‘Aydhab
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‘Aydhab عَيذاب |
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| Coordinates: 22°19′51″N 36°29′25″E / 22.33083°N 36.49028°ECoordinates: 22°19′51″N 36°29′25″E / 22.33083°N 36.49028°E | |
| Country | Administered by Sudan, claimed by Egypt. |
‘Aydhab (Arabic: عَيذاب, also Aidab) was an important medieval port on the west coast of the Red Sea. The abandoned site of the town is located in the Hala'ib triangle, a territory disputed between Egypt and Sudan.
Possibly established during the Ptolemaic period, ‘Aydhab was occupied by the Beja before its conquest by Fatimid Egypt in the 10th century. It was located about 20 kilometers north of the modern port Halayeb.Abulfeda gave its coordinates as 21°N, 58°E: it is actually located at 22°19'N, 36°28'E.
‘Aydhab became an important port for eastern trade (particularly with Yemen) and for Muslim pilgrims from Africa on their way to Mecca during the 10th and 11th centuries for a number of reasons. First, the rediscovery of the Egyptian mines of the Wadi Allaqi led to a gold rush 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 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 before the age of steam.
‘Aydhab was close to Jiddah and linked by a regular ferry; caravans connected it to Aswan and other cities on the Nile. The travellers ibn Jubayr and ibn Battuta both passed through the town. Maimonides's brother David drowned on his way from ‘Aydhab to India.Nasir Khusraw believed the region to have the best camels in the world.
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Wikipedia