02.20. Power, control and self-interest

Power, control and self-interest At the western end of the deserts of Arabia is the Red Sea, the north of which separates into two arms that semi-enclose the Sinai Peninsula. The easterly of these two arms, the Gulf of Aqaba, is bounded by Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and Egypt. The shore controlled by Jordan and Israel is only a small area around the top ofthe gulf, but it gives both countries access to the Red Sea. The boundary cuts between two ports, Aqaba on the Jordanian side and Elat on the Israeli side. In biblical times Elat (Elath, or Eloth) was linked with Ezion-geber, the two names often being used interchangeably. It was of strategic importance because of the trade routes that passed through it – sea routes that went south and east, and land routes that went north and west.¹

Solomon of Israel formed a commercial alliance with Hiram of Lebanon, so that goods from the Mediterranean were received at Hiram’s port of Tyre, taken overland to Solomon’s port of Ezion-geber, and shipped east on a fleet of ships that Hiram helped Solomon establish. The ships went as far east as Ophir, believed to be in the region of India, and enriched both kings by bringing back large quantities of valuable and exotic goods.² This short-cut from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean anticipated the short-cut provided 2800 years later when the Suez Canal was built, though it used the other arm of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez, to connect with the Mediterranean. Because of its strategic importance, the canal became the subject of international conflicts, in much the same way as Ezion-geber was a cause of conflicts between Judah and Edom. Being a prize of war, Ezion-geber changed backwards and forwards between Judah and Edom, depending on which nation was stronger.³ 1. Deuteronomy 2:8; 1 Kings 9:26 2. 1 Kings 9:26-28; 1 Kings 10:11; 1 Kings 10:22; cf. 1 Kings 22:48 3. 2 Kings 14:22; 2 Kings 16:6

Aqaba on the Red Sea