The city of Eilat was established only after the Israeli War of Independence in 1949, but the area it is located in boasts a history that stretches far into the past

Eilat may have been declared a town only in 1959, but the area where it is situated enjoys a long history. The most significant and ancient known attraction is the Timna Valley, located a few miles from Eilat, where visitors can today see the archaeological remains of a copper mine and temple that have survived 7000 years of history. Nomadic tribes intermediately ruled the area in the thousands of years to come. It served as a relatively important Nebatean harbour city during the Hellenistic period and the Roman and Byzantine eras. The area was conquered by the crusaders in 1116 and then by Salah ad Din in 1170, but the focus then moved to Aqaba and Eilat itself was mostly neglected until the start of the 20th century. The modern era of Eilat, or Um Rash Rash as it was known at the time, begins only at the start of the 20th century during WWI, when Lawrence of Arabia, leading Bedouin warriors to battle, conquered Aqaba and helped bring the area under British control (beginning the period of the British Mandate in Palestine).

There is one photograph that commemorates the commencement of Israeli domination over the Eilat region (or rather still Um Rash Rash whan the photo was taken). This is the Ink Flag photograph, which depicts a young soldier climbing up a wooden pole to hang an improvised flag of Israel and mark the end of the Israeli War of Independence. After the area came under Israeli control in 1949, it still took some years to encourage the population to come and settle in Eilat, a forsaken city on the border with Egypt that was barely reachable by any form of transportation. However, a group of immigrant families soon agreed to make the journey and came to live in Eilat, establishing it as a small village that was soon to become a town.

The road from Be’er Sheba to Eilat was completed in 1958, making the approach to the city much easier, and in 1959 Eilat was home to 6000 residents. Tourism to Eilat really started picking up in 1967, after the Six Day War and the occupation of Sinai by Israel, and despite the Yom Kippur War that followed in 1973, Eilat managed to establish itself then as a popular tourists’ town and as a harbour city that links Israel to the Orient.