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It is the largest town in the southern Strip, with a population of about 96,000, of which some 44,000 live in the two refugee camps about it, Canada Camp to the north, and Rafah camp to the south.
Rafah has a history stretching back thousands of years. It was first recorded in an inscription of Egyptian Pharoah Seti I, from 1303 BC, and as the first stop on Pharoah Shoshenq I's campaign to Palestine in 925 BC.
In 720 BC it was the site of the AssyriaThis article concerns the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom. For the modern-day peoples in northern Iraq and neighboring areas, see Assyrian. Assyria a country named after its original capital city, Asshur on the Tigris, was originally a colony of Babylonia, an king Sargon II's victory over the Egyptians, and in 217 BCCenturies: 4th century BC 3rd century BC 2nd century BC Decades: 260s BC 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC 200s BC 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC Years: 222 BC 221 BC 220 BC 219 BC 218 BC 217 BC 216 BC 215 BC 214 BC 213 BC 212 BC Events Second Puni a large battle between the victorious Ptolemy IVUnder the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator (reigned 221- 204 BC), son of Ptolemy III, the decline of the Ptolemaic kingdom began. His reign was inaugurated by the murder of his mother, and he was always under the dominion of favourites, male and female, who and Antiochus IIIAntiochus III the Great (ruled 223 187 BC), younger son of Seleucus II Callinicus, became ruler of the Seleucid kingdom as a youth of about eighteen in 223 BC. His traditional designation, the Great stems from a misconception of Megas Basileus (Great king. (It is said to be the largest battle ever fought in Palestine, with over a hundred thousand soldiers and hundreds of elephantThis page is about the animal, see elephant (disambiguation) for more meanings. Loxodonta Loxodonta cyclotis Loxodonta africana Elephas Elephas maximus Proboscidea is an order including only one family, Elephantidae or the elephants with 3 species: the Sas).
During the Byzantine period, it was a DioceseIn the Roman Empire, a diocese was a city district or part of a province. In the Roman Catholic and some Protestant churches, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit governed by a bishop, sometimes also referred to as a bishopric or episcopal see, and an important trading city during the early Arab period, however it steadily declined and was likely abandoned by the 12th century. By the Mameluk period it was recorded as a postal station, and 16th century Ottoman records show a small village of 16 taxpayers.