Jaffa in 1187
Jaffa is an ancient port city in Israel, located in the southern part of the major city of Tel Aviv-Yafo. The city was either named for Noah's son Japheth (who was said to have founded the city after the Flood) or for Andromeda's mother Cassiopeia (the city was founded as "Iopeia"; Andromeda was rescued by Perseus at the site of the city in Greek mythology). Jaffa was first settled around 7,500 BC, and the Israelites inhabited the city until King Sennacherib of the Assyrians conquered the city in 701 BC. The city would then by ruled by Babylon, the Persian Empire, Macedon, and the Seleucid Empire before the Maccabees conquered the city, leading to it being restored to Judean rule. The city was later conquered by the Roman Empire, and the city was conquered by the Arabs in 636. From 1099 to 1268, Jaffa and Ascalon were united as a county under the Kingdom of Jerusalem, only for the Mamelukes to retake the city. In 1187, Jaffa had a population of 5,516, 67% of whom were Christian and 33% Muslim. During the 14th century, the Arabs destroyed the city out of fear for new crusades, and the city was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1515. In 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte's French army massacred the garrison of the city in retaliation for the murder of French envoys by the people of the city, and a bubonic plague outbreak exacerbated the problem. During the early 19th century, Jaffa was revived, but the British conquest of Palestine and the establishment of Mandatory Palestine led to increased tensions between the Jews and Muslims of Jaffa. The Jews moved into the desolate Tel Aviv neighborhood north of Jaffa, and Tel Aviv grew in size as more Jews arrived in the region. Starting in 1949, several Arab neighborhoods were annexed to Tel Aviv, and Tel Aviv and Jaffa were united in 1950.
