Damietta



Damietta (دمياط Dumyāṭ&#x202f;, ), also known as Damiata, or Domyat, is a port and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt. It is located at the Damietta branch, a distributary of the Nile, 15 km from the Mediterranean Sea, about 200 km north of Cairo.

History
In Ancient Egypt, the city was known as Tamiat, but it became less important in the Hellenic period after the construction of Alexandria.

The Abbasids used Alexandria, Damietta, Aden and Siraf as entry ports to India and the Tang Empire of China. Damietta was an important naval base during the Abbasid, Tulunid and Fatimid periods. This led to several attacks by the Byzantine Empire, most notably the sack and destruction of the city in May 853.

Damietta was again important in the 12th and 13th centuries during the time of the Crusades. In 1169, a fleet from the Kingdom of Jerusalem, with support from the Byzantine Empire, attacked the port, but it was defeated by Saladin.

During preparations for the Fifth Crusade in 1217, it was decided that Damietta should be the focus of attack. Control of Damietta meant control of the Nile, and from there the crusaders believed they would be able to conquer Egypt. From Egypt they could then attack Palestine and recapture Jerusalem. When the port was besieged and occupied by Frisian crusaders in 1219, Francis of Assisi arrived to peaceably negotiate with the Muslim ruler. The siege devastated the population of Damietta. In October 1218 reinforcements arrived including the Legate Pelagius with the English earls Ranulf of Chester, Saer of Winchester, and William Aubigny of Arundel together with Odonel Aubigny, Robert Fitzwalter, John Lacy of Chester, William Harcourt and Oliver the illegitimate son of King John. In 1221 the Crusaders attempted to march to Cairo, but were destroyed by the combination of nature and Muslim defences.

Damietta was also the object of the Seventh Crusade, led by Louis IX of France. His fleet arrived there in 1249 and quickly captured the fort, though he refused to hand it over to the nominal king of Jerusalem, to whom it had been promised during the Fifth Crusade. However, Louis too was eventually captured and defeated and was forced to give up the city.

Because of its importance to the Crusaders, the Mamluk Sultan Baibars destroyed the city and rebuilt it with stronger fortifications a few kilometres from the river in the early 1260s, making the mouth of the Nile at Damietta impassable for ships.

Economy
Damietta is very famous for its furniture industry. In addition to the Egyptian market, its furniture is sold in Arab countries, Africa, Europe, US, and almost all over the world. Today, there is a canal connecting it to the Nile, which has made it an important port once again. Containers are transported through the new Damietta Port. The Damietta governorate has a population of about 1,093,580 (2006). It contains the SEGAS LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) plant, which will ultimately have a capacity of 9.6 million ton/year through two trains. The plant is owned by Segas, a joint venture of the Spanish utility Unión Fenosa (40%), Italian oil company Eni (40%) and the Egyptian companies EGAS and EGPC (10% each). The plant is unusual since it is not supplied from a dedicated field, but is supplied with gas from the Egyptian grid. , EMethanex, the Egyptian division of Methanex Corporation a Canadian owned company, was building a 3600 MTPD methanol plant. Damietta also has a notable furniture and woodworking industries and is also noted for its White Domiati cheese and other dairy products and Pâtisserie and Egyptian desserts. It is also a fishing port.

Main sights

 * Amr Ibn Al-a'as Mosque (Al-Fateh), the second mosque to be built in Egypt and Africa by the Arabs after entering Egypt. It has been converted to a church twice during occupation by the crusaders and Louis IX of France's son John Tristan, Count of Valois was baptised by a legate of the Pope in this mosque.
 * Al-Bahr Mosque, dating to the Ottoman rule era.
 * Al-Hadidy Mosque in Faraskour, 200 years old.
 * Al-Maainy Mosque, dating to the reign of Al-Naser Mohammed Ibn Qalawon.
 * Al-Matbuly Mosque, dating to the Mamluk era.
 * Al-Radwaniya Mosque, dating to the Mamluk era.
 * Tabiet Ahmed Urabi, ruins of Damietta Fort at Ezbet El-Borg.
 * The Old Bridge Elkobri Elqadeem, dating to the early 20th century.
 * Souk Al-Hesba, the old town centre, dating to the Abbasi rule era.

Notable natives

 * Kamal al-Din Muhammad ibn Musa Al-Damiri, (1344–1405), writer on canon law and natural history
 * Refaat Al-Gammal (Raafat el-Haggan), Egyptian spy
 * Professor Aisha Abd al-Rahman (Bent Al Shatea), journalist & Muslim philosopher
 * Latifa al-Zayyat, activist and writer
 * Professor Abdel Rahman Badawi, professor of philosophy
 * St. Sidhom Bishay, Coptic martyr
 * Rifaat El-Fanagily, football player
 * Mohamed Fahim ElGindy, who established and developed the furniture industry during 20th century in Damietta
 * Rifaat el-Mahgoub, former Head of the Egyptian Parliament and a member of the ruling National Democratic Party
 * Besheer El-Tabei, football player
 * Mohammed Hassan El-Zayyat, former minister of foreign affairs.
 * Farag Foda, secular writer shot to death in his office on 8 June 1992 by two Islamic fundamentalists from the Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya group.
 * Zahi Hawass, Egyptologist
 * Yusuf Idris, writer & psychiatrist
 * Zaki Naguib Mahmoud, writer and philosopher
 * Ali Moustafa Mosharafa, physicist and contributor to the theory of relativity
 * Farouk Shousha, poet; previously head of Egyptian Radio (El Soaraa village)

Climate
Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot desert (BWh), but blowing winds from the Mediterranean Sea greatly moderates the temperatures, typical to the Egypt's north coast, making its summers moderately hot and humid while its winters mild and moderately wet when sleet and hail are also common.

Port Said, Damietta, Kosseir, Baltim and Alexandria have the least temperature variation in Egypt.

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