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Aqaba (Arabic: العقبة al-ʿAqabah; Standard Hebrew עקבה) is a coastal town in the far south of Jordan. Aqaba is strategically important to Jordan as it is Jordan's only seaport. The town directly borders Elat, Israel and there is a border post where it is possible to cross between the two countries Aqaba and Elat are at the head (inside) of the Gulf of Aqaba.
It exports phosphate and some shells, and is a diving resort.
History
Aqaba has been inhabited settlement since 4000BC profiting from its strategic location at the junction of trading routes between Asia, Africa, Europe. The early settlement was known as Elath (אילת ʾÊlaṯ) in Biblical Hebrew (and presumably Edomite) in ancient times. It was a centre of the Edomites, and then of the Arab Nabataeans, who populated the region extensively
The Bible refences the area in (1 Kings 9:26)"King Solomon also built ships in Ezion-Geber, which is near Elath in Edom, on the shores of the Red Sea." This verse probably refers to an Iron Age port city on the same ground as modern Aqaba.
The Ptolemaic Greeks called it Berenice, and the Romans Aila and Aelana. During Roman times, the great long distance road the Via Nova Triana led south from Damascus through Amman, terminating in Aqaba, where it connected with a west road leading to Palestine and Egypt.
Soon after Muhammad's time, it became part of the new Caliphate, and thereafter passed through the hands of such dynasties as the Umayyads, Abbasids, Fatimids, and Mamluks. The early days of the Islamic era saw the construction of the city of Ayla, which was described by the geographer Shams Eddin Muqaddasi as being next to the true settlement, which was lying in ruins closeby. The ruins of Ayla (unearthed in the 1980s by an American-Jordanian archeological team) are a few minutes walk north along the main waterfront road.
During the 12th century the Crusaders occupied the area and built their fortress of Helim, which remains relatively well-preserved today. In addition to building a stronghold within Aqaba, the Crusaders fortified the small island of Ile de Graye (now known as Pharoahs Island - about 7 kilometers offshore). The island now lies in Egyptian territorial waters.
By 1170, both Aqaba and the island had been recaptured by Salah al Din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub. The Mamluks took over in 1250 and rebuilt the fort in the 14th century under one of the last Mamluk sultans, Qansah al-Ghouri.
By the beginning of the 16th century the Mamluk dynasty had fallen into decline and the area came under the influence of the Ottoman Empire. Under the Ottomans, the city declined in status, for 400 years remaining a simple fishing village of little significance.
During World War I, Ottoman forces were forced to withdraw from the town after a raid by Lawrence of Arabia and the Arab forces of Sharif Hussein in 1917, making the territory part of the of the Kingdom of Hijaz. The capture of Aqaba helped open supply lines from Egypt up to Arab and British forces afield further north in Transjordan and Palestine.
Aqaba was ceded to the British protectorate of Transjordan in 1925 and was temporarily occupied by Israel from November 1956 to January 1957.
In 1965, King Hussein attempted to give Aqaba room to grow by trading land with Saudi Arabia. In return for 6000 square kilometers of desertland in Jordan's interior the Saudi's traded 12 kilometers of prime coastline to the south of Aqaba. In addition to the extra land for expansion of the port, the swap also gave the country access to the magnificent Yamanieh coral reef.
Aqaba was a major importer of Iraqi goods in the 1980s until the Persian Gulf War.
External links
- History (http://www.ancientroute.com/cities/aqaba.htm)
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