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Aqaba Donald Whitcomb oi.uchicago.edu MEDIEVAL AQABA Preliminary Field Plan T • T • • 1988, 1987 Excavations 1987 city plan Aqaba Donald Whitcomb the beach. Only flat City Gate O jll «>ljj sand and a palm he port of Aqaba is Jordan's southern grove could be seen window on the world and has become on the surface a commercial port and tourist resort before excavations, of primary importance. The castle of which revealed a Aqaba, where pilgrims to Mecca rested in Mamluk and Ottoman times, was the great walled city, focus of only the most recent setdement. Before Saladin fought the Crusaders in its walls and this place, merchants of the Abbasid and Fatimid periods traded in goods from buildings preserved areas stretching from the Maghreb to China. And before this, a procession of at least 4 meters Byzantine, Roman, Nabataean, and even Biblical peoples inhabited this town. in height. An historic 1986 Trenches • For the last 50 years, in the midst of the development of the modern city, sequence from a litde attention has been paid to these ruins in the heart of the city and the land pre-Umayyad on which they stand ran the risk of being sold for development. In these foundation (early 7th circumstances the Oriental Institute began limited soundings in the spring of century) through the Fatimid until thinner curtain wall to accommodate 1986, followed by major excavations in the spring of 1987. These excavations destruction by the Crusaders (early buildings. have revealed a complex architectural and artifactual documentation of great 12th century) was identified. During One city gate flanked by two such importance for the history of Aqaba, Jordan, and the entire Middle East.1 T this occupation, and particularly the towers was excavated, revealing a The medieval city of Aqaba is on a slight rise above the beach near the center of Abbasid period, ceramics indicate complex history of rebuilding. The the modern town. The ruins are cut by a deep drainage ditch, called the wadi, participation in an extensive trade total preserved height of the wall was north of the Coast Guard station and extend between the Corniche road and network connecting Egypt and Syria at least 4.5 meters, at which depth the with Iraq and China. water table prevented reaching the The city of Ayla, medieval Aqaba, wall foundations and street pavement. 'The excavations were made possible with the assistance of many people, especially was rectangular in plan, 120 x 160 The gate was 3 meters wide with a Dr. Adnan Hadidi, Dr. Ghazi Bisheh, and Mr. Suleiman Tarajat, from the De­ meters, enclosed by a stone city wall round arch in its earliest form; this partment of Antiquities, Mr. Nasri Atalla of the Department of Tourism, and Dr. with towers, preserved 4.5 meters in was narrowed and, as the street levels Dureid Mahasneh of the Aqaba Region Authority. Special thanks are due to Dr. height. Work during the 1987 season rose, a secondary pointed arch was David Mc Cr eery for assistance and facilities at ACOR and to Mr. Rami Khoury, concentrated on this enclosure wall built into the filled in gateway. for initial encouragment and brilliant reportage. We are also indebted to the and several elements of the city's Eventually only a basalt drain pipe ran people of Aqaba, who took an active interest in the wonder of their past. The urban architecture. The faces of the through the small doorway. Within excavations were funded by grants from the National Geographic Society and the city wall consisted of granite and the fill in front of the gate were United States Agency for International Development as well as through contribu­ sandstone blocks with, in certain blocks with a monumental Kufic tions to the Oriental Institute. T The staff included Ghazi Bisheh, Suleiman portions, a good lime plaster. The inscription containing parts of the Tarajat, Khairieh Amir, Hanan Azar,from the Department of Antiquities, matrix of the wall was mud mixed Ayat al-Kursi, a Quranic quotation Robin Brown, Rosa Trey, Jessica Hallett, Janet Johnson, Allison McQuitty, Carol with quantities of small cobbles. used for protection of the city. Inside Meyer, Yvonne Seng, Guillermo Algaze, Tssam Elhadi, Circular towers were found along the 1 he UrtentaL James Knudstadt, and Robert Smithers. Mary Tassen length of the wall. Between the 1 nstltUte and Debbie Schwartz helped process materials from the towers, the city wall narrowed to a *• "o/-l yoo excavation which had been brought to Chicago for study. Annual Report 37 36 oi.uchicago.edu MEDIEVAL AQABA Preliminary Field Plan T • T • • 1988, 1987 Excavations 1987 city plan Aqaba Donald Whitcomb the beach. Only flat City Gate O jll «>ljj sand and a palm he port of Aqaba is Jordan's southern grove could be seen window on the world and has become on the surface a commercial port and tourist