Elath (Hebrew: אֵילַת, Modern: Elat, Tiberian: ʼÊláṯ; Latin: Aila; Ancient Greek: Ελά,[1] Ἀηλά,[1] Αἴλανα,[2] Αἰλανίτης,[3] Αἰλανή,[4] Ἐλάνα,[4] Αἴλανον,[4] Αἰλάς,[4] Αἰλάθ,[4] Αἰλών,[4] Ἡλάθ,[4] Αϊλά), or Eloth,[5] was an ancient city mentioned in several places in the Hebrew Bible[6] on the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba. It was in the same vicinity as Ezion-Geber.
The name survived into the Roman period as Aela, adopted into Byzantine Greek as Aila and into Arabic as Aylah (the Arab settlement was built outside the ruins of the ancient city), later becoming Aqabat Aylah ("Aylah Ascent"), eventually shortened down to Aqaba.
The modern Israeli town of Eilat, established in 1951, is named for the ancient city.
- ^ a b Cosmas Indicopleustes, Christian Topography, §140
- ^ Strabo, Geography, §16.2.30
- ^ Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Aelāna
- ^ a b c d e f g Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) William Smith, LLD, Ed., Aelana
- ^ 'Eloth' is used in the King James Version
- ^ Deuteronomy 2:8, 1 Kings 9:26, 2 Kings 14:22, 2 Kings 16:6, 2 Chronicles 8:17 and 2 Chronicles 26:2
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