Eilat
Eilat (, ; אֵילַת ; إِيلَات) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The city is considered a tourist destination for domestic and international tourists heading to Israel.
Eilat is part of the Southern Negev Desert, at the southern end of the Arabah, adjacent to the Egyptian resort city of Taba to the south, the Jordanian port city of Aqaba to the east, and within sight of Haql, Saudi Arabia, across the gulf to the southeast.
Eilat's arid desert climate and low humidity are moderated by proximity to a warm sea. Temperatures often exceed 40 °C in summer, and 21 °C in winter, while water temperatures range between 20 and 26 C. Eilat averages 360 sunny days a year.
The name Eilat was given to Umm al-Rashrāsh (أم الرشراش) in 1949 by the Committee for the Designation of Place-Names in the Negev. The name refers to Elath, a location mentioned in the Hebrew Bible that is thought to be located across the border in modern Jordan. The committee acknowledged that Biblical Eilat/Elath was across the border; one committee member, Yeshayahu Press, justified the co-opting of the name by stating "when the real Eilat finally is in our hands, our settlement will expand and reach over to there." Eretz Magazine (3 June 2018), Editorial, The Names Committee : "The issue of Eilat took up another chunk of the committee’s time. In 1949, Eilat did not exist. The city was founded only in 1952. But a place by the name of Eilat appears time and again in the biblical record. It was one of the stations in the wanderings of the people of Israel during the exodus from Egypt. King Solomon built ships on the shore of the Sea of Sof, in the land of Edom at Etzion Gever, which is Eilat. King Azariya of Judah built the city of Eilat, and so on and so forth. However, the location of this place called Eilat or Etzion Gaver remained unclear. On the shore of the gulf, where the big shopping mall of Eilat is today, a small adobe hut stood. The hut served as a British police station called Umm Rashrash. “On the map,” Yeivin explained, “we see a place called Umm Rashrash and next to it the name Eilat. But Eilat was not here. Biblical and Roman Eilat were across the border in Jordan. The name Eilat should be erased from the map.”; “We cannot give up Eilat,” Press retorted, “when the real Eilat finally is in our hands, our settlement will expand and reach over to there.” David Amiran, the geographer, suggested that Eilat should be the name of the settlement that would be built on the shore of the gulf, which should be called the Gulf of Eilat. Ben-Zvi was for eliminating Umm Rashrash from the map together with Etzion Gaver. Eilat is Eilat, he said, musing that maybe the committee should call Umm Rashrash Etzion Gaver and establish Eilat elsewhere. The committee ultimately decided to replace the name Umm Rashrash with Eilat. Etzion Gaver was commemorated on the map by dubbing a well along the coast Be’er Etzion Gever. Today the well is buried under the artificial lagoon in Eilat."
Eilat is part of the Southern Negev Desert, at the southern end of the Arabah, adjacent to the Egyptian resort city of Taba to the south, the Jordanian port city of Aqaba to the east, and within sight of Haql, Saudi Arabia, across the gulf to the southeast.
Eilat's arid desert climate and low humidity are moderated by proximity to a warm sea. Temperatures often exceed 40 °C in summer, and 21 °C in winter, while water temperatures range between 20 and 26 C. Eilat averages 360 sunny days a year.
The name Eilat was given to Umm al-Rashrāsh (أم الرشراش) in 1949 by the Committee for the Designation of Place-Names in the Negev. The name refers to Elath, a location mentioned in the Hebrew Bible that is thought to be located across the border in modern Jordan. The committee acknowledged that Biblical Eilat/Elath was across the border; one committee member, Yeshayahu Press, justified the co-opting of the name by stating "when the real Eilat finally is in our hands, our settlement will expand and reach over to there." Eretz Magazine (3 June 2018), Editorial, The Names Committee : "The issue of Eilat took up another chunk of the committee’s time. In 1949, Eilat did not exist. The city was founded only in 1952. But a place by the name of Eilat appears time and again in the biblical record. It was one of the stations in the wanderings of the people of Israel during the exodus from Egypt. King Solomon built ships on the shore of the Sea of Sof, in the land of Edom at Etzion Gever, which is Eilat. King Azariya of Judah built the city of Eilat, and so on and so forth. However, the location of this place called Eilat or Etzion Gaver remained unclear. On the shore of the gulf, where the big shopping mall of Eilat is today, a small adobe hut stood. The hut served as a British police station called Umm Rashrash. “On the map,” Yeivin explained, “we see a place called Umm Rashrash and next to it the name Eilat. But Eilat was not here. Biblical and Roman Eilat were across the border in Jordan. The name Eilat should be erased from the map.”; “We cannot give up Eilat,” Press retorted, “when the real Eilat finally is in our hands, our settlement will expand and reach over to there.” David Amiran, the geographer, suggested that Eilat should be the name of the settlement that would be built on the shore of the gulf, which should be called the Gulf of Eilat. Ben-Zvi was for eliminating Umm Rashrash from the map together with Etzion Gaver. Eilat is Eilat, he said, musing that maybe the committee should call Umm Rashrash Etzion Gaver and establish Eilat elsewhere. The committee ultimately decided to replace the name Umm Rashrash with Eilat. Etzion Gaver was commemorated on the map by dubbing a well along the coast Be’er Etzion Gever. Today the well is buried under the artificial lagoon in Eilat."
Map - Eilat
Map
Country - Israel
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The Southern Levant, of which modern Israel forms a part, is on the land corridor used by hominins to emerge from Africa and has some of the first signs of human habitation. In ancient history, it was where Canaanite and later Israelite civilizations developed, and where the kingdoms of Israel and Judah emerged, before falling, respectively, to the Neo-Assyrian Empire and Neo-Babylonian Empire. During the classical era, the region was ruled by the Achaemenid, Macedonian, Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires. The Maccabean Revolt gave rise to the Hasmonean kingdom, before the Roman Republic took control a century later. The subsequent Jewish–Roman wars resulted in widespread destruction and displacement across Judea. Under Byzantine rule, Christians replaced Jews as the majority. From the 7th century, Muslim rule was established under the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid and Fatimid caliphates. In the 11th century, the First Crusade asserted European Christian rule under the Crusader states. For the next two centuries, the region saw continuous wars between the Crusaders and the Ayyubids, ending when the Crusaders lost their last territorial possessions to the Mamluk Sultanate, which ceded the territory to the Ottoman Empire at the onset of the 16th century.
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| ILS | Israeli new shekel | ₪ | 2 |
| ISO | Language |
|---|---|
| AR | Arabic language |
| EN | English language |
| HE | Hebrew language |