The modern name of the city comes from its Coptic name Tamiati (Coptic: ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲁϯ Late Coptic: [dɑmˈjɑdi]), which in turn most likely comes from Ancient Egyptian
Damietta was again important in the 12th and 13th centuries during the Crusades. In 1169, a fleet from the Kingdom of Jerusalem, with support from the Byzantine Empire, attacked the port, but the besiegers returned home without any success to capture the port, which was defended by Saladin.[7][8]
During preparations for the Fifth 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 conquer Egypt. From Egypt, they could then attack Ayyubid-ruled Palestine and recapture Jerusalem. After the siege 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 the Seventh Crusade, led by Louis IX of France. 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.[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, the Mamluk 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 the Catholic Church twice as a titular see under the names Tamiathis (Latin) and Damiata (Curiate Italian), each at time of episcopal or archiepiscopal rank, of the Latin and Melkite Catholic Churches,[18] for the Catholic Church, having been until the early 20th century an important centre for that church.[4]
Titular Latin see
The diocese was nominally restored in the 17th century when established as Latin titular archbishopric of Damietta of the Romans (Latin: Tamiathis or Tomiathianus Romanorum; Italian: Damiata in Curiate) and had the following incumbents of the intermediary archiepiscopal rank :
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 of Damietta of the Melkite Greeks (Latin: Tamiathis or Tomiathianus 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 the Nile, which has made it an important port once again. Containers are transported through the new Damietta Port. The Damietta governorate has a population of about 1,093,580 (2006). It contains the SEGAS LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) plant,[20] 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 (40%), Italian oil company Eni (40%) and the Egyptian companies EGAS and EGPC (10% each).[21] 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 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 cheese and other dairy products[22] and Pâtisserie and Egyptian desserts. It is also a fishing port.
Main sights
Mosques
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.