Haql

City of Haql Arabic: مَدِيْنَة حَقْل, romanized: Madīnat Ḥaql
Haql seen from the sea, with the Midian Mountains in the background
29°17′N 34°56′E / 29.283°N 34.933°E / 29.283; 34.933
Country	Saudi Arabia
Province	Tabuk province
Population  (2010)[1]
• Total	25,649
Time zone	UTC+3
Website	www.haqlcity.com

Ḥaql (Arabic: حَقْل) or Ḥaqal (Arabic: حَقَل)^[2] is a city in the northwest of Saudi Arabia near the head of the Gulf of Aqaba, adjacent to Aqaba across the Jordanian border. The coasts of Egypt, Israel, and Jordan can be seen from Haql.

Haql is a small city and it is not a port used for Red Sea shipping, and the relatively small Saudi population does not engage in water desalination. As a result, the reefs in this area are pristine and populated with diverse flora and fauna. The coasts of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba in this region are scenic. There are views of the mountains of the Sinai Peninsula across the Gulf of Aqaba. Shipping is limited to traffic to and from the Port of Aqaba, Jordan. It lies 5 km (3.1 mi) from the Jordanian border. It has become one of the most attractive cities to visit for diving sports and accommodation. The two most attractive factors are its climate and geographical location. The Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA) has added more than 4 attractive spots on Haql.^{[citation needed]}

Climate

Haql has a desert climate and most rainfall is in the winter. The Köppen-Geiger climate classification is BWh. The average annual temperature in Haql is 24.3 °C (75.7 °F). About 24 mm (0.94 in) of precipitation falls annually.

Possible name origin

The city of Haql may have been a distortion of Ashkelon (Asqalan). In the Mishnah at the beginning of the Gitin tractate it is written "... and Ashkelon as the south". Ashkelon is the southern border of the Land of biblical Israel, although it was probably southern at least to the city of Elath. The researcher Haim Bar Droma wrote about this in his book 'And this is the border of the land because there was another Ashkelon in the Gulf of Eilat. This was uncommon practice for ancient cities, many cities where named after other cities in the same region. It may be that this is the identity in sound between 'Ashkelon and 'Haql'.

See also

• Midian

References

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