Ayla (city)

Ayla (Arabic: آيلة‎) was a medieval Islamic city established at the site of present-day Aqaba in Jordan. It was the first Islamic city founded outside the Arabian Peninsula. Its ruins are located northwest of the current city center.

In 630, shortly after the Hijrah, the Prophet of Islam Muhammad concluded an agreement with the Bishop of Ailan, the Byzantine city located about 500 meters northeast of the site of Ayla, which was included into the Islamic conquest.

The city was founded around the year 650 by the Caliph Uthman ibn Affan. The city prospered from 661 to 750 under the Ummayads and beyond under the Abbasids (750-970) and the Fatimids (970-1116), but declined in the late twelfth century due to earthquakes and attacks by Bedouins and Crusaders. Baldwin I of Jerusalem took over the city in 1116 without much resistance. The center of the city then moved to 500 meters along the coast to the south, around the Mamluk fort and the current flagpole of Aqaba.

Ayla took advantage of its key position as an important step on the road to India and Arab spices (frankincense, myrrh), between the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Peninsula. The city is also mentioned in several stories of the Arabian Nights.

The work of US-Jordanian excavations were conducted in 1986 by the University of Chicago. Besides the remains in place, many discoveries are at the Aqaba Archaeological Museum (one inscription above the door of Egypt) and the Jordan Archaeological Museum, in Amman.

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