ʿAydhab ( ar, عَيذاب, also Aidab) was an important medieval port on the west coast of the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

. The abandoned site of the town is located in the

Halaib Triangle The Halaib Triangle ( ar, مُثَلَّث حَلَايِب, Muthallath Ḥalāyib; Egyptian and Sudanese ' ), is an area of land measuring located on the Northeast African coast of the Red Sea. The area, which takes its name from the town o ...

, a territory disputed between

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and the Sudan.

History

ʿAydhab was occupied by the Beja before its conquest by Fatimid Egypt in the 10th century.Dahl, Gudrun & al
"Precolonial Beja: A Periphery at the Crossroads."
''Nordic Journal of African Studies'' 15(4): 473–498 (2006). It was located about 20 km north of the modern port Halaib.

Abulfeda Ismāʿīl b. ʿAlī b. Maḥmūd b. Muḥammad b. ʿUmar b. Shāhanshāh b. Ayyūb b. Shādī b. Marwān ( ar, إسماعيل بن علي بن محمود بن محمد بن عمر بن شاهنشاه بن أيوب بن شادي بن مروان ...

gave its coordinates as 21°N, 58°E:Kerr, Robert
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Arranged in a Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time.
!--accessed 16 June 2009--> it is actually located at 22°19'N, 36°28'E. ʿAydhab became an important port for eastern trade (particularly with

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

) and for Muslim pilgrims from Africa on their way to

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...

during the 10th and 11th centuries for a number of reasons. First, the rediscovery of the Egyptian mines of the

Wadi Allaqi Wadi Allaqi, ( ar, وادي العلاقي) also transliterated as Wadi Allaqui or Wadi Alalaqi, is a wadi (dry river) in southern Egypt. It begins in Sudan below Halaib Triangle, and its mouth is south of Aswan on the eastern shore of Lake Nasser. ...

led to a

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...

between the 10th and 14th centuries. Second, the establishment of the Fatimid caliphate increased the relative importance of Egypt in Middle Eastern trade, while piracy and instability in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

moved more international trade into the Red Sea. This had to be located far down the coast because steady southerly winds made it difficult for large ships to travel to

Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same bou ...

before the age of steam. ʿAydhab was close to Jiddah and linked by a regular ferry; caravans connected it to

Aswan Aswan (, also ; ar, أسوان, ʾAswān ; cop, Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate. Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the ...

and other cities on the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ...

. The travellers

ibn Jubayr Ibn Jubayr (1 September 1145 – 29 November 1217; ar, ابن جبير), also written Ibn Jubair, Ibn Jobair, and Ibn Djubayr, was an Arab geographer, traveller and poet from al-Andalus. His travel chronicle describes the pilgrimage he made to M ...

and ibn Battuta both passed through the town.

Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Tora ...

's brother David drowned on his way from ʿAydhab to India.

Nasir Khusraw Abu Mo’in Hamid ad-Din Nasir ibn Khusraw al-Qubadiani or Nāsir Khusraw Qubādiyānī Balkhi ( fa, ناصر خسرو قبادیانی, Nasir Khusraw Qubadiani) also spelled as ''Nasir Khusrow'' and ''Naser Khosrow'' (1004 – after 1070 CE) w ...

believed the region to have the best camels in the world. The town's customs were divided between the Egyptians and the Beja nomads, who in turn protected the town and merchants. The town was sacked by the crusader

Raynald of Châtillon Raynald of Châtillon (french: Renaud; 11254 July 1187), also known as Reynald or Reginald, was a Crusader knight of French origin but also Prince of Antioch from 1153 to 1160 or 1161, and Lord of Oultrejordain from 1175 until his death. He w ...

in 1182 and by King Dawud of

Nubia Nubia () (Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), or ...

around 1270. The retaliatory raid of

Dongola Dongola ( ar, دنقلا, Dunqulā), also spelled ''Dunqulah'', is the capital of the state of Northern Sudan, on the banks of the Nile, and a former Latin Catholic bishopric (14th century). It should not be confused with Old Dongola, an ancien ...

by the Sultan Baybars brought that country under Egyptian vassalage. The town declined as the end of the Crusades and development of

Suakin Suakin or Sawakin ( ar, سواكن, Sawákin, Beja: ''Oosook'') is a port city in northeastern Sudan, on the west coast of the Red Sea. It was formerly the region's chief port, but is now secondary to Port Sudan, about north. Suakin used to b ...

increased competition with other ports. In 1326, the well-known traveller Ibn Battuta intended to travel from

via 'Aydhab - which was at the time considered the least-travelled of three possible routes. However, upon approaching ʿAydhab he was forced to turn back due to a local rebellion, return to Cairo and go to Mecca by a different route. After the rise of the Mamluks, Jiddah received preferential treatment for Indian trade. Finally, in 1426, the Mamluk sultan Barsbay destroyed the town in reprisal for plundering of goods en route to Mecca. The inhabitants of the town fled to Dongola and Suakin, but were massacred in the latter. This was part of Barsbay's campaign to secure for Egypt the exclusive rights over the

trade between

and Europe.Garcin, 293-94. The former port of the town no longer exists, and the site has been abandoned.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aydhab Former populated places in Egypt