people who lived in the mountains, and to cross the river either in
boats or by swimming. So they searched and found a large bridge, on
which there were three towers, but the gate of the bridge was locked.
And on the other side of the bridge was a great city. Then they
shouted in front of the bridge till a man came forth and asked them
what they wanted and who they were. But they did not understand him
till an interpreter came who understood their language. And when he
asked them, they said, "We are the servants of the king of Persia, and
we have come to ask who you are, and whom you serve." To which the
other replied: "We are Jews; we have no king and no Gentile prince,
but a Jewish prince rules over us." They then questioned him with
regard to the infidels, the sons of Ghuz of the Kofar-al-Turak, and he
answered: "Truly they are in league with us, and he who seeks to do
them harm seeks our harm." Then they went their way, and told the king
of Persia, who was much alarmed. And on a certain day the Jews asked
him to join combat with them, but he answered: "I am not come to fight
you, but the Kofar-al-Turak, my enemy, and if you fight against me I
will be avenged on you by killing all the Jews in my Empire; I know
that you are stronger than I am in this place, and my army has come
out of this great wilderness starving and athirst. Deal kindly with me
and do not fight against me, but leave me to engage with the
Kofar-al-Turak, my enemy, and sell me also the provisions which I
require for myself and my army."
[p.87]
The Jews then took counsel together, and resolved to propitiate the
king on account of the Jews who were in exile in his Empire. Then the
king entered their land with his army, and stayed there fifteen days.
And they showed him much honour, and also sent a dispatch to the
Kofar-al-Turak their allies, reporting the matter to them. Thereupon
the latter occupied the mountain passes in force with a large army
composed of all those who dwelt in that desert, and when the king of
Persia went forth to fight with them, they placed themselves in battle
array against him. The Kofar-al-Turak army was victorious and slew
many of the Persian host, and the king of Persia fled with only a few
followers to his own country[169].
[p.88]
Now a horseman, one of the servants of the king of Persia, enticed a
Jew, whose name was R. Moses, to come with him, and when he came to
the land of Persia this horseman made the Jew his slave. One day the
archers came before the king to give a display of their skill and no
one among them could be found to draw the bow like this R. Moses. Then
the king inquired of him by means of an interpreter who knew his
language, and he related all that the horseman had done to him.
Thereupon the king at once granted him his liberty, had him clad in
robes of silk, gave him gifts, and said to him, "If thou wilt embrace
our religion, I will make thee a rich man and steward of my house,"
but he answered, "My lord, I cannot do this thing." Then the king took
him and placed him in the house of the Chief Rabbi of the Ispahan
community, Sar Shalom, who gave him his daughter to wife. This same R.
Moses told me all these things.
Thence one returns to the land of Khuzistan which is by the river
Tigris, and one goes down the river which falls into the Indian Ocean
unto an island called Kish[170]. It is a six days' journey to reach
this island.
[p.89]
The inhabitants neither sow nor reap. They possess only one well, and
there is no stream in the whole island, but they drink rain-water. The
merchants who come from India and the islands encamp there with their
wares. Moreover, men from Shinar, El-Yemen and Persia bring thither
all sorts of silk, purple and flax, cotton, hemp, worked wool, wheat,
barley, millet, rye, and all sorts of food, and lentils of every
description, and they trade with one another, whilst the men from
India bring great quantities of spices thither. The islanders act as
middlemen, and earn their livelihood thereby. There are about 500 Jews
there.
Thence it is ten days' journey by sea to Katifa, where there are about
5,000 Jews. Here the bdellium is to be found[171]. On the
twenty-fourth of Nisan rain falls upon the water, upon the surface of
which certain small sea-animals float which drink in the rain and then
shut themselves up, and sink to the bottom.
[p.90]
And about the middle of Tishri men descend to the bed of the sea by
ropes, and collect these shell-fish, then split them open and extract
the pearls. This pearl-fishery belongs to the King of the country, but
is controlled by a Jewish official.