resort before excavations, of primary importance. The castle of which revealed a Aqaba, where pilgrims to Mecca rested in Mamluk and Ottoman times, was the great walled city, focus of only the most recent setdement. Before Saladin fought the Crusaders in its walls and this place, merchants of the Abbasid and Fatimid periods traded in goods from buildings preserved areas stretching from the Maghreb to China. And before this, a procession of at least 4 meters Byzantine, Roman, Nabataean, and even Biblical peoples inhabited this town. in height. An historic 1986 Trenches • For the last 50 years, in the midst of the development of the modern city, sequence from a litde attention has been paid to these ruins in the heart of the city and the land pre-Umayyad on which they stand ran the risk of being sold for development. In these foundation (early 7th circumstances the Oriental Institute began limited soundings in the spring of century) through the Fatimid until thinner curtain wall to accommodate 1986, followed by major excavations in the spring of 1987. These excavations destruction by the Crusaders (early buildings. have revealed a complex architectural and artifactual documentation of great 12th century) was identified. During One city gate flanked by two such importance for the history of Aqaba, Jordan, and the entire Middle East.1 T this occupation, and particularly the towers was excavated, revealing a The medieval city of Aqaba is on a slight rise above the beach near the center of Abbasid period, ceramics indicate complex history of rebuilding. The the modern town. The ruins are cut by a deep drainage ditch, called the wadi, participation in an extensive trade total preserved height of the wall was north of the Coast Guard station and extend between the Corniche road and network connecting Egypt and Syria at least 4.5 meters, at which depth the with Iraq and China. water table prevented reaching the The city of Ayla, medieval Aqaba, wall foundations and street pavement. 'The excavations were made possible with the assistance of many people, especially was rectangular in plan, 120 x 160 The gate was 3 meters wide with a Dr. Adnan Hadidi, Dr. Ghazi Bisheh, and Mr. Suleiman Tarajat, from the De­ meters, enclosed by a stone city wall round arch in its earliest form; this partment of Antiquities, Mr. Nasri Atalla of the Department of Tourism, and Dr. with towers, preserved 4.5 meters in was narrowed and, as the street levels Dureid Mahasneh of the Aqaba Region Authority. Special thanks are due to Dr. height. Work during the 1987 season rose, a secondary pointed arch was David Mc Cr eery for assistance and facilities at ACOR and to Mr. Rami Khoury, concentrated on this enclosure wall built into the filled in gateway. for initial encouragment and brilliant reportage. We are also indebted to the and several elements of the city's Eventually only a basalt drain pipe ran people of Aqaba, who took an active interest in the wonder of their past. The urban architecture. The faces of the through the small doorway. Within excavations were funded by grants from the National Geographic Society and the city wall consisted of granite and the fill in front of the gate were United States Agency for International Development as well as through contribu­ sandstone blocks with, in certain blocks with a monumental Kufic tions to the Oriental Institute. T The staff included Ghazi Bisheh, Suleiman portions, a good lime plaster. The inscription containing parts of the Tarajat, Khairieh Amir, Hanan Azar,from the Department of Antiquities, matrix of the wall was mud mixed Ayat al-Kursi, a Quranic quotation Robin Brown, Rosa Trey, Jessica Hallett, Janet Johnson, Allison McQuitty, Carol with quantities of small cobbles. used for protection of the city. Inside Meyer, Yvonne Seng, Guillermo Algaze, Tssam Elhadi, Circular towers were found along the 1 he UrtentaL James Knudstadt, and Robert Smithers. Mary Tassen length of the wall. Between the 1 nstltUte and Debbie Schwartz helped process materials from the towers, the city wall narrowed to a *• "o/-l yoo excavation which had been brought to Chicago for study. Annual Report 37 36 oi.uchicago.edu the gate was a wall parallel to the city the earliest form of this building may wall with a similar large arch. The have been a sort of pavilion in the space between these arches was later center of the city. While there is too narrowed and occupied by shops. little evidence for a palace, some Tower 2, immediately north of the association with a governor's gate, was excavated revealing an residence is not unlikely. Artifacts internal arch and, below that, brick discovered during the excavations partition walls. The tower was entered suggest that the structure was through an arched doorway in the originally built during the Umayyad city wall.
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