JAFFA, or YAFFA (the ancient Joppa), is a seaport town of Palestine, in N. Lat. 32. 3., E. Long. 34. 45. It is situated on an eminence projecting into the sea, about 40 miles N.W. of Jerusalem. It is mentioned in the Old Testament as the port at which the timber for the building of Solomon's temple was unshipped. During the wars of the Maccabees its shipping was set on fire by Jonathan; and it was again pillaged during the wars between the Romans and the Jews, 8400 of its inhabitants being put to the sword, and the town burnt. Having subsequently become a refuge for pirates, the place was utterly destroyed. Gradually, however, it seems again to have risen to importance, for during the reign of the Christian emperors it was made the seat of a bishopric. In A.D. 636 it was taken by Omar. In the crusades it was taken by Baldwin I., and in 1186 retaken by Saladin. In more recent times it was stormed by Napoleon in 1797, when 500 Turkish prisoners were put to death.
The harbour of Joppa has always been dangerous, owing to its exposure to the sea, and, being now nearly choked up
with sand, vessels are obliged to keep at a distance from the shore. Notwithstanding all danger and difficulty in landing, Joppa has for many centuries been the resort of pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem.
The town chiefly faces the N. The buildings are surmounted by flattened domes, which rise in rows above one another like terraces, on the steep face of the eminence on which the town is built. The summit of the height is crowned with a castle; but though the general situation of the town is thus somewhat picturesque, its appearance on closer inspection is mean and comfortless. A wall 12 feet high defends the town on the landward side, and two forts protect the harbour. Joppa carries on trade in cotton, soap, fruit, coral, &c. The fruits, consisting of water melons, oranges, lemons, &c., grow well in the sandy soil of the numerous neighbouring gardens. It imports rice from Egypt. The inhabitants consist of Turks and Arabs, Romanists and Greeks, with some Armenians, as may be inferred from the three mosques, three churches, and three Armenian convents to be seen in the town. A British consul resides here. Pop. 4000.