Archaeology Magazine - December 1964 - 46

HISTORY

JAFFA'S
REVEALED

THE

SPADE

By J. KAPLAN
Among the ports of Israel, Jaffa was of primary
importance in ancient times. Situated at the center of
the country's coastal strip, on the top of a high hill
with a distant prospect, the city has been since antiquity a way-station for conquerors faring from Egypt
northward or from the northern countries southward.
It was also the first stop for pilgrims to the Holy Land
on their way to Jerusalem. It is not surprising, therefore, that Jaffa is frequently mentioned in the Bible
and in numerous ancient records.
The earliest mention of Jaffa in Egyptian sources is
in connection with its capture by Pharaoh Thothmes
III in the fifteenth century B.c. The name occurs in
the list of cities he captured in the Land of Canaan,
whose names are engraved on the walls of the temple
at Karnak. It is mentioned again in the Harris Papyrus, which is a folk-tale describing the capture of
Jaffa by stratagem, in a manner reminiscent of the
story of Ali Baba and the forty thieves and the legend
of the Trojan horse. Jaffa is mentioned subsequently
in two of the Tell el-Amarna letters, which inform
us that in the fourteenth century Jaffa was an Egyptian stronghold containing royal granaries. In Papyrus
"Anastasi I," a satirical letter apparently of the thirteenth century, an Egyptian royal official gives an account of his experiences in Jaffa. The Bible refers to
the town in the Book of Joshua in connection with
the frontier of the tribe of Dan, which crossed "over
against Jaffa," and twice in regard to the bringing of
cedars from Lebanon to build the Temple at Jerusalem: these were transported 'on rafts to the Sea of
Jaffa." A fourth allusion is in the story of the prophet
Jonah, who sought to flee from God through this
port. Some believe that the legend of Perseus and
Andromeda (the story relates that she was chained to
the rocks off the shore of Jaffa to be devoured by the
sea-monster but was saved by the legendary hero Perseus who sped to her rescue) goes back to the twelfth
century b.c., when the "Peoples of the Sea" invaded
270

the coast of Israel and settled there. Besides, the
name of Jaffa is engraved on the "prism stele" of King
Sennacherib of Assyria, found in his palace at Nineveh ; it relates that on his way to fight King Hezekiah
of Judah he took Jaffa and a number of towns in its
vicinity, an event which occurred about 700 B.c. The
inscription of Eshmunezer, king of Sidon, probably
belongs to the beginning of the fourth century b.c.;
it relates that he received in gift as an expression of
gratitude from the "Lord of Kings" (king of Persia)
two harbor towns on the Palestinian coast, Jaffa and
Dor. Other sources confirm the settlement of Sidonians at Jaffa at this time: these are the inscription
found at Jaffa seventy years ago which refers to the
establishment of a Sidonian temple, and the account
of the coastal towns attributed to the Greek voyager
Scylax. From this period onward Jaffa is frequently
mentioned by the Greek and Roman historians and,
above all, in Jewish and Christian literature.
Such was the information available until excavation commenced at Jaffa. The city's secrets were long
sealed in the depths of the earth because from the
eighteenth century on the area was densely covered
by Arab buildings, and only at the beginning of the
1950's, after a considerable part of these had collapsed and been demolished, was it possible to proceed to archaeological investigation. The first scientific excavation was carried out in 1950 by the late
P. L. O. Guy on behalf of the Department of Antiquities, and afterwards digging in Guy's test-pit was continued by Drs. Bowman and Isserlin for the University of Leeds. From this excavation it became clear
that the ancient settlement did not extend over the
entire area of the hill. In 1955 systematic excavations
were begun by the writer for the Museum of AnOpposite page: View of the excavationsof the Jaffa citadel
(Area A), lookingtoward the south.

Archaeology Magazine - December 1964

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - December 1964