Thence it is seven days' journey to Khulam which is the beginning of
the country of the Sun-worshippers[172]. These are the sons of Cush,
who read the stars, and are all black in colour. They are honest in
commerce. When merchants come to them from distant lands and enter the
harbour, three of the King's secretaries go down to them and record
their names, and then bring them before the King, whereupon the King
makes himself responsible even for their property which they leave in
the open, unprotected. There is an official who sits in his office,
and the owner of any lost property has only to describe it to him when
he hands it back. This custom prevails in all that country. From
Passover to New Year, that is all during the summer, no man can go out
of his house because of the sun, for the heat in that country is
intense, and from the third hour of the day onward, everybody remains
in his house till the evening. Then they go forth and kindle lights in
all the market places and all the streets, and then do their work and
business at night-time.
[p.91]
For they have to turn night into day in consequence of the great heat
of the sun. Pepper is found there. They plant the trees thereof in the
fields, and each man of the city knows his own plantation. The trees
are small, and the pepper is as white as snow. And when they have
collected it, they place it in saucepans and pour boiling water over
it, so that it may become strong. They then take it out of the water
and dry it in the sun, and it turns black. Calamus and ginger and many
other kinds of spice are found in this land.
The people of this country do not bury their dead, but embalm them by
means of various spices, after which they place them on chairs and
cover them with fine linen. And each family has a house where it
preserves the embalmed remains of its ancestors and relations. The
flesh hardens on the bones, and the embalmed bodies look like living
beings, so that every man can recognize his parents, and the members
of his family for many years.
[p.92]
They worship the sun, and they have high places everywhere outside the
city at a distance of about half a mile. And every morning they run
forth to greet the sun, for on every high place a solar disc is made
of cunning workmanship and as the sun rises the disc rotates with
thundering noise, and all, both men and women, offer incense to the
sun with censers in their hands. Such are their superstitious
practices. And throughout the island, including all the towns there,
live several thousand Israelites. The inhabitants are all black, and
the Jews also. The latter are good and benevolent. They know the law
of Moses and the prophets, and to a small extent the Talmud and
Halacha.
Thence it is twenty-three days by sea to Ibrig[173], and the
inhabitants are fire-worshippers, and are called Duchbin. Among them
are about 3,000 Jews, and these Duchbin have priests in their several
temples who are great wizards in all manner of witchcraft, and there
are none like them in all the earth. In front of the high place of
their temple there is a deep trench, where they keep a great fire
alight all the year, and they call it Elahutha.
[p.93]
And they cause their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, and
even their dead they throw into it. Some of the great men of the
country make a vow to die by fire. In such cases the man communicates
his intention to the members of his household and his relations, and
says:--"I have vowed to throw myself in the fire whilst I am yet
alive," then they answer, saying: "Happy art thou." And when the day
of the performance of his vow arrives, they prepare for him a grand
banquet, and if he is rich he rides on horseback, if poor he goes on
foot to the border of the trench and throws himself into the fire. And
all the members of his family shout to the accompaniment of timbrels
and dancing until the body is entirely consumed. At the end of three
days two of their high priests come to his house and to his children
and say unto them: "Arrange the house, for this day your father will
come to give his last directions as to what ye shall do." And they
bring witnesses from the city. Then Satan is made to appear in the
likeness of the deceased, and when his widow and children ask him how
he fares in the other world he answers: "I went to my companions, but
they would not receive me until I had discharged my obligations to the
members of my house and to my neighbours."
[p.94]
Then he makes his will and divides his property among his children,
and gives directions that all his creditors should be paid and that
his debts should be collected. Then the witnesses write out the will,
and he goes his way and is seen no more. And by means of this trickery
and witchcraft which these priests practise, the people are confirmed
in their errors and assert that there is none in all the land like
their priests.
Thence to cross over to the land of Zin (China) is a voyage of forty
days. Zin is in the uttermost East, and some say that there is the Sea
of Nikpa (Ning-po?), where the star Orion predominates and stormy
winds prevail[174]. At times the helmsman cannot govern his ship, as a
fierce wind drives her into this Sea of Nikpa, where she cannot move
from her place; and the crew have to remain where they are till their
stores of food are exhausted and then they die. In this way many a
ship has been lost, but men eventually discovered a device by which to
escape from this evil place. The crew provide themselves with hides of
oxen.
