2. Uhtonj. — We lind that Japlio or Joppa was situa- ted in the portion (if Dan (Josh, xix, 4()), on the coast towards the south, and on a hill so high, says Strabo, that people affirmed (but incorrectly) that Jerusalem •was visible from its summit. Having a harbor attach- ed to it — though always, as stiU, a dangerous one— it became the port of Jerusalem, when Jerusalem became metropolis of the kingdom of the house of David, and certainly never did port and metropolis more strikingly resemble each other in difficulty of approach both by sea and land. Hence, except in journeys to and irom Jerusalem, it was not much used. Accordingly, after the above incidental notice, the place is not mentioned till the times of Solomon, when, as being almost the only available sea-port, Joppa was the place fixed upon for the cedar and pine wood from Mount Lebanon to be landed by the servants of Hiram, king of Tyre, thence to be conveyed to Jerusalem bj^ the servants of Solo- mon for the erection of the first " house of habitation" ever made with hands for the invisible Jehovah. It was by way of Joppa similarly that like materials were conveyed from the same locality, by ])crmission of Cy- rus, for the rebuilding of the second Temple under Ze- rubbabel (1 Kings v, 9; 2 Chron. ii, 16; Ezra iii, 7). Here Jonah, whenever and wherever he may have lived (2 Kings xiv, 25, certainlj' does not clear up the first of these points), "took ship to Hee from the presence of his Maker" (Jonah i, 3), and accomplished that singular history which our Lord has appropriated as a type of one of the principal scenes in the great drama of his own (TMatt. xii,40).
After the close of O.-T. history Joppa rose in impor- tance. The sea was then beginning to be the highway of nations. Greece, Egypt, Persia, and some of the lit- tle kingdoms of Asia Jlinor had their fleets for com- merce and war. LTntil the construction of Ciesarea by Herod, Joppa was the only port in Palestine proper at which foreign ships could touch; it was thus not only the shipping capital, but the key of the whole country on the sea-board. During the wars of the Maccabees it was one of the principal strongholds of Palestine (1 Mace. X, 75; xiv, 5, 34; Josephus, Ant. xiii, 15, 1). It would seem that Jews then constituted only a minority of the population, and the foreign residents — Greeks, Egyptians, and Syrians — were so rich and powerful, and so aided by the fleets of their own nations, as to be able to rule the city. During this period, therefore, Joppa experienced many vicissitudes. It had sided with Apol- lonius, and was attacked and captured by Jonathan ]\Iac- cabajus (1 Mace, x, 76). It witnessed the meeting be- tween the latter and Ptolemy (ibid, xi, 6). Simon had his suspicions of its inhabitants, and set a garrison there (ibid, xii, 34), which he afterwards strengthened con- siderably (ibid, xiii, 11). But when peace was restored, he re-established it once more as a haven (ibid, xiv, 5). He likewise rebuilt the fortifications (ibid, v, 34). This occupation of Joppa was one of the grounds of com- plaint urged by Antiochus, son of Demetrius, against Simon; but the latter alleged in excuse the mischief wliich had been done bj' its inhabitants to his fellow- citizens (ibid. XV, 30 and 35). It would appear tliat Ju- das Maccaba^us had burnt their haven some time back for a gross act of barbarity (2 Mace, xii, 6). Tribute was subsequently exacted for its possession from' Hyr- canus by Antiochus Sidetes. By Pompey it was once more made independent, and comprehended mider Syria (Josephus, Ant. xiv, 4, 4) ; but by Caesar it was not only
restored to the Jews, but its revenues — whether from land or from export-duties — were bestowed upon the 2d Hyrcanus and his heirs (xiv, 10, 6). When Herod the Great commenced operations, it was seized by him, lest he should leave a hostile stronghold in his rear when he marched upon Jerusalem (xiv, 15, 1), and Augustus con- firmed him in its possession (xv, 7, 4). It was after- wards assigned to Archelaus when constituted etluiarch (xvii, 11,4), and passed with Syria under Cy renins when Archelaus had been deposed (xvii, 12, 5). Under Ces- tius (i. e. Gessius Florus) it was destroyed amidst great slaughter of its inhabitants {\Var, ii, 18, 10); and such a nest of pirates had it become when Vespasian arrived in those parts that it underwent a second and entire destruction, together with the adjacent villages, at his hands (iii, 9, 3). Thus it appears that this port had al- ready begun to be the den of robbers and outcasts which it was in Strabo's time {Geogi-aph. xvi, 759), while the district around it was so populous that from Jamnia, a neighboring town, and its vicinity, 40,000 armed men could be collected (ibid.). There was a vast plain around it, as we learn from Josephus (^Ant. xiii, 4, 4) ; it lay between Jamnia and Ca?sarea — the latter of which might be reached " on the morrow" from it (Acts x, 9 and 24)— not far from Lydda (Acts ix, 38), and distant from Antipatris 150 stadia (Joseph. ^«^ xiii, 15, 1).