History and Biblical Relevance

Because it lies in a modern city, archaeological digs in Joppa have been limited. However, archaeological evidence suggests that Joppa was inhabited as long as 9,500 years ago, during the Neolithic period. This evidence consists of a small fertility goddess statue and goat bones. Archaeologists also found Chalcolithic (4000–3150 bc) age structural remains and burials. The burials consist of chambers dug into the soft sandstone bedrock of Joppa (Dumper, “Jaffa,” 199). The next period of habitation was from 1750–1650 bc, when Canaanite inhabitants of Joppa built mudbrick fortifications on the city’s promontory. Archaeologists found the remains of a gate complex from these fortifications. The gate’s dimensions and design are strikingly similar to other Middle Bronze gates discovered at Beth Shemesh and Yavneh Yam. However, no walls were discovered attached to the gate. Instead, the city was protected by an earthen rampart made of crushed sandstone (Herzog, “Tel Yafo”).

In about 1458 bc, Thutmose III invaded the Levant, taking Joppa among many other cities. In the record of this invasion, written on the walls of the temple at Karnak, one of Thutmose’s generals hid soldiers in 200 large baskets, and presented them to the king of Joppa as a gift. The king took the baskets into the city and soldiers were able to bypass the city’s defenses and capture it.

Egypt still controlled Joppa when the Amarna Letters were written, ca. 1370–1330 bc. The letters mention the city “Yapu,” which may be Joppa (Negev, Holy Land, 254). Archaeologists have unearthed finds from this period, including a temple, in which they found a scarab mentioning the wife of Amenhotep III, as well as the skull of a lion. They also found a large royal scarab with a hieroglyphic inscription with Amenhotep III’s name and various titles applied to him (Herzog, “Tel Yafo”). Excavators also found a massive brick wall from the end of this period (late 14th—early 13th century bc). These fortifications were destroyed by an intense fire that left a debris layer over five feet thick. (Herzog, “Tel Yafo”)

Although Joppa was within the territory given to Dan (Jos 19:46), it was not taken by Israel at the time of the exodus. Rather, the city came under Philistine control when they migrated to the area, sometime around 1200 bc. Later, David captured Joppa during his wars against them, and Solomon made it the chief port of Israel. When king Hiram of Tyre sent cedar logs for use in the temple, they were floated from Tyre to Joppa (2 Chr 2:16).

Later, during the Divided Kingdom period in Israel, the prophet Jonah fled to Joppa—boarding a ship bound for Tarshish (Jonah 1:3). At some point later, Joppa fell under control of Sidqia, king of Ashkelon. When Hezekiah organized his revolt after the death of Sargon II, he was joined by Sidqia. Joppa was mentioned in the list of cities Sennacharib took during his retributive invasion campaign against the rebel alliance in 701 bc. Joppa then disappears from history until the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. Archaeological evidence suggests there was crude rebuilding and sparse occupation of Joppa during the Persian period. During Ezra’s time, Joppa was once again used as the port to receive cedar logs from Lebanon (Ezra 3:7). Joppa fell under Sidonian control when the king of Persia gave it to the king of Sidon as part of a larger land grant in the fourth century bc (Pastor, Land, 25)—being its southernmost possession (Grabbe, History, 34)—but became a free city when Artaxerxes III destroyed Sidon. Excavators have found structures displaying Sidonian influence from this period, as well as imported Greek objects, a stone anchor, and coins (Herzog, “Tel Yafo”). Archaeologists also believe these structures remained until Alexander’s invasion.

When Alexander the Great invaded the Middle East in 332 bc, he formally changed Joppa from “Yafo” to “Ioppa,”—establishing a Greek colony and building a mint in the port city. After Alexander’s death, control of the city changed several times. From 301 bc the Ptolemies of Egypt controlled it, but lost it to Antiochus III of the Seleucids in 197 bc. Antiochus Epiphanes brought his troops through Joppa on his way to Jerusalem in 168. During this time the city had a considerable gentile majority. When Judas Maccabeus began succeeding against the Seleucids, the gentiles of Joppa drowned 200 Jews. Judas retaliated by setting fire to Joppa’s harbor and the boats in it. However, he was unable to conquer the city (2 Macc 12:3–9). 24 years later, Simon Maccabeus was able to take Joppa, pushing the gentiles out of the city at the time. Then, in 142 bc, he rebuilt the city’s walls. It remained a majority Jewish city until Pompey conquered the Levant in 63 bc, making Joppa a free city again. Julius Caesar gifted Joppa to Herod the Great in 47, but Herod was not able to take possession of it until 37. Not impressed with the city or its port, Herod decided to build Caesarea 40 miles north of Joppa. When the harbor in Caesarea was completed, Joppa fell into decline.

In the New Testament, Joppa appears just after Pentecost. In Acts 9, a disciple from Joppa named Tabitha (“Dorcas” in Greek) became sick and died. Some of the other disciples at Joppa heard that Peter was staying at Lydda, which was near Joppa, so they appealed to him to come to Joppa. Peter came to where they were keeping the body and raises Dorcas from the dead. He ends up staying in Joppa, in the home of Simon the tanner, and is called from there to go to Caesarea to minister to the centurion (Acts 10:5; 8). Several of the disciples from Joppa accompany Peter to Caesarea (Acts 10:23).

Joppa was a center of the Jewish revolt in ad 68 and was destroyed by Vespasian on his way to Jerusalem. He built a citadel there and stationed a garrison in the city. After Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed, a large community of Jewish scholars and merchants sprang up in Joppa. This renaissance accelerated after the manmade port of Caesarea fell into disrepair, becoming unusable. However, Joppa once again became the only harbor on Israel’s coast from Acre to Egypt.

Despite the early inroads made by Christianity in the city, Joppa did not have its own bishop until the fifth century ad. The city survived various invasions of Arabs, Crusaders, and Mamluks until the 14th century when Joppa was destroyed, denying further invasions through the port. Joppa was rebuilt later, but did not prosper due to constant pirate attacks. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that people began to move back to Joppa in large numbers. Joppa became central to the Jewish-Arab conflict, as well as a center of Arab resistance to British rule during the Mandate period.

After a series of Arab attacks, Jews emigrated out of old Joppa to escape the violence, and built new communities on the outskirts of Joppa, naming one of them Tel Aviv. Eventually Tel Aviv would grow to include all of these settlements, and encompass Joppa itself. Because there was a large majority of Arabs living in Joppa in 1947, the United Nations placed the city in the Arab partition. However, during the 1948 war of independence, Israeli forces attacked Joppa, causing a panicked mass exodus of Arabs. By the end of the war, there were only 5,000 people left in Joppa, down from a high of 50,000. From then on, the city was firmly Jewish, though a large Arab minority (many of whom are Arab Christians) has persisted there.