[p.95]
And when this evil wind blows which drives them into the Sea of Nikpa,
they wrap themselves up in the skins, which they make waterproof, and,
armed with knives, plunge into the sea. A great bird called the
griffin spies them out, and in the belief that the sailor is an
animal, the griffin seizes hold of him, brings him to dry land, and
puts him down on a mountain or in a hollow in order to devour him. The
man then quickly thrusts at the bird with a knife and slays him. Then
the man issues forth from the skin and walks till he comes to an
inhabited place. And in this manner many a man escapes[175].
[p.96]
Thence to Al-Gingaleh is a voyage of fifteen days, and about 1,000
Israelites dwell there. Thence by sea to Chulan is seven days; but no
Jews live there. From there it is twelve days to Zebid, where there
are a few Jews. From there it is eight days' journey to India which is
on the mainland, called the land of Aden, and this is the Eden which
is in Thelasar[176]. The country is mountainous. There are many
Israelites here, and they are not under the yoke of the Gentiles, but
possess cities and castles on the summits of the mountains, from which
they make descents into the plain-country called Lybia, which is a
Christian Empire. These are the Lybians of the land of Lybia, with
whom the Jews are at war. The Jews take spoil and booty and retreat to
the mountains, and no man can prevail against them. Many of these Jews
of the land of Aden come to Persia and Egypt[177].
Thence to the land of Assuan is a journey of twenty days through the
desert. This is Seba on the river Pishon (Nile) which descends from
the land of Cush[178]. And some of these sons of Cush have a king whom
they call the Sultan Al-Habash. There is a people among them who, like
animals, eat of the herbs that grow on the banks of the Nile and in
the fields. They go about naked and have not the intelligence of
ordinary men. They cohabit with their sisters and any one they find.
The climate is very hot. When the men of Assuan make a raid into their
land, they take with them bread and wheat, dry grapes and figs, and
throw the food to these people, who run after it.
[p.97]
Thus they bring many of them back prisoners, and sell them in the land
of Egypt and in the surrounding countries. And these are the black
slaves, the sons of Ham.
From Assuan it is a distance of twelve days to Heluan where there are
about 300 Jews. Thence people travel in caravans a journey of fifty
days through the great desert called Sahara, to the land of Zawilah,
which is Havilah in the land of Gana[179]. In this desert there are
mountains of sand, and when the wind rises, it covers the caravans
with the sand, and many die from suffocation. Those that escape bring
back with them copper, wheat, fruit, all manner of lentils, and salt.
And from thence they bring gold, and all kinds of jewels. This is in
the land of Cush which is called Al-Habash on the western
confines[180]. From Heluan it is thirteen days' journey to Kutz which
is K[=u]s, and this is the commencement of the land of Egypt. At Kutz
there are 300 Jews[181]. Thence it is 300 miles to Fayum, which is
Pithom, where there are 200 Jews; and unto this very day one can see
ruins of the buildings which our forefathers erected there[182].
Thence to Mizraim is a journey of four days.
[p.98]
This Mizraim is the great city situated on the banks of the Nile,
which is Pison or Al-Nil[183]. The number of Jewish inhabitants is
about 7,000. Two large synagogues are there, one belonging to the men
of the land of Israel and one belonging to the men of the land of
Babylon. The synagogue of the men of the land of Israel is called
Kenisat-al-Schamiyyin, and the synagogue of the men of Babylon is
called Kenisat-al-Irakiyyin. Their usage with regard to the portions
and sections of the Law is not alike; for the men of Babylon are
accustomed to read a portion every week, as is done in Spain, and is
our custom, and to finish the Law each year; whilst the men of
Palestine do not do so, but divide each portion into three sections
and finish the Law at the end of three years. The two communities,
however, have an established custom to unite and pray together on the
day of the Rejoicing of the Law, and on the day of the Giving of the
Law[184]. Among the Jews is Nethanel the Prince of Princes and the
head of the Academy, who is the head of all the congregations in
Egypt[185]; he appoints Rabbis and officials, and is attached to the
court of the great King, who lives in his palace of Zoan el-Medina,
which is the royal city for the Arabs.
[p.99]
Here resides the Emir al Muminin, a descendant of Abu Talib. All his
subjects are called "Alawiyyim[186]," because they rose up against the
Emir al Muminin al Abbasi (the Abbaside Caliph) who resides at Bagdad.
And between the two parties there is a lasting feud, for the former
have set up a rival throne in Zoan (Egypt).
Twice in the year the Egyptian monarch goes forth, once on the
occasion of the great festival, and again when the river Nile rises.
