The

lighthouses A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

are all located along its coastline. Most of the Israel's coastline faces west on the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

, with a short coastline at the southern tip of the country, on the

Gulf of Aqaba The Gulf of Aqaba ( ar, خَلِيجُ ٱلْعَقَبَةِ, Khalīj al-ʿAqabah) or Gulf of Eilat ( he, מפרץ אילת, Mifrátz Eilát) is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian ...

. Israel's main ports are the

Port of Haifa The Port of Haifa ( he, נמל חיפה) is the largest of Israel's three major international seaports, the others being the Port of Ashdod, and the Port of Eilat. It has a natural deep-water harbor, which operates all year long, and serves both pa ...

and the

Port of Ashdod The Port of Ashdod ( he, נמל אשדוד) is one of Israel's three main cargo ports. The port is located in Ashdod, about 40 kilometers south of Tel Aviv, adjoining the mouth of the Lachish River. Its establishment significantly enhanced the ...

on the Mediterranean, and the

Port of Eilat The Port of Eilat ( he, נמל אילת) is the only Israeli port on the Red Sea, located at the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba. History The Port of Eilat was declared in 1952, and constructed between 1952-56. Today it is mainly used for tradi ...

on the Gulf of Aqaba. All lighthouses except Eilat Light are located along the Mediterranean coast, between

Ashkelon Ashkelon or Ashqelon (; Hebrew: , , ; Philistine: ), also known as Ascalon (; Ancient Greek: , ; Arabic: , ), is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with ...

in the south and Akko in the north. Israel's active lighthouses are maintained by the Israeli Shipping and Ports Authority, a statutory authority within the

Ministry of Transport and Road Safety The Ministry of Transport, National Infrastructure and Road Safety (MOT) ( he, משרד התחבורה, התשתיות הלאומיות והבטיחות בדרכים, ar, وزارة المواصلات والأمان على الطريق) is a gov ...

. Based on historical, numismatic and archaeological evidence, archaeologists believe that the Romans built a lighthouse on an islet near the harbor entrance of

Akko Acre ( ), known locally as Akko ( he, עַכּוֹ, ''ʻAkō'') or Akka ( ar, عكّا, ''ʻAkkā''), is a city in the coastal plain region of the Northern District of Israel. The city occupies an important location, sitting in a natural harb ...

. Remains of a colossal lighthouse mentioned by the Roman Jewish historian

Josephus Flavius Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...

were discovered at

Caesarea Maritima Caesarea Maritima (; Greek: ''Parálios Kaisáreia''), formerly Strato's Tower, also known as Caesarea Palestinae, was an ancient city in the Sharon plain on the coast of the Mediterranean, now in ruins and included in an Israeli national park ...

. The lighthouses of Israel are included in the

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense whose primary mission is collecting, analyzing, and distributing geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) in support of national ...

's ''List of Lights'' publication 113 for the Mediterranean Sea and 112 for the Gulf of Aqaba. They are listed by the

United Kingdom Hydrographic Office The United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO) is the UK's agency for providing hydrographic and marine geospatial data to mariners and maritime organisations across the world. The UKHO is a trading fund of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and is ...

on volume E of the ''Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals''. They are also listed on ''The Lighthouse Directory'' and on the ''

ARLHS Founded in 2000 by Jim Weidner, K2JXW, the Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society (ARLHS) is devoted to maritime communications, amateur radio, lighthouses, and lightships. Its members travel to lighthouses around the world where they operate ama ...

World List of Lights''. The chart above follows ''The Lighthouse Directorys inclusion criteria, namely, it includes lightbeacons having a height of at least and a cross-section, at the base, of at least (a lightbeacon is defined as a

beacon A beacon is an intentionally conspicuous device designed to attract attention to a specific location. A common example is the lighthouse, which draws attention to a fixed point that can be used to navigate around obstacles or into port. More mode ...

displaying a light, where a beacon itself is a fixed, that is, not floating,

aid to navigation In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...

). The listing is from north to south.

Mediterranean Sea

Gulf of Eilat

References

External links

* {{Asia topic, List of lighthouses in

Lighthouses A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark ...

Mediterranean Sea

Gulf of Eilat

See also

References

External links