Elath ( or ; in the Sinaitic inscriptions ):

By: Emil G. Hirsch , Frants Buhl

Idumean port at the northern end of the Ælanitic Gulf, the later Aila. According to the Old Testament, the name of the place is also Elparan. In Deut. ii. 8 it is mentioned with Eziongeber (comp. I Kings ix. 26; II Chron. viii. 17). In Solomon's time the city came into the possession of the Israelites, but afterward it was probably taken from them. Later Uzziah reconquered it (II Kings xiv. 22; II Chron. xxvii. 2), but under Ahaz it was again lost (II Kings xvi. 6). The old city owed its name to the abundance of palms in the vicinity.