ACOR has supported, managed, and conducted archaeological and heritage development work at the historic and ancient port town of Ayla (modern Aqaba) since the 1990s. Further details about this fascinating site will be forthcoming, but until then you can learn more about the area in this interactive experience:
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/a4add4d1482149d787fa5b7c8d9b2de2
(created by MarEA project of the University of Southampton and Ulster University)
And you can read more about the ACOR/University of Chicago excavations, led by Prof. Donald Whitcomb:
ACOR: The First 25 Years (1993), pg. 42–44
ACOR Newsletter Vol. 5.2 (1993), pg. 13
ACOR Newsletter No. 3 (1990), pg. 5–6
To search images of Ayla/Aqaba in the ACOR Photo Archive, click here.
Click below to view a 23-minute presentation on “The Economy of the Nabataean and Roman Port of Aila (Aqaba): A Diachronic Perspective,” originally prepared by Prof. S. Thomas Parker for the “Archaeology of Petra and Nabataea” session of the 2020 ASOR virtual annual meeting.
To learn more about ACOR’s heritage development work via SCHEP, our USAID-funded project, please see: http://usaidschep.org/en/page/59/AYLA
USAID SCHEP Publications about Aqaba