Zoan is surrounded by a wall, but Mizraim has no wall, for the river
encompasses it on one side. It is a great city, and it has
market-places as well as inns in great number. The Jews that dwell
there are very rich. No rain falls, neither is ice or snow ever seen.
The climate is very hot.
The river Nile rises once a year in the month of Elul; it covers all
the land, and irrigates it to a distance of fifteen days' journey. The
waters remain upon the surface of the land during the months of Elul
and Tishri, and irrigate and fertilize it.
The inhabitants have a pillar of marble, erected with much skill, in
order to ascertain the extent of the rise of the Nile. It stands in
the front of an island in the midst of the water, and is twelve cubits
high[187].
[p.100]
When the Nile rises and covers the column, they know that the river
has risen and has covered the land for a distance of fifteen days'
journey to its full extent. If only half the column is covered, the
water only covers half the extent of the land. And day by day an
officer takes a measurement on the column and makes proclamation
thereof in Zoan and in the city of Mizraim, proclaiming: "Give praise
unto the Creator, for the river this day has risen to such and such a
height"; each day he takes the measurement and makes his proclamation.
If the water covers the entire column, there will be abundance
throughout Egypt. The river continues to rise gradually till it covers
the land to the extent of fifteen days' journey. He who owns a field
hires workmen, who dig deep trenches in his field, and fish come with
the rise of the water and enter the trenches. Then, when the waters
have receded, the fish remain behind in the trenches, and the owners
of the fields take them and either eat them or sell them to the
fishmongers, who salt them and deal in them in every place. These fish
are exceedingly fat and large, and the oil obtained from them is used
in this land for lamp-oil. Though a man eat a great quantity of these
fish, if he but drink Nile water afterwards they will not hurt him,
for the waters have medicinal properties.
[p.101]
People ask, what causes the Nile to rise? The Egyptians say that up
the river, in the land of Al-Habash (Abyssinia), which is the land of
Havilah, much rain descends at the time of the rising of the river,
and that this abundance of rain causes the river to rise and to cover
the surface of the land[188]. If the river does not rise, there is no
sowing, and famine is sore in the land. Sowing is done in the month of
Marheshwan, after the river has gone back to its ordinary channel. In
the month of Adar is the barley-harvest, and in the month of Nisan the
wheat-harvest.
In the month of Nisan they have cherries, pears, cucumbers, and gourds
in plenty, also beans, peas, chickpeas, and many kinds of vegetables,
such as purslane, asparagus, pulse, lettuce, coriander, endive,
cabbage, leek, and cardoon. The land is full of all good things, and
the gardens and plantations are watered from the various reservoirs
and by the river-water.
The river Nile, after flowing past (the city of) Mizraim, divides into
four heads: one channel proceeds in the direction of Damietta, which
is Caphtor[189], where it falls into the sea.
[p.102]
The second channel flows to the city of Reshid (Rosetta), which is
near Alexandria, and there falls into the sea; the third channel goes
by way of Ashmun, where it falls into the sea; and the fourth channel
goes as far as the frontier of Egypt[190]. Along both banks of these
four river-heads are cities, towns and villages, and people visit
these places either by ship or by land. There is no such
thickly-populated land as this elsewhere. It is extensive too and
abundant in all good things.
From New Mizraim unto Old Mizraim is a distance of two parasangs. The
latter is in ruins, and the place where walls and houses stood can be
seen to the present day. The store-houses also of Joseph of blessed
memory are to be found in great numbers in many places. They are built
of lime and stone, and are exceedingly strong[191]. A pillar is there
of marvellous workmanship, the like of which cannot be seen throughout
the world.
Outside the city is the ancient synagogue of Moses our master, of
blessed memory, and the overseer and clerk of this place of worship is
a venerable old man; he is a man of learning, and they call him Al
Sheik Abu al-Nazr[192]. The extent of Mizraim, which is in ruins, is
three miles.
[p.103]
Thence to the land of Goshen is eight parasangs; here is Bilbais[193].
There are about 300 Jews in the city, which is a large one. Thence it
is half a day's journey to Ain-al-Shams or Ramses, which is in ruins.
