Ezion-geber (along with its twin town Elath, or Eloth) was situated on the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqabah, the north-eastern arm of the Red Sea. It was the port from which shipping routes went east and overland routes went north (Deuteronomy 2:8; 1 Kings 9:26). This meant that the nation that controlled Ezion-geber controlled much of the trade in the region (1 Kings 9:27-28; 1 Kings 10:22). (For fuller details of Ezion-geber’s significance see EDOM.)