History of the Republic of Venice of the Sea" ceremony was established in this period. Orseolo died in 1008. Venice's control over the Adriatic was strengthened by an expedition by Pietro's son Ottone in 1017, by which time Venice had assumed a key role in balancing power between the Byzantine and Holy Roman Empires. During the long Investiture Controversy, an 11th-century dispute between Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor and Pope Gregory VII over who would control appointments of church officials, Venice remained neutral, and this caused some attrition of support from the Popes. Doge Domenico Selvo intervened in the war between the Normans of Apulia and
Gulf of Aqaba the iron-age civilization of Ayla in the city of Aqaba, the site of the World War I Battle of Aqaba, led by Lawrence of Arabia. Whales, orcas, dolphins, dugongs, and whale sharks live in the gulf as well. Gulf of Aqaba The Gulf of Aqaba (, "Khalij al-Aqabah") or Gulf of Eilat (, "Mifrats Eilat") is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian mainland. Its coastline is divided between four countries: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The gulf is east of the Sinai Peninsula and