Traces are there to be seen of the buildings which our fore-fathers
raised, namely, towers built of bricks. From here it is a day's
journey to Al Bubizig, where there are about 200 Jews. Thence it is
half a day to Benha, where there are about 60 Jews. Thence it takes
half a day to Muneh Sifte, where there are 500 Jews[194]. From there
it is half a day's journey to Samnu, where there are about 200 Jews.
Thence it is four parasangs to Damira, where there are about 700 Jews.
From there it is five days to Lammanah, where there are about 500
Jews[195]. Two days' journey takes one to Alexandria of Egypt, which
is Ammon of No; but when Alexander of Macedon built the city, he
called it after his own name, and made it exceedingly strong and
beautiful[196]. The houses, the palaces, and the walls are of
excellent architecture. Outside the town is the academy of Aristotle,
the teacher of Alexander. This is a large building, standing between
other academies to the number of twenty, with a column of marble
between each. People from the whole world were wont to come hither in
order to study the wisdom of Aristotle the philosopher.
[p.104]
The city is built over a hollow by means of arches. Alexander built it
with great understanding. The streets are wide and straight, so that a
man can look along them for a mile from gate to gate, from the gate of
Reshid to the gate by the sea.
Alexander also built for the harbour of Alexandria a pier, a king's
highway running into the midst of the sea. And there he erected a
large tower, a lighthouse, called Manar al Iskandriyyah in Arabic. On
the top of the tower there is a glass mirror. Any ships that attempted
to attack or molest the city, coming from Greece or from the Western
lands, could be seen by means of this mirror of glass at a distance of
twenty days' journey, and the inhabitants could thereupon put
themselves on their guard. It happened once, many years after the
death of Alexander, that a ship came from the land of Greece, and the
name of the captain was Theodoros, a Greek of great cleverness. The
Greeks at that time were under the yoke of Egypt. The captain brought
great gifts in silver and gold and garments of silk to the King of
Egypt, and he moored his ship in front of the lighthouse, as was the
custom of all merchants.
[p.105]
Every day the guardian of the lighthouse and his servants had their
meals with him, until the captain came to be on such friendly terms
with the keeper that he could go in and out at all times. And one day
he gave a banquet, and caused the keeper and all his servants to drink
a great deal of wine. When they were all asleep, the captain and his
servants arose and broke the mirror and departed that very night. From
that day onward the Christians began to come thither with boats and
large ships, and eventually captured the large island called Crete and
also Cyprus, which are under the dominion of the Greeks. [The other
MSS. add here: Ever since then, the men of the King of Egypt have been
unable to prevail over the Greeks.] To this day the lighthouse is a
landmark to all seafarers who come to Alexandria; for one can see it
at a distance of 100 miles by day, and at night the keeper lights a
torch which the mariners can see from a distance, and thus sail
towards it[197].
[p.106]
Alexandria is a commercial market for all nations. Merchants come
thither from all the Christian kingdoms: on the one side, from the
land of Venetia and Lombardy, Tuscany, Apulia, Amalfi, Sicilia,
Calabria, Romagna, Khazaria, Patzinakia, Hungaria, Bulgaria, Rakuvia
(Ragusa?), Croatia, Slavonia, Russia, Alamannia (Germany), Saxony,
Danemark, Kurland? Ireland? Norway (Norge?), Frisia, Scotia,
Angleterre, Wales, Flanders, Hainault? Normandy, France, Poitiers,
Anjou, Burgundy, Maurienne, Provence, Genoa, Pisa, Gascony, Aragon,
and Navarra[198], and towards the west under the sway of the
Mohammedans, Andalusia, Algarve, Africa and the land of the Arabs: and
on the other side India, Zawilah, Abyssinia, Lybia, El-Yemen, Shinar,
Esh-Sham (Syria); also Javan, whose people are called the Greeks, and
the Turks. And merchants of India bring thither all kinds of spices,
and the merchants of Edom buy of them. And the city is a busy one and
full of traffic. Each nation has an inn of its own.
By the sea-coast there is a sepulchre of marble on which are engraved
all manner of beasts and birds; an effigy is in the midst thereof, and
all the writing is in ancient characters, which no one knows now.
[p.107]
Men suppose that it is the sepulchre of a king who lived in early
times before the Deluge. The length of the sepulchre is fifteen spans,
and its breadth is six spans. There are about 3,000 Jews in
Alexandria.