a town of Lower Egypt, on the great eastern branch of the Nile, about 6 miles from its mouth (the ancient Phatniticum ostium), and nearly 100 miles from Cairo. After the metropolis and Alexandria, Damietta is the largest town in Egypt, and contains a population of about 27,000, consisting for the most part of Egyptians, with a few Greeks and Syrians. The town, as a whole, is ill-built and straggling, and is only redeemed from being a congregation of miserable mud-hovels by the presence of some handsome mosques, bazaars, and public baths. The houses of the better classes are brick edifices situated on the water-edge, and furnished with terraces, on which the inmates enjoy the cool river-breezes of the evening. The general trade of Damietta was at one time considerable, but has of late been absorbed in great part by Alexandria. It has still, however, a considerable coasting trade with Syria and the Levant. The country surrounding Damietta is extremely well watered and fertile, and the rice grown there is the best in Egypt. Mehemet Ali established a military school in the town with accommodation for 400 pupils; as also a cotton factory and an extensive rice-mill. The lake Menzaleh yields large supplies of fish, which are dried and salted, and furnish an important article of export trade. Coffee, dates, and flax are the other articles most largely exported.

Damietta is a corruption of the word Thamiatis. The original town was 4 miles nearer the sea than the modern city, and first rose into importance on the decay of Pelusium. When it passed into the hands of the Saracens it became a place of great wealth and commerce, and was therefore frequently attacked by the old crusaders. The most remarkable of these sieges was conducted in person by Louis IX. of France, who, however, was soon after taken prisoner and compelled to purchase his freedom by restoring the city to its Saracen owners. The Egyptian sultans, to obviate these attacks, blocked up the Phatnitic mouth of the Nile, razed old Damietta to the ground, and transferred the inhabitants to the site of the modern town. From this circumstance large ships cannot now sail up the Nile, and are obliged to discharge their cargoes outside the bar.