Haifa - Etymology

Etymology

The earliest named settlement within the site of the modern Haifa was a city known as Sycaminum. The Arabic Tel el-Semak (or Tel es-Samak, meaning "mound of the fish") preserved and transformed this ancient name, with locals using it to refer to a coastal tell at the foot of the Carmel Mountains that contains its remains. In Hebrew, it is known as Tel Shiqmona or Shikmonah. Shiqmona is mentioned once in the Mishnah (composed c. 200 CE) for the wild fruits that grow around it.

The name Efa first appears during Roman rule, some time after the end of the 1st century, when a Roman fortress and small Jewish settlement were established not far from Tell es-Samak. Haifa is also mentioned more than 100 times in the Talmud, a book central to Judaism.

Hefa or Hepha in Eusebius of Caesarea's 4th century work, Onomasticon (Onom. 108, 31), is said to be another name for Sycaminus. This synonymizing of the names is explained by Moshe Sharon who writes that the twin ancient settlements, which he calls Haifa-Sycaminon, gradually expanded into one another, becoming a twin city known by the Greek names Sycaminon or Sycaminos Polis. References to this city end with the Byzantine period.

Around the 6th century, Porphyreon or Porphyrea is mentioned in the writings of William of Tyre, and while it lies within the area covered by modern Haifa, it was a settlement situated south of Haifa-Sycaminon.

Following the Arab conquest in the 7th century, Haifa was used to refer to a site established on Tell es-Samak upon what were already the ruins of Sycaminon (Shiqmona). Haifa (or Haifah) is mentioned by the mid-11th century Persian chronicler Nasir Khusraw, and the 12th and 13th century Arab chroniclers, Muhammad al-Idrisi and Yaqut al-Hamawi.

The Crusaders, who captured Haifa briefly in the 12th century, call it Caiphas, and believe its name related to Cephas, the Greek name of Simon Peter. Eusebius is also said to have referred to Hefa as Caiaphas civitas, and Benjamin of Tudela, the 12th century Jewish traveller and chronicler, is said to have attributed the city's founding to Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest at the time of Jesus.

Other spellings in English have included Caipha, Kaipha, Caiffa, Kaiffa and Khaifa.

Haifa al-'Atiqa (Arabic: "Ancient Haifa") is another name used by locals to refer to Tell es-Samak, as it was the site of Haifa when it was a hamlet of 250 residents, before it was moved in 1764-5 to a new fortified site founded by Daher el-Omar one and half miles to the east. The new village, the nucleus of modern Haifa, was originally named al-imara al-jadida (Arabic: "the new construction"), but locals called it Haifa al-Jadida (Arabic: "New Haifa") at first, and then simply Haifa. In the early 20th century, Haifa al 'Atiqa was repopulated as a predominantly Arab Christian neighborhood of Haifa as it expanded outward from its new location.

The ultimate origin of the name Haifa remains unclear. One theory holds it derives from the name of the high priest Caiaphas. Some Christians believe it was named for Saint Peter, whose Aramaic name was Keiphah. Another theory holds it could be derived from the Hebrew verb root חפה (hafa), meaning to cover or shield, i.e. Mount Carmel covers Haifa; others point to a possible origin in the Hebrew word חוֹף (hof), meaning shore, or חוֹף יָפֶה (hof yafe), meaning beautiful shore.