ...
group. *
Zahi Hawass Zahi Abass Hawass ( ar, زاهي حواس; born May 28, 1947) is an Egyptian archaeologist, Egyptologist, and former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, serving twice. He has also worked at archaeological sites in the Nile Delta, the Wes ...
, Egyptologist *
Yusuf Idris Yusuf Idris, also Yusif Idris ( ar, يوسف إدريس) (May 19, 1927 – August 1, 1991) was an Egyptian writer of plays, short stories, and novels. Biography Idris was born in Faqous. He originally trained to be a doctor, studying at the ...
, writer and psychiatrist *
Zaki Naguib Mahmoud Zaki Naguib Mahmoud (Arabic: زكي نجيب محمود‎) (February 2, 1905 – September 8, 1993) was an Egyptian intellectual and thinker, and is considered a pioneer in modern Arabic philosophical thought. He was described by Abbas Mahmoud a ...
, writer and philosopher * Ali Moustafa Mosharafa, physicist and contributor to the
theory of relativity The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in ...
*
Farouk Shousha Farouk Shousha ( ar, فاروق شوشة; January 9, 1936 – October 14, 2016) was an Egyptian poet. He hosted the popular television program ''Umsiya Thaqafiya'' ("Cultural Evening") from 1977 through 2006. Early life Shousha was born in Dam ...
, poet; previously head of Egyptian Radio (El Soaraa village) *
Essam El Hadary Essam Kamal Tawfiq El Hadary ( ar, عصام كمال توفيق الحضري; born 15 January 1973) is an Egyptian goalkeeping coach and former professional footballer. Nicknamed the "High Dam", El Hadary spent the largest portion of his club ca ...
, football player


See also

*
Damiaatjes The Damiaatjes (English: Little Damiettas) refer to two bells in the St. Bavochurch of Haarlem that ring every night between nine and nine thirty, to signal the closing of the city's gates and commemorate the conquest of the Egyptian city Damiet ...
*
Caphutkia Caphutkia (also Capotakia or Kapotakia) in Aramaic קפוטקיא, קפוטקאי, קפודקאי, (later Katpatuka in Old Persian) was the name used in some mediaeval Jewish and Syriac writings for the town in the vicinity of the former Ptolemaic c ...
ancient name of Damietta in Aramaic & Jewish literature. *
Sheremsah Sheremsah () is a village on the Nile in the governorate of Damietta. Its name goes back to the ancient Egyptian language. It was used as a camp during the Seventh Crusade. Its name was mentioned in several books such as: * Wa Islamah, a histori ...
*
Caphtor Caphtor ( he, ''Kaftōr'') is a locality mentioned in the Bible, in which its people are called Caphtorites or Caphtorim and are named as a division of the ancient Egyptians. Caphtor is also mentioned in ancient inscriptions from Egypt, Mari, a ...
* Damietta toad *
Domiati Domiati cheese, also referred to as white cheese ( arz, جبنة بيضا '  ), is a soft white salty cheese made primarily in Egypt, but also in Sudan and other Middle Eastern countries. Typically made from buffalo milk, cow milk, or a m ...


References


External links


GCatholic - Latin titular see with incumbent biography links


{{Authority control Governorate capitals in Egypt Medieval cities of Egypt Populated places in Damietta Governorate Populated coastal places in Egypt Crusade places Nile Delta Port cities of the Mediterranean Sea Populated places established in the 6th century