Coral Island

Some 5km/3mi beyond the Israeli-Egyptian frontier, to the left of the road, can be seen the little offshore islet known as the Coral Island or Pharaoh's Island, a coral-fringed granite rock measuring 320m/350yds by 150m/165yds, with a small sheltered harbor (many starfish) on the south side. This is identified by some authorities with the Old Testament port of Ezion-geber. The island seems to have been inhabited since the time of the 20th Dynasty in Egypt and to have been used as a port for the shipment of copper from the mines of the Arava and Timna valleys (both now in Israel). It is crowned by the conspicuous ruins of a 12th century Crusader castle.