Jaffa

Jaffa occupies a rocky promontory on the Mediterranean coast, its harbour serving the inland cities of Palestine and pilgrims bound for Jerusalem. The port's reefs made anchorage difficult, but its position drew merchants and travellers from Egypt and across the sea. Long contested by coastal rulers, the town was reduced in the later Middle Ages and gradually recovered under Ottoman rule.

By the seventeenth century Christian communities had established lodgings for pilgrims, and merchants from Europe and the eastern Mediterranean visited the port. Cotton yarn and alkali ashes were among the goods shipped abroad. In the eighteenth century Jaffa became involved in struggles between regional rulers: it was besieged and captured in 1773 and again in 1775, when Muhammad Abu al-Dhahab's forces killed many inhabitants. The orchards around the town nevertheless helped sustain its recovery, and by the middle of the century travellers had noted the oranges grown there.

In March 1799 Napoleon besieged Jaffa during his campaign from Egypt. French troops stormed the town, killed prisoners after its fall and remained only briefly before withdrawing. Conflict continued until the Ottoman governor Muhammad Agha Abu Nabbut restored order in the early nineteenth century. He strengthened the defences and sponsored public buildings, including a mosque, market and fountains, as the port resumed its role in trade and pilgrimage.