Aynuna (Arab. عينونة, ''ʿAynūna'') – a village in northwestern

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, in the

Tabuk Region Tabuk Province, also known as Tabuk Region ( '), is a province in Saudi Arabia, located along the northwestern coast of the country, facing Egypt across the Red Sea. It also borders Jordan to the north. History The history of Tabuk province ...

, located about 5 km from the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

coast, at the mouth of the

Gulf of Aqaba The Gulf of Aqaba () or Gulf of Eilat () is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian Peninsula. Its coastline is divided among four countries: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. ...

. Archaeological remains discovered here are identified by most researchers with the

Nabataean The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern Levant. Their settlements—most prominently the assumed capital city of Raqmu (present-day Petr ...

port of

Leuke Kome Leuke Kome () was a Nabataean port city located on the Incense Route. It may have been in the vicinity of the village now known as Aynuna (), Saudi Arabia, but other theories suggest that it was located at al-Wajh. History The port is known fr ...

, mentioned by

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

, among others. It lay on a trade route; it is estimated that about 8-9 days were needed for a camel caravan to travel from Aqaba to

Petra Petra (; "Rock"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu (Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: or , *''Raqēmō''), is an ancient city and archaeological site in southern Jordan. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit systems, P ...

.Karol Juchniewicz
''The port of Aynuna in the pre-Islamic period: nautical and topographical considerations on the location of Leuke Kome'', „Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean”, 26 (2), 2017, DOI: 10.5604/01.3001.0012.1819
/ref> The 300-km-long track led through the mountains but was fairly easy and safe.Michał Gawlikowski, Karol Juchniewicz
Aynuna on the Red Sea, poster (PDF); Seminar for Arabian Studies 2016, London
/ref>

Archaeological research

Saudi–Polish Archaeological Project in Aynuna

The archaeological expedition from the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw (PCMA UW) and the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTA) has conducted research in Aynuna since 2014, under the direction of Prof. Michał Gawlikowski (PCMA UW) and Dr. Abdullah al-Zahrani. The site lies on the bank of a dried-up riverbed of the same name (Wadi Aynuna/Wadi Ainounah). The excavations focus on a complex of buildings of a trading post, which are dated from the

Roman period The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

(1st century AD) to the early Islamic times (8th century). A survey carried out on the plateau cut by Wadi Aynuna also revealed the remains of a fortified settlement. A modern fishing village of Khoraiba covers the site of the ancient port. Although it lay about 3 km from the trading post studied by the expedition, both places were undoubtedly connected.

References

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External links

Saudi–Polish Archaeological Project in Aynuna
Archaeological sites in Saudi Arabia

Archaeological research

Saudi–Polish Archaeological Project in Aynuna

References

Further reading

External links