Located only a short distance from
Jerusalem, Beirut, Amman and Damascus and at
the geographical crossroads of Africa, Asia
and Europe, today's Haifa is strategically
poised to become a pivotal center of the
Middle East: the region's major trade and
shipping port, its leading hub of high-tech
and heavy industry, a world-renowned center
of higher education, and a celebrated
Mediterranean seafront tourist attraction.
Haifa's present status has been
foreshadowed by a recorded past that begins
in the 3rd century CE with the founding of a
coastal community of fisherman, farmers and
traders, and by a prehistory that can be
traced in archeological artifacts dating as
far back as the 16th century BCE. Mishnaic
and Talmudic sages; the ancient Persians;
the medieval Byzantines, Arab-Muslims,
Crusaders and Mamluks; the Ottoman Turks and
Mandate-era British – all have left their
historical imprint on The City.
In the emerging era of peace, this city
of diverse faiths and shrines, with the
longest continuous experience of peaceful
Arab-Jewish coexistence in the region, will
serve as teacher and example. In his book
The Jewish State, Theodore Herzl, founder of
Zionism, called Haifa "The City of the
Future." In historic Haifa, the future is
now!
3 C.E. First mention of the
name Haifa from written sources
4 C.E. Hellenistic Period
6 C.E. Persian Period
9 C.E. Sea-trade links with Egypt
10 C.E. Haifa flourishes economically as
a major center of shipping, commerce, dye
production and glass
11 C.E. Crusaders conquer Haifa
15 C.E.
1516 Ottoman conquest
17 C.E.
1761 Modern Haifa founded
18 C.E.
1831-1840 Egyptian rule
1868
Settlement of German Templers
19 C.E.
1912 Foundation stone laid for Israel's
first modern university, the Technion
1918 British take control of The City
1933 Dedication of new Port of Haifa
1948 Independence
1989 Start of mass immigration to Israel
from Ethiopia and the former Soviet
Union
20 C.E.
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