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Aqaba
(Aelana) Modern Aqaba is in the
region of Solomon’s port Ezion-geber, described in the first Book of Kings (9:26)
"King Solomon equipped a fleet at Ezion-geber, which is near Elath on the shores of
the Red Sea, in the land of Edom." Like most towns in this part of Jordan, Aqaba
eventually came under Nabatean and then Roman control. By the 3rd century,
Aqaba had a thriving Christian community and sent its bishop as a representative to the
Council of Nicea. There are not many remains from the Christian town because the buildings
were dismantled and the materials reused over the centuries to build later settlements. In
the remains of a Byzantine church, archeologists have found two capitals depicting saints
Theodore and Longinus, the soldiers who guarded Christ on the cross. Historians expect
that there is much left to be discovered in this area. |
