A I A 



A J A 



pivcn, by elevating his (hicid on the top of a pilic, tlie 

 men in ambuih entered the" city and let fire to iv ; 

 and thus tiie foldiers of Ai, placed between two divi- 

 fions of Jortiua's army, were all dtlboycd ; the kinp alone 

 being prcfcrvcd for a more ipiominioiis death on a gibbf t, 

 uherc he continned till fiui-fet. Tlie fpoil of the place 

 vas afterwards divided among the Ifniclites. The men 

 a)>pointed for ambulh are, in one place, faid to be 30,000, 

 aiic! in another 5000. For reconciling this apparent con- 

 tradiction, moit commentators have generally fnppoltd, 

 tliat there were two bodies placed in anibuicade between 

 Hcthel and Ai, one of 2j,ooo and the other of joco 

 men ; the latter being probably a detachment fiom the 

 30,000 firll fcnt, and ordered to lie as near to the city 

 as poHible. Malins allows only 5000 men for the ani- 

 bnfcadc, and 25,000 for the attack. As for the fignal, 

 uled by JoHina on this occafion, the Rabbins liippofe 

 that the (hield was too fmall for this pui-pole, and that it 

 mu'.t have been the ilaff belonging to one of their colours, 

 in which opinion Chevalier Folaid acquiefces ; adding, 

 tliat the whole colours were ufcd on this occafion, the 

 p;ut being iublHtvited, agreeably to the figurative language 

 of the eail, for the whole. It has been fuggefted, that 

 this was one of the fire-pots, which are employed as en- 

 figns by the eaftern caravans, whole fnioke would afccnd 

 to a great height, be cafily feen, and fignify the fate in- 

 tended for the city ; and as the frame and llaff of this 

 inftrumcnt were of iron, it anfwers to the trauHation of 

 the LXX and Aquila. Jofiiua viii. Patrick, in he. Calmct. 

 Ai, in Zi-o/flo-v, the Bradvpus trtilaflylus of Linnsus, 

 or sloth, with three-toed feet and fliort tail. 



AIA, or Allia, in ylncienl Geography, a river of 

 Italy which difcharged itfelf into the Tiber, about 19 miles 

 above Rome. On the banks of this river, 200 Fabians 

 were deftroyed in their engagement with the Veii, and the 

 Romans were defeated by the Senones of Gaul, conducted 

 by Brennus. 



AJABIRE, or AjAviRA, in Geography, a town of 

 South America, in Peru ; 35 leagues fouth of Cufco. 



AJAH, n'K' 3 Hebrew term, which St. Jerome 

 tranllates vulture. Bochart fuppofes that it denotes the 

 merlin ; the Syriac renders it raven, and the Arabic owl. 

 Our tranflation (Job xxvii. 7.) renders it vulture; but 

 (Lev. xi. 14. Dent. xiv. 13.) kite. It is evidently a fpecies 

 of unclean bird, and mod probably the vulture or kite, 

 fo called from its gluttony, or from its note. AUm (Jer. 

 I. 39.) may perhaps be the plural of Ajah, and fignify 

 flights of vultures, which in fome countries are very nu- 

 incrflus ; tho\igh Bochart conceives them to be jackals. 

 Calmet. Bochart Op. torn. iii. p. 193. &c. Ed. ViUem. 



AIAIA, in Ornithology, the name of a Brafilian bird, of 

 the PLATALEA, or spoONBiLL-kind, called by the Portu- 

 guefe colhorado. Its fpecific character is, that its body is 

 blood-coloured. It is exaftly of the fame (hape, but fome- 

 what fmallcr than the European fpecies, and its beak is 

 in the very fame manner broad at the end, with a furrow 

 parallel to the margin, and of a cinerous-white colour. It 

 differs fiom the European fpecies, by the rofe or carnation 

 ■which paints the white ground of its plumage on the neck, 

 the back, and the fides ; the wings are more ftrong'y co- 

 loured, and the red tint turns into a crimfon on the rfioul- 

 ders and the covers of the tail, of which the quills are 

 rufous ; the Ihaft of thofe of the wing is marked with fine 

 carmine ; the head and throat are naked and whitifli ; the 

 legs grey ; and the claws blackilTi. Thefe beautiful colours, 

 fciys BiifFon, are found only in the adult. 



