Red Sea, Jordan
Eilat
Eilat is a southern Israeli port and resort town on the Red Sea, near Jordan
The origin of the name Eilat, a place name found in the Hebrew Bible, is not definitively known, but likely comes from the Hebrew root A–Y–L (Hebrew: א. י. ל.), which is also the root for the word Elah (Hebrew: אלה), meaning Pistacia tree. Like numerous other localities, Eilat is mentioned in the Bible both in singular (possibly construct state) and plural form (Eilot).
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Eilat is first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in the Book of Exodus, of which the Israelites traveled through on their way to the promised land.
When King David conquered Edom, which up to then had shared a common border with Midian, he took over Eilat, the border city shared by them as well. The commercial port city and copper based industrial center were maintained by Egypt until reportedly rebuilt by Solomon at a location known as Ezion-Geber (I Kings 9:26). In 2 Kings 14:21–22, many decades later, “All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah. He rebuilt Elath, and restored it to Judah, after his father’s death.” Later, in 2 Kings 16:6, during the reign of King Ahaz: “At that time the king of Edom recovered Elath for Edom, and drove out the people of Judah and sent Edomites to live there, as they do to this day.”
