ELATH, f'lath (ELOTH), EZION-GEBER (EZION-GABER): Elath is the Old-Testament name
of a place on the eastern arm of the Red Sea, and in
the land of Edom. In the Septuagint it appease as
Ailath, Ailom, Adam; in
Josephus as
Ilanis,
Ailane, Elathous;
in other Greek writers as
Aeilan,
Azlana;
in Pliny as
Aetana.
These variations are
explained by the different forms in Hebrew and
Aramaic. It is clear that the name is derived from
that of a holy tree or grove, and the original form
may be found in the El-paran of
Gen. xiv. 6
(M.T.
'eyl pa'ran, " oak
[or some other large tree] of
Paran "). The form
Elah is
found only in
Gen. xxxvi. 41
as the name of a district of which Elath
was the center.
The location is clearly given in
I Kings ix. 26,
and with this Eusebius agrees
(Orwmasticon, ccxxvii.
40), placing it on the Red Sea, in Edom, three days'
journey from Paran. It was known to the Arabic
writers, but owing to its inaccessibility it was first
visited in modern times by E. Riippell in 1822,
later by Laborde, E. Robinson and others; in 1884
the Palestine Exploration Fund sent out Professor
Hull and Major Kitchener, and they explored thoroughly the region between the Dead Sea and the
Gulf of Akabah. Their reports describe the situation
as follows: The eastern arm of the Red Sea ends
on the northeast in a bay about four miles wide
with an irregular beach of sand, mussel shells, and
detritus from the neighboring hills. On the east
cliffs of porphyritic rock
rise to a height of 4,000 feet,
on the west are porphyritic rocks, interrupted by
strata of sandstone and limestone about 2,500
feet in height. In the northeast is a depres
sion continuing for about twenty miles at a height
of about 210 feet above sea level, which is the
continuation of the depression in which lies the
Dead Sea and is known as the Wadi al-Arabah.
The drainage of the rainy season from the hills
empties along the west side though much is lost in
the sand. By digging, water is easily found (of.
II Kings iii. 16-17),
at first brackish, afterward
fresh and potable. Nearly the entire region is
covered with a growth of thorn-bush. In a bight
of the Gulf not far from the east
side are heaps of
ruins, and a little farther south is a square fort
with thick walls and a tower at each corner, which
bears the name of (Kalat al-) Akabah, "Fort of
the Declivity." The Arabic geographer Idrisi
(1154) speaks of the
`Akabet Aila,
in which may be recognized the fuller form of the prlsent name.
At the northeastern corner of the bight is a beauti
ful palm grove containing both date-palms and the
African variety. This circumstance has given rise
to the conjecture that the name came not from the
oak (as the form of the name would suggest) bat irom
the grove of palms. The cultivated area is small,
though the ground is not unfrli';ful. The temperature
averages high, especially in summer. The
water of the bay is very clear and abounds in fish,
and sharks are numerous. Corals are plentiful.
The heaps of ruins mentioned above belong prob
ably to the Aila of the Middle Ages the Elath of
the Old Testament probably was situated on the
hills higher up. The Old Testament knows of
two places in the region, Ela,th and Ezion-geber
(cf.
I Kings ix. 26
and
II Chron. viii. 17),
the latter probably north of the former. Ezion-geber has
been located at Ladyan, about twenty-four miles
north of the present coast line, but formerly on the
coast when the sea extended farther inland.
Elath and Ezion-geber are brought into connection
with the desert wandering of the Hebrews
(
Deut. ii. 8),
and David made the region a part of
his realm
(
II Sam. viii. 14).
From Elath and Ezion-geber Solomon sent his ships to
Ophir (q.v.;
I Kings ix. 26, 28);
but after the death of Je hoshaphat they were retaken by the Edomites
(
II Kings viii. 20),
and were for only a short time in the
possession of Judah, during the reign
of Uzziah
(
II Kings xiv. 22, xvi. 6).
Under the Romans Elath was still an important mercan
tile place, the station of a legion, and the seat of a
bishop. Under the Mohammedans it lost its trade.
About 1300, at the time of Abulfeda, it was
completely deserted.
H. Guthe.
Bibliography:
E. Hull, Mount Seir, Sinai and Western
Palestine, pp. 71 sqq., London, 1889; idem, Memoir on
the Geology and Geography of Arabia
Petr., ib.,
1889; E. Ruppell, Reiaen in . . , dem PefrBischen Arabien,
pp. 248 sqq., 385-386, Frankfort, 1829; L. de Laborde ,
Voyage de L'Aratrie Petree, Paris, 1880; E. Robinson, Biblical
Researches, i. 280, Boston, 1856; C. M. Doughty, Travels
in Arabia Deserts, London, 1888; G, le Strange, Palestine
under the Moslems, ib.1890; H. C. Hart, Fauna and Flora
of Sinai, Petra and Wads Arabah, ib. 1891; F. Buhl,
Geschichte der Edomiter, Leipsic, 1893.