Thisfpccits w ihe platea rojia of Briflbn, the/, incariiata 



of Sloane and Ray, the brafilian fpoonbill, called ajuja, 

 of Marcgrave and Willughhy, the ra/'iatu fpoonbill of La- 

 tham, and \\\c fpalulc coulcur de rofe ot liufion. There is 

 a variety, called tlauhquechul, which Buffon fuppofea 

 to be the fame bird in its adult Hate. This rofe-coloured 

 fpoonbill is common about the fiiores of rivers, feeds on 

 fmall filli, and is, lays Marcgrave, of an agreeable tafte. 

 It is diffuled in the new continent from north to fouth, 

 from the coalls of Mexico and Florida to Guiana and 

 Bralil. It is alfo found in Jamaica, and probably in the 

 adjacent ifiands ; but the fpecies is no where numerous. 

 In the morning and evening the fpoonbills are feen on the 

 fea-ihore, or iettling on trunks that float near the beach ; 

 but about the middle of the day in veiy fiillry weather 

 they enter the creeks, and perch high on the aquatic treei. 

 However, they are not veiy wild ; as they pais at fea 

 very near the canoes, and on kind they will allow a 

 perfon to approach them within gun-fiiot. Buffon's Birds, 

 vol. vii. p. 437. Eng. Ed. 



AJALON, in Scrip>iure Geography, a name given to four 

 different cities, viz. one in the tribe of Dan, between 

 Timnah and Belh-)hcme(h, afllgned to the Levites ; pro- 

 bably that referred lo by Jofiiua chap. x. 12 : — another, in 

 the tribe of Benjamin, between Bethel to the north, and 

 Jeniialem to the i<nith : — a third, in the tribe of Ephraiin, 

 about two miles from Shechem : — and a fourth, in the 

 tribe of Zebulun, whofe prccile fituation is not known. 



AJAN, or Ax AN, in Geography, a country extending 

 along the eallern coail of Africa, from Magadoxo to Cape 

 Guardafui, comprthending about 10 degrees of latitude. 

 This maritime traft contains feveral petty kingdoms and 

 fiates ; the principal of which are the kingdoms of Adel 

 or Zeila, and Magadoxo or Madagoxo, on the coafts, 

 and fome others inland, hardly known even by their 

 names. The eaftern coall of Ajnn is fandy and barren, 

 the habitation merely of wild bealls, and therefore called 

 the defert coall : but farther towards the north the country 

 is fertile, producing all forts of pi'ovifion, and iuniilhing 

 means of commerce, and particularly an excellent breed 

 of horfes, which foreign merchants take in exchange for 

 filks, cottons and other cloths. The inhebitants along 

 the coail are generally white with long hair ; but towards the 

 fouth they become more tawny, and even black. The negroes 

 intennarry with the Bedowin Arabs, and carry on a great 

 commerce with them in gold, flaves, horfes and ivory, 

 which they commonly bring from Abyfiliiia, whither they 

 occafionally repair for the fake of plunder. As they are 

 all either zealous Mohammedans or Bedowins, they are ene- 

 mies to the Abyflinians, who are Chrillians ; and their 

 irruptions into Abyfiinia accuftom them to war. Thofe 

 of them, and efpecially of the Bedowins, who live near 

 the trading coalls, are arrant thieves. Mod. Un, Hiil. 

 vol. xii. p. 304., ii;c. 



AJANDUM, a town of Afiatic Turkey, in the pro- 

 vince of Natolia ; eight leagues wefl-fouth-weil of Sinope. 



AJAR, in Kalural Hijlory, the name given by Adamfon 

 to the chama antiqiiala of the Linnasan fy'lem. 



AJARAFE, in Geography, a fertile dillrift of Spain, 

 in the kingdom of Seville ; in which there is a httle town 

 fituated on the Guadiamar, called Civdad of St. Lucar 

 la Mayor. 



AJAS mon.r, a mountain of Marmariea. in Africa, ac- 

 cording to Ptolemy. 



AJAS, a fmall town of Afia, in Natolia, famous for its 

 mineral waters ; called alio 1 henna. 



AjAs is alfo a fmall town of Arabia Felix, fituated in 

 a valley, and about two davs journey from Aden. 



AJA- 



