EZION-GEBER — GLUECK 457 



of both Ezion-geber and Elath as reflected in the Bible, we are com- 

 pelled to conclude that Tell el-Kheleifeh is to be identified with 

 Ezion-geber and Elath. 



One of the chief difficulties at first of identifying Ezion-geber: 

 Elath with Tell el-IGieleifeh, is the location of the tell in the center 

 of the south end of the Wadi el-'Arabah on the shore of the gulf, and 

 not farther to the east nearer to 'Aqabah, at a place such as Aila, for 

 instance. Assuming, as we do, that Ezion-geber is to be identified 

 with the lower levels of Tell el-Kheleifeh, it is possible to say that 

 the builders of the site could not possibly have chosen a more inclem- 

 ent site along the entire shore line. Situated in the bottom of a curve 

 banked on the east side by the hills of Edom, which continue into 

 Arabia, and on the west side by the hills of Palestine, which continue 

 into Sinai, it is open to the full fury of the winds and sandstorms 

 from the north that blow along the center of the Wadi el-'Arabah 

 as if forced through a wind tunnel. During the 1940 season of 

 excavations, for instance, there was a blinding sandstorm which lasted 

 almost continuously for 10 days, and made work on the tell practi- 

 cally impossible. By walking about a kilometer to the east or to 

 the west of the tell, it was always possible to escape the winds and 

 the accompanying sandstorms. Inasmuch as it is demonstrable that 

 the physical conditions have not changed appreciably there during 

 the last 3,000 years, the question which disturbed us before the com- 

 mencement of the actual excavations was how the ancient architects 

 and city planners had hit upon this particular place for the building 

 of an important town. It is not difficult to understand why Solomon's 

 port city could not have been built farther to the west. The shore 

 is rocky there, and dangerous for ships. Furthermore, from Mrash- 

 rash, at the northwestern end of the gulf, to Tell el-Kheleifeh, there 

 is no drinking water in a distance of about 3% kilometers. The 

 police stationed at Mrashrash send all the way to 'Aqabah, at the 

 northeastern end of the gulf, about 7 kilometers' distance one way, 

 for their drinking water. The point where the sweet-water wells 

 begin is marked almost exactly by the location of the ruins of Ezion- 

 geber. From there eastward toward 'Aqabah there is a continuous 

 line of such wells, increasing in number the closer one gets to 'Aqabah, 

 and becoming constantly less brackish, and marked by a correspond- 

 ingly increasing number of date palms between the two points. 

 Why, then, did the builders of Ezion-geber not locate their site nearer 

 'Aqabah, where the water is comparatively sweet, and where protec- 

 tion may be found under the lee of the hills from the strong winds 

 and biting sandstorms that plague it in its present position? The 

 strong winds that blow steadily from the north were evidently a 

 feature so desirable to the architects of Ezion-geber that they built 



