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The history of Damietta
- Damietta was mentioned in Torah as "Kaftoud".
- In pharaonic eras, it was known as "Tamit" Or "Tim Any", which means a land of water.
- In Roman eras, It was known as "Tamyatish" and in Coptic era as "Tameat" later, Arabs called it Damietta.
- The name Damietta is a corruption of the ancient Coptic "Tamiatti".
- Damietta was an important city of ancient Egypt and was formerly closer to the sea than at the present.
- It declined with the devolpment of Alexandria (after 322 BC).
- In AD 638 the Arab made it a commercial centre famous for textiles.
- Frequently attecked by the crusaders, it was briefly in their hands (1219-21; 1249-50).
- The settlement's vulnerability to sea attacks led the Mamluk Sultan (Baybars I reigned 1260-77) to rase the town and fortification,
block access to the river, and erect a new Damietta 6.5 km inland on the present site.
- During both Mamluk and Ottoman periods the centre was used as a place of banishment.
- After the construction of Mahmudiyah canal in 1819, which diverted much of the Nile trade to Alexandria,
Damietta lost mush of its important as atrade centre, although it retained some trade, principally with Syria.
- In modern times dredging of the channel has revived Damietta 's port; construction has taken place to upgrade the port facilities
to relieve the overcrowding at Alexandria.
- The centre's industries include leatherworking, flour milling, and fishing,
with a sardine-canning factory at 'Izbat al-Burj on the Damietta mouth.
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