APYREXIA, in pathology, the normal interval or period of intermission in a fever.
the Sinus Aelaniticus of antiquity, the eastern of the two northern arms of the Red sea. Varying in width from 12 to I7m. it is room. long, penetrating into Arabia Petraea towards the north-north-east from 28° to 29° 32' north. The entrance is narrowed and made difficult by Than and other islands, while navigation is precarious owing to numerous coral reefs and the sudden squalls which sweep down from the moun tains on either side, many of which rise abruptly from the shore to 2,000 feet. It is a southward continuation of the Jordan `Araba rift valley and raised beaches on the coast indicate a con siderable fall in the sea-level. Dhahab on the western shore 33m. from the entrance is the only sheltered port in the gulf, near the head of which is Jazira Fir'un (mediaeval Isle de Graye), a rocky islet with ruins of a castle built by Baldwin I. (c. I115). At the head of the gulf on the east side is `Aqaba village with charming palm-groves, an excellent water supply and a mediaeval castle to protect pilgrims en route from Egypt to Mecca. It is the site of the biblical Elath (Eloth), one of the ports whence Solomon's fleet sailed to Ophir. The Romans called it Aelana, a military post with paved road up the valley of Wadi 'Itm to Ma'an and Petra. In the loth century an Arab geographer described it (Haila or Ailat), as a great port of Palestine and the emporium of the Hejaz. Suffering at the hands of Saladin (12th century) it fell into decay until 1841 when Turkey recognized it as belonging with Sinai peninsula to Egypt owing to its regular use by Egyptian pil grims. These later adopted the sea-route and in 1892 Turkey re sumed possession of `Aqaba. In 1906 the Turks occupied the neighbouring post of Taba, supposed to be the ancient port of Ezion-Geber. Great Britain intervened on behalf of Egypt and the Turks withdrew and agreed to the demarcation of a line joining the head of the Gulf of `Aqaba to Rafi'a on the Mediterranean as the Turko-Egyptian frontier. In 1917, during the World War, Col. Lawrence and the Hejaz army captured `Aqaba by a brilliant coup-de-main from the land side whence no attack was anticipated by the garrison. From then till 1925 `Aqaba was administered to gether with Ma'an, Petra and Shaubak as part of the Hejaz king dom. King Husain took refuge there in Oct. 1924, of ter his abdication of the Hejaz throne in consequence of the Wahhabi invasion of his country. In July 1925, a Wahhabi attack being anticipated, Great Britain, as mandatory for Palestine, ejected King Husain (who retired to Cyprus) and occupied the `Aqaba Ma'an province which has since been administered as part of Trans-Jordan. Ibn Sa'ud, as king of the Hejaz, maintains an atti tude of protest against what he considers an act of usurpation, and the Hejaz–Trans-Jordan frontier remains undemarcated, though the de facto administrative frontier runs from south of `Aqaba to Mudawwara on the Hejaz Railway.
or AKIBA BEN JOSEPH (c.
Jewish Palestinian rabbi, of the circle known as tanna (q.v.). He became the chief teacher in the rabbinical school of Jaffa, where, it is said, he had 24,00o scholars. Whatever their number, it seems certain that among them was the celebrated Rabbi Meir, and that through him and others `Aqaba exerted a great influence on the develop ment of the doctrines embodied in the Mishnah. He sided with Bar Cocheba in the last Jewish revolt against Rome, recognized him as the Messiah, and acted as his sword-bearer. Being taken prisoner by the Romans under Julius Severus, he was flayed alive with circumstances of great cruelty, and met his fate, according to tradition, with marvellous steadfastness and composure. He is said by some to have been I zo years old at the time of his death. He is one of the ten Jewish martyrs whose names occur in a penitential prayer still used in the synagogue service. `Aqiba was among the first to systematize the Jewish tradition, and he paved the way for the compilation of the Mishnah. From his school ema nated the Greek translation of the Scriptures by Aquila.
