Identifer: CJF-RFC2015195

Medium
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Description
This medal was issued as part of the Historical Cities of Israel Medals which were issued by the Israel Government Coins & Medals Corporation to commemorate the Historical Cities of Israel.  They were issued from 1965-1966.  They were all issued in Silver and Yellow Bronze ( also known as tombac) with one medal struck in gold.
 
This medal is 45mm with a mintage of 6,212.
 
Almost without exception, no conqueror overlooked Jaffa’s importance as a harbor.  In 701 BCE Sennacherib conquered it, Alexander the Great in 332 BCE and Jonathan the Hasmonean in 148 BCE.  In the uprising against the Romans it fell two years before the destruction of Jerusalem.  Moslems captured Jaffa in 636 BCE.  The Crusaders held Jaffa for nearly two centuries but their control came to an end in 1268 when it was conquered by Sultan Baibars.  In 1516 it was taken over by the Turkish Sultan Salim I and was under Ottoman control for 400 years.
 
Over the generations the foreign presence changed from time to time.  Jews, however, lived there nearly continuously and a permanent Jewish community was established in 1820.  In 1909 the inhabitants of Jaffa established a neighboring community which became Tel Aviv.