Aqaba, located at the northern terminus of the Gulf of Aqaba has a long history of habitation punctuated by episodes of abandonment and decline. It's strategic location as the nearest port town to the copper mines of the Araba Valley made it a regional hub for copper production (smelting) and trade as evidenced at the Chalcolithic sites of Tall Hujayrat Al-Ghuzlan and Tall Al-Magass (Klimscha, 2011). The Hebrew Bible (e.g. 1 Kings 9:26-28 and 2 Chronicles 8:17-18) mentions nearby Elath and Ezion Geber as ports of departure for Solomon's merchant fleet to Ophir ( S. Thomas Parker and Donald S. Whitcomb in Meyers et al, 1997). According to the same Hebrew Bible, Eilat was later conquered by the Edomites in the late eighth century BCE (2 Kings 16:6). Nelson Glueck excavated the site of Tell el-Kheleifeh thinking it was Solomon's port city but subsequent work on the site suggests that this is not the case. Before the Roman annexation in 106 CE, Aqaba, was a Nabatean port. In Roman and Byzantine times, the port was known as Aila. The town surrendered to the Muslims during the Muslim conquest of the Levant, and eventually a new Muslim town (Ayla) was built just outside the city walls of Byzantine Aila (aka Ailana) (Whitcomb, 1994). The modern Israeli city of Eilat, named for ancient Elath, lies across the border from the Jordanian city of Aqaba.

• from S. Thomas Parker and Donald S. Whitcomb in Meyers et. al. (1997)

The biblical sites of Eilat and Ezion-Geber were presumably located somewhere in the vicinity [of 'Aqaba]. Situated at the north end of the Gulf of 'Aqaba, on an arm of the Red Sea, 'Aqaba lies at the nexus of important trade routes. The port serviced sea traffic with Egypt, South Arabia, Africa, and India. Several land routes intersected at 'Aqaba, including roads northeast through Transjordan to Syria, north via Wadi 'Arabah to the Dead Sea and Jordan Valley, northwest via the Negev to Gaza on the Mediterranean, west across Sinai to Egypt, and southeast into the Arabian Peninsula. Copper from important mines at Feinan and Timna', just to the north in Wadi 'Arabah, was transshipped via this port. Several Chalcolithic sites are attested in the region. One, the small mound of Tell Maquss near the modern 'Aqaba airport, was excavated by Lufti Khalil in 1985 and yielded evidence of copper processing from the mid-fourth millennium (Khalil, 1987, 1992).

The biblical tradition asserts that Eilat was the port of departure for Solomon's merchant fleet to Ophir (1 Kgs. 9:26-28; 2 Chr. 8:17-18). A later king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, also planned to send a fleet to Ophir, but it was wrecked at Ezion-Geber (1 Kgs. 22:48; 2 Chr. 20:36-37). Eilat was later ceded by Judah to the Edomites in the late eighth century BCE (2 Kgs. 16:2). Inspired by the biblical traditions, Nelson Glueck excavated Tell el-Kheleifeh (1938-1940), a low mound just northwest of modern 'Aqaba. Glueck (1965) claimed to have found Eilat/Ezion-Geber, but his results were never adequately published. A reexamination by Gary Pratico (1993) of Glueck's evidence suggests, rather, an Edomite settlement occupied from the late eighth through the fourth centuries BCE. The walled site, apparently a caravanserai, yielded evidence of grain storage, copper smelting, and trade with southern Arabia.

The next major ancient settlement was Aila, a city at the head of the gulf attested in various literary sources during the Roman and Byzantine periods. Its origin is unclear, but presumably Aila began as a Nabatean settlement in the first century BCE. Strabo (Geog. 16.2.30), writing in the early first century CE, already refers to Aila as a city (polis). Merchants from Aila traveled to South Arabia to obtain frankincense and myrrh (Geog. 16.4.4). The city passed under direct Roman rule with the annexation of Nabatea as the Roman province of Arabia in 106 CE. Aila then became the southern terminus of the Via Nova Trajana, a major trunk road between southern Syria and the Red Sea completed in 111-114 CE. The strategic importance of the city is suggested by the transfer of the Legio X Fretensis from Jerusalem to Aila in about 300 CE (Eusebius, Onomasticon 6.17). A fragmentary monumental Latin building inscription of the early fourth century may relate to this legion, which remained garrisoned until at least the turn of the fifth century (Notitia Dignitatum Oriens 34.30). Christian bishops from Aila are attested beginning in 325. Various sources suggest that significant seaborne trade continued between Aila and the Indian Ocean littoral through the Byzantine period. The city made a treaty with the prophet Muhammad himself in 630 that guaranteed protection of its commerce at the beginning of the Muslim conquest.

