The whole eventful history of Joppa is explained by its connexion with the influential city of Jeru- salem. Geographically, Joi>i)a was the seaport of Jerusalem ; but the distance was too great, and the line of communication too often broken, for the maintenance of established ownership. Politically, it was frequentlj' severed altogether from Judaa; <nd from the religious point of view the produce of Joppa in corn, wine, and oil was consiilered to be contaminated by its contact with heathenism, and ceremonially unfit for use at the sacred festivals.
Joppa has owed its existence and importance to the fact that it is the only place on the coast that can otl'er shelter to shipping between Egj-pt and Mount Cariuel. The harliour is formed by a low ledge of rock running out at a sharp angle in a N.W. direction from tlie southern end of the town. The .space is very limited anil the water shallow, but in moderate weather Oriental craft, usually aliout the size of a modern herring boat, can lie at anclior and discharge cargo near the .shore. The harlwur is entered either bj' a narrow opening in the led";e or by rounding the point ; but when the sea is disturbed by the prevalent N.W. wind the gap can only be rushed on the crest of a high wave, and to round the point brings a vessel broadside-on close to the edge of the surf!
Mythology points to the rock on the southern side of the gap as the si)Ot where Andromeda was chained when Perseus slew the sea monster and delivered the maiden. Josejihus, Pliny, Strabo, Jerome, and some of the travellers in tlie time of the Crusades, speak of the chains still remaining visible in the rock, the earlier writers also testi- fying to the size of the carcase that lay or was reported to have lain there.t
* Both AV BT)d nv have ever}-where Joppa, exc«pt in Jos 19^ where AV has Jajtho.
t The incklent at Joppa flnclfl a parallel at Deyrout, where for a similar purpose and on Biniilnr rocl(« a niaitlen ie said to have been expi>He<l as a sacrini*e, ond to have l«','n rt'scuini by St. Oeorve. This gives its imine to the l*v, and fomis the beautiful design on tiie Knk'lish sovereiKn. While tiic IkmIv of the slain dragon has t>een Inut si)rht of, faith In (he living betuf o/ tfie tra has reniaineil undisturl>ed by the lapee of centiirieo. A few rears o^o a Hetpan steamer reachinj; iteyroiit at midnight blew ner siren whistle to Inform the a^jents of her arrival. The unprcce<lented shriek startled tlie town out of sleep, and next day in the bazaars the chief topic of converaation was the visit of the sea monster during the previous night.
The antiquity of Joppa is attested by its men- tion as Ye-pu on the Karnak lists among th« towns of Palestine conquered by Thothines III. It is also referred to in the journey of the Egyptian mokar (see Sayce, HCM .347). It appears as Ja-ap-pu-u in Sennacherib's ann.tl - inscription (Schrader, KAT' 172 [COT- i. 100 f.]). In the distribution of the land under Joshua it belonged to the inheritance of the tribe of Dan (Jos 19").
It is referred to in the Bible as the place where the timber from Lebanon was beached for trans- port to Jerusalem (2 Ch 2", Ezr 3'). Here Jonah embarked when seeking in vain to escape from the commandment to go to Nineveh (Jon 1'). In Joppa, Uorcas laboured among the poor and was raised from the dead (Ac t)^""). Here St. Peter, on the roof of Simon's house, was taught that expansion of the meaning of salvation which has ever since divided the synagogue and the Chris- tian Church (Ac lO''^*). Joppa was a constant suHerer during the famous wars of the Jews with Syria, Egypt, an<l Rome.
In the days of Judas Maccabaeus its Jewish inhabitants were invited into boats by the peojde of the town to join in holiday enjoyment, and about 200 of them were drowned. 1 his treachery was speedily avenged by Judas, who attacked the harbour by night and burned the boats (2 Mac 12^'"). .\bout l!.C. 148 .loppa was captured bj- Jonathan, brother of Judas (1 Mac 10"-"), and about six years after it was again captured by Simon, the third of the heroic brothers, who put a garri.son into it to ensure its fidelity (I Mac 12^ **). Shortly afterwards the same leader had once more to occupy it bj' a force under his officer Jonathan, son of Ab.salom (1 Mac 13"). Pomjiey, after cap- turing .lerusalem in the time of Aristobulus and Hyrcanus (B.C. 63), restored Joppa and joined it to Syria (Jos. Ant. xiv. iv. 4). Sixteen years later it was given back to the Jews, being, however, exempted from the tax to Jerusalem, except what was charged on its agricultural produce and the exports to other towns on the coast (Jos. Ant. XIV. X. 6).
One of the principal disasters inflicted on the town was when Cestius Gallus took it and de- stroyed its Jewish inhabitants to the numl>er of 8400 (Jos. BJ II. xviii. 10). During the .lewish wars with the liomans Joppa became a place of retreat for the lawless and those «ho had been maile desperate by failure and sullering and the loss of relatives and property. These turned to the sea as a means of livelihood, and by their piratical outrages endangered all commerce on the Sj'rian coast. The town was attacked and cap- tured (A.D. 68) by Vespiv-ian on his way to Jenisalem. The inhabitants who had taken refuge in their shins and boats were driven on the rocks by a nortlierlj- gale, and about 4200 of them were drowned or slain by the sword (Jos. BJ III. ix. 2, 3).