GULF OF

AKABA  , the Sinus Aelaniticus of antiquity, the eastern of the two divisions into which the Red Sea bifurcates near its northern extremity . It penetrates into Arabia Petraea in a N.N.E. direction, from 28° to 29° 32' N., a distance of too m., and its breadth varies from 12 to 17 M . The entrance is contracted by Tiran and other islands, so that the passage is rendered somewhat difficult; and its navigation is dangerous on account of the numerous coral reefs, and the sudden squalls which sweep down from the adjacent mountains, many of which rise perpendicularly to a height of 2000 ft . The gulf is a continuation southward of the Jordan-'Araba depression . Raised beaches on the coast• show that there has been a considerable elevation of the sea-bed . The only well-sheltered harbour is that of Dahab (the Golden Port) on its western shore, about 33 M. from the entrance and 29 M . E. of Mount Sinai . Near the head of the gulf is Jeziret Faraun (medieval Graye), a rocky islet with the ruins of a castle built by Baldwin I . (c . 1115) . About 22 M. from the head of the gulf and on its eastern side is the TOWN OF AKABA, with a picturesque medieval castle, built for the protection of pilgrims on their way from Egypt to Mecca . In the neighbourhood are extensive groves of date palms, and there is an ample supply of good water .

Akaba is of considerable

historical interest and of great antiquity, being the Elath or Eloth of the Bible, and one of the ports whence Solomon's fleet sailed to Ophir . By the Romans, who made it a military post, it was called Aelana . It continued to be the seat of great commercial activity under the early Moslem caliphs, who corrupted the name to Haila or Ailat . In the loth century an Arab geographer described it as the great port of Palestine and the emporium of the Hejaz . In the 12th century the town suffered at the hands of Saladin and thereafter fell into decay . In 1841 the town was recognized by Turkey, together with the Sinai peninsula, as part of Egypt . At that time Egyptian pilgrims frequented Akaba in large numbers . In 1892, on the accession of the khedive Abbas II., Turkey resumed possession of Akaba, the Egyptian pilgrims having deserted the land route to Mecca in favour of a sea passage . In 1906 the construction was begun of a branch line joining Akaba to the Mecca railway and thus giving through communication with Beirut . Early in the same year the Turks occupied Taba, a village at the mouth of a small stream 8 m. by land W. by S. of Akaba, near which is the site, not identified, of the Ezion-Geber of Scripture, another of the ports whence the argosies of the Israelites sailed . Taba being on the Egyptian side of the frontier, Great Britain intervened on behalf of Egypt, and in May 1906 secured the withdrawal of the Turks .