Richard Burton identified the remains of Nabatean and Roman Aila in 1878. The classical site, now within the modern city of 'Aqaba, was rediscovered by John L. Meloy in 1989. An excavation launched by S. Thomas Parker of North Carolina State University in 1994 uncovered significant portions of Aila. The earliest excavated evidence dates to the first centuries BCE/CE, including amphorae from the western Mediterranean, terra sigillata, and painted Nabatean fine ware. This Early Roman pottery was associated with mud-brick domestic structures. Farther south, the city wall was erected in stone in the late fourth century. The excavated segment is about 30 m long, survives to nearly 2 m in height, and was defended by a projecting rectangular tower. The wall was built over an earlier massive mud-brick structure, apparently once vaulted. Just north of the city wall was a mud-brick domestic complex consisting of rooms built around a paved courtyard. The complex was apparently occupied from the sixth/seventh to the eighth centuries. North of the domestic complex was a cemetery of mud-brick tombs. Three excavated tombs each contained a single articulated skeleton and date to the fourth century. Continued international trade during the Byzantine period is evidenced by fine glossy red pottery imported from North Africa, the Aegean, Cyprus, and Egypt. South of the Byzantine city wall (i.e., within the city walls), two other areas yielded substantial evidence of Early Islamic occupation. This suggests that the Byzantine city survived for a time alongside the new Early Islamic city founded just to the southeast.

Archaeological investigation of the early Islamic city at 'Aqaba began in 1986 and continued through 1993 under Donal Whitcomb. T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) provided the earliest description of the site in 1914 as a "settlement of some luxury in the early Middle Ages " (Woolley and Lawrence , 1936). The Early Islamic city was probably founded under 'Uthman ibn 'Affan (c. 650). Beneath the slightly mounded surface is about 4.5 m of occupation from the mid-seventh century until the arrival of the Crusaders in 1116. The city wall is defended by U-shaped towers and was entered via four gates, now named the Egyptian, Syrian, Hijazi, and Sea Gates. The plan of the city (165 X 140 m) is marked by axial streets dividing the town into four quadrants. The central crossing had a tetrapylon, like the early Islamic city of 'Anjar in southern Lebanon . The plan may have been modeled on that of the fortress of the Legio X Fretensis, presumably located nearby. In addition to the streets and residences of the later periods (see below), several functional institutions have been discovered. The central pavilion became a wealthy merchant's residence, which might be associated with the governor's palace. The changes associated with the 'Abbasid reorganization of the city after 750 included the use of the sea wall as the backdrop of an extensive suq, or "market" with numerous small shops (some composed of converted towers) lined up along the beach. During the 1993 season, the city's congregational mosque was discovered, a hypostyle hall in the Syrian style and an important addition to excavated mosques of the early Islamic period. This mosque is oriented southwest, possibly a misconception of the direction of Mecca (Ar., qiblah).

The stratigraphic evidence gives an artifactual sequence that amplifies the meager historical information on Aila. The most recent levels (phase E, 1050-1100 CE) belong to the Late 'Abbasid or Fatimid period and are marked by the aftermath of the 1068 earthquake. The limited reconstruction amid the rubble ended with the arrival of a band of Crusaders; the people of Aila fled in their boats, returning much later to resettle around the 'Aqaba castle, one kilometer to the south. The century before this (phase D , 950-1050) was not much better. The Fatimids of Egypt established some control, but increasingly southern Palestine was a war zone where the Fatimids exchanged lands with Byzantines, Seljuks, and a local bedouin confederation. In 1024 the town was sacked by the Banu Jarrah, a catastrophe in which a hoard of gold was abandoned. The hoard, of thirty-two dinars, was composed mainly of issues from Sijilmasa in Morocco, suggesting a merchant's or a pilgrim's loss. The pottery may point to this social instability: fine luster, decorated, and other glazed wares occur with a crude, handmade pottery. The preceding phase C (850-950) is a mystery century at 'Aqaba, when apparently nothing dramatic happened — neither political nor natural events marred its tranquility.

The 'Abbasid period (phase B, 750-850) began with a catastrophe, the earthquake of 748¹; an energetic reconstruction and reorganization resulted in a new, more prosperous town that became an important center for the study of religious law. The pottery again reflects these changes: the transition introduced an unglazed cream ware (Mahesh ware), abandoning the earlier Byzantine/Umayyad tradition and revealing stylistic attributes typical of 'Abbasid Iraq. Other artifacts reveal the cultural leadership of the Hijaz during this period, when Aila participated in the active commercial world of the Indian Ocean via South Arabia and Ethiopia. These patterns began in the initial phase A (650- 750) and endured even though the most prominent cultural influence of that period was from Early Islamic Egypt. The earliest glazed ceramics at 'Aqaba (Coptic glazed ware) were produced in Egypt (probably at Alexandria) in the early eighth century; the finds at 'Aqaba have confirmed the identification of this ceramic tradition. The city plan and artifacts of this phase testify to the transformation from Late Byzantine to Early Islamic styles, paralleling the emergence of Islamic political and cultural identity in the time of the first caliphs and the Umayyad dynasty.

Niemi (2011) discussed potential archaeoseismic evidence after the earthquake of 1068 CE

The site of Early Islamic Ayla was not rebuilt, but a new castle or caravan station was built about 1 km to the southeast. Excavations in and around the Aqaba castle from 2000-2008 have revealed three different phases in the “khan” or castle from the late 12th to 16th centuries (De Meulemeester and Al-Shqour, 2008). The extant castle was built in 1515 and rebuilt in 1587/8, probably after the Gulf of Aqaba earthquake of January 4, 1588 which, based on historical accounts, was felt in NW Arabia, Aqaba, and Sinai (Guidoboni and Comastri, 2005; Ambraseys, 2009). The archaeological data from the Aqaba castle (De Meulemeester and Al-Shqour, 2008) also appear to support rupture of the Gulf of Aqaba fault segment in the earthquake of 1212 and possibly of the Wadi ‘Arabah fault segment in 1458.