Aqaba History: The Crusader Castle, the Mamluk and Ottoman Fort, the Arab Revolt Capture, and the Journey from Ancient Port to Modern Resort
The Aqaba history route covers the Crusader castle on the island as the most dramatically positioned single medieval fortress, the Mamluk-Ottoman fort as the most visited single Aqaba historic monument, the 1917 Arab Revolt capture, and the complete Aqaba historical evolution.
- 1
Ayla: The Medieval Islamic Port
Ayla (the most historically documented single early Islamic port in the Gulf of Aqaba, founded in 650 AD as the most strategically positioned single Arab sea gateway to the Hejaz pilgrim route, with the most completely excavated single early Islamic residential quarter recently discovered beneath the modern Aqaba city center), was the most commercially significant single Red Sea port for the most extensive single early Islamic trade network connecting the most distant single Indian Ocean trading partners.
- 2
Crusader Castle on Pharaoh Island: The Island Fortress
The Crusader castle on Pharaoh Island (Ile de Graye, 7 kilometers offshore in Egyptian territorial waters, the most dramatically positioned single medieval fortress in the Gulf of Aqaba built by the most aggressive single Crusader lord Reynald de Chatillon to intercept the most commercially valuable single Muslim pilgrim and merchant shipping), requires the most adventurously organized single day trip by Egyptian boat from the Taba border crossing for the visitor with the most historically complete single Crusader interest.
- 3
Aqaba Fort: The Mamluk-Ottoman Monument
The Aqaba Fort (Mamluk period, 16th century, the most completely preserved single historic monument in Aqaba with the most elaborately carved single Mamluk entrance portal and the most prominently displayed single Hashemite coat of arms added after the Arab Revolt), is the most visited single Aqaba heritage site and the monument most directly connecting the most historically stratified single Aqaba site from the Crusader through the Ottoman to the Hashemite period.
- 4
Arab Revolt Aqaba: Lawrence and Auda Abu Tayi
The Arab Revolt capture of Aqaba (July 6, 1917, the most strategically decisive single Arab Revolt military operation in which T.E. Lawrence and the Howeitat tribal leader Auda Abu Tayi led the most audacious single overland desert attack from the inland desert rather than from the expected seaward direction, capturing the most strategically valuable single Ottoman Red Sea port in the most surprise single military maneuver of the Arab campaign), is the most cinematic single Jordan military history event.
- 5
ASEZ: The Modern Special Economic Zone
The Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA, established 2000, the most comprehensively tax-advantaged single Jordan economic territory with the 0% income tax, the 0% import duty on most goods, and the most internationally competitive single Jordan business registration regime) has transformed Aqaba from the most modestly developed single Jordan port into the most rapidly growing single Jordan economic free zone and the most attractive single Jordan destination for the international real estate investment.
- 6
Aqaba Marine Park: The Protected Reef System
The Aqaba Marine Park (the most comprehensively protected single Jordanian marine environment with the most strictly regulated single anchor-free diving zone, the most professionally managed single buoy mooring system, and the most actively enforced single no-take marine reserve in the most ecologically fragile single Gulf of Aqaba coral zone) was established to protect the most biodiversity-rich single Jordan underwater ecosystem from the most rapidly expanding single Aqaba port and industrial development.
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