Salvage excavations were carried out in the southernmost sector of an Early Islamic settlement within the industrial zone of Eilat. Three separate, rectilinear building units were uncovered, situated in close proximity to one another, each comprising rooms and courtyards. This Early Islamic village was part of a wider phenomenon of settlements that flourished on the desert periphery, in the shadow of the ancient port city of Ayla. After its abandonment, in the later part of the eighth century, the site was briefly reused, evidently in the ninth century; this use is marked by pits, some of which contained burials.