The Early Muslim fortified city of Ayla was already in a dilapidated state in 1116, when King Baldwin I of Jerusalem reached it forcing its inhabitants to flee by ship to a nearby island.

[2] Whichever the case, no 12th-century material could be identified during excavations anywhere at Aqaba, and Whitcomb's assumption is that it has been completely razed when the Mamluks built their own fort at the same location.

[2] The Mamluk fort was built 1 kilometre south of Early Muslim Ayla and Denys Pringle credited in 1997 the first structure to Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad (c.

[3] However, the still standing building is dated mainly to two construction phases, based on two inscriptions from the gatehouse: one runs the length of the vaulted room inside the gate and praises Mamluk sultan Al-Ashraf Qansuh Al-Ghuri (r. 1501–1516),[3] and the second belongs to a medallion set above the first and is dedicated to Ottoman sultan Murad III who undertook substantial work in 1587.

[4] Shelling during the Great War brought down the west wall and the northwest tower, and in commemoration of the 1917 Arab victory, the old machicolation protecting the entrance is decorated by a panel bearing the coat-of-arms of the Hashemites.