Damietta'sCorniche along theNile.Amr ibn al-A'as Mosque (al-Fateh)Capture of Damietta byFrisiancrusaders.A 1911 postcard: the City of Damietta on the Nile.
The modern name of the city comes from its Coptic nameTamiati (Coptic:ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲁϯLate Coptic:[dɑmˈjɑdi]), which in turn most likely comes fromAncient Egyptian
During preparations for theFifth Crusade 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 could conquerEgypt. From Egypt, they could then attackAyyubid-ruledPalestine and recaptureJerusalem. After thesiege of Damietta of 1218–19, 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.[9]
Earlier that year,Francis of Assisi had arrived to negotiate with the Muslim ruler peaceably.[10][11] In 1221 the Crusaders attempted to march to Cairo, but were destroyed by the combination of nature and Muslim defenses.[12]
Damietta was also the object of theSeventh Crusade, led byLouis IX of France. His fleet arrived there in 1249 andquickly 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.[13] However, having been taken prisoner with his army in April 1250, Louis was obliged to surrender Damietta as ransom.[4]
Hearing that Louis was preparing a new crusade, theMamluk sultanBaybars – given the importance of the city to the Crusaders – destroyed it in 1251 and rebuilt it with stronger fortifications a few kilometers from the Nile in the early 1260s, making the mouth of the Damietta branch impassable for ships.[4][14]
The Latin bishopric, no longer residential, is today listed by theCatholic Church twice as atitular see under the names Tamiathis (Latin) and Damiata (Curiate Italian), each at time of episcopal orarchiepiscopal rank, of the Latin andMelkite Catholic Churches,[18] for theCatholic Church, having been until the early 20th century an important centre for that church.[4]
The diocese was nominally restored in the 17th century when established as Latintitular archbishopric ofDamietta of the Romans (Latin:Tamiathis orTomiathianus Romanorum;Italian:Damiata in Curiate) and had the following incumbents of the intermediary archiepiscopal rank:[19]
Established in 1900 astitular bishopric ofDamietta of the Melkite Greeks (Latin:Tamiathis orTomiathianus Graecorum Melkitarum;Italian:Damiata), it was suppressed in 1935, after a single incumbent of this episcopal (lowest) rank:
Damietta is very famous for its furniture industry. In addition to the Egyptian market, its furniture is sold in Arab countries, Africa, Europe, the United States, and almost all over the world.Today, there is a canal connecting it to theNile, which has made it an important port once again. Containers are transported through the newDamietta Port. The Damietta governorate has a population of about 1,093,580 (2006). It contains theSEGAS LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) plant,[21] 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 utilityUnión Fenosa (40%), Italian oil companyEni (40%) and the Egyptian companies EGAS and EGPC (10% each).[22] The plant is unusual since it is not supplied from a dedicated field, but is supplied with gas from the Egyptian grid. As of 2010[update], EMethanex, the Egyptian division ofMethanex Corporation, a Canadian owned company, was building a 3600 MTPD methanol plant. Damietta also has a woodworking industry and is also noted for its WhiteDomiati cheese and other dairy products[23] andPâtisserie andEgyptian desserts. It is also a fishing port.
Amr ibn al-As Mosque (Damietta), the second mosque to be built in Egypt and Africa by the Arabs after entering Egypt. It was twice converted to a church during the city's occupation by the Crusaders.Louis IX of France's son,John Tristan, was baptized by a legate of the pope in this mosque.
^Donkin, Robin A (2003).Between East and West: The Moluccas and the Traffic in Spices Up to the Arrival of Europeans. Diane Publishing Company.ISBN0-87169-248-1.
