there are about 200 Jews, and it lies upon the sea. Thence it is one
day's journey to Simasim; it contains about 100 Jews. From there it is
half a day to Sunbat; the inhabitants sow flax and weave linen, which
they export to all parts of the world[199]. Thence it is four days to
Ailam, which is Elim[200]. It belongs to the Arabs who dwell in the
wilderness. Thence it is two days' journey to Rephidim where the Arabs
dwell, but there are no Jews there[201]. A day's journey from thence
takes one to Mount Sinai. On the top of the mountain is a large
convent belonging to the great monks called Syrians[202]. At the foot
of the mountain is a large town called Tur Sinai; the inhabitants
speak the language of the Targum (Syriac). It is close to a small
mountain, five days distant from Egypt. The inhabitants are under
Egyptian rule. At a day's journey from Mount Sinai is [[203]the Red
Sea, which is an arm of the Indian Ocean. We return to Damietta. From
there it is a day's journey to] Tanis, which is Hanes, where there are
about 40 Jews. It is an island in the midst of the sea[204].
[p.108]
Thus far extends the empire of Egypt.
Thence it takes twenty days by sea to Messina, which is the
commencement of Sicily and is situated on the arm of the sea that is
called Lipar[205], which divides it from Calabria. Here about 200 Jews
dwell. It is a land full of everything good, with gardens and
plantations. Here most of the pilgrims assemble to cross over to
Jerusalem, as this is the best crossing. Thence it is about two days'
journey to Palermo, which is a large city. Here is the palace of King
William. Palermo contains about 1,500 Jews and a large number of
Christians and Mohammedans[206]. It is in a district abounding in
springs and brooks of water, a land of wheat and barley, likewise of
gardens and plantations, and there is not the like thereof in the
whole island of Sicily. Here is the domain and garden of the king,
which is called Al Harbina (Al Hacina)[207], containing all sorts of
fruit-trees. And in it is a large fountain. The garden is encompassed
by a wall. And a reservoir has been made there which is called Al
Buheira[208], and in it are many sorts of fish. Ships overlaid with
silver and gold are there, belonging to the king, who takes
pleasure-trips in them with his women[209].
[p.109]
In the park there is also a great palace, the walls of which are
painted, and overlaid with gold and silver; the paving of the floors
is of marble, picked out in gold and silver in all manner of designs.
There is no building like this anywhere. And this island, the
commencement of which is Messina, contains all the pleasant things of
this world. It embraces Syracuse, Marsala, Catania, Petralia, and
Trapani, the circumference of the island being six days' journey. In
Trapani coral is found, which is called Al Murgan[210].
Thence people pass to the city of Rome in ten days. And from Rome they
proceed by land to Lucca, which is a five days' journey. Thence they
cross the mountain of Jean de Maurienne, and the passes of Italy. It
is twenty days' journey to Verdun, which is the commencement of
Alamannia, a land of mountains and hills. All the congregations of
Alamannia are situated on the great river Rhine, from the city of
Cologne, which is the principal town of the Empire, to the city of
Regensburg, a distance of fifteen days' journey at the other extremity
of Alamannia, otherwise called Ashkenaz.
[p.110]
And the following are the cities in the land of Alamannia, which have
Hebrew congregations: Metz, Treves on the river Moselle, Coblenz,
Andernach, Bonn, Cologne, Bingen, Münster, Worms,[211] [All Israel is
dispersed in every land, and he who does not further the gathering of
Israel will not meet with happiness nor live with Israel. When the
Lord will remember us in our exile, and raise the horn of his
anointed, then every one will say, "I will lead the Jews and I will
gather them." As for the towns which have been mentioned, they contain
scholars and communities that love their brethren, and speak peace to
those that are near and afar, and when a wayfarer comes they rejoice,
and make a feast for him, and say, "Rejoice, brethren, for the help of
the Lord comes in the twinkling of an eye." If we were not afraid that
the appointed time has not yet arrived nor been reached, we would have
gathered together, but we dare not do so until the time for song has
arrived, and the voice of the turtle-dove (is heard in the land), when
the messengers will come and say continually, "The Lord be exalted."
[p.111]
Meanwhile they send missives one to the other, saying, "Be ye strong
in the law of Moses, and do ye mourners for Zion and ye mourners for
Jerusalem entreat the Lord, and may the supplication of those that
wear the garments of mourning be received through their merits." In
addition to the several cities which we have mentioned there are
besides] Strassburg, Würzburg, Mantern, Bamberg, Freising, and
Regensburg at the extremity of the Empire[212]. In these cities there
are many Israelites, wise men and rich.
Thence extends the land of Bohemia, called Prague[213]. This is the
commencement of the land of Slavonia, and the Jews who dwell there
call it Canaan, because the men of that land (the Slavs) sell their
sons and their daughters to the other nations. These are the men of
Russia, which is a great empire stretching from the gate of Prague to
the gates of Kieff, the large city which is at the extremity of that
empire[214]. It is a land of mountains and forests, where there are to
be found the animals called vair[215], ermine, and sable.
[p.112]
No one issues forth from his house in winter-time on account of the
cold. People are to be found there who have lost the tips of their
noses by reason of the frost. Thus far reaches the empire of Russia.
The kingdom of France, which is Zarfath, extends from the town of
Auxerre[216] unto Paris, the great city--a journey of six days. The
city belongs to King Louis. It is situated on the river Seine.
Scholars are there, unequalled in the whole world, who study the Law
day and night. They are charitable and hospitable to all travellers,
and are as brothers and friends unto all their brethren the Jews. May
God, the Blessed One, have mercy upon us and upon them!
Finished and completed.
INDEX
The references in this Index are made to the pages of _Asher's
Edition_, which are marked in the margin of the foregoing English
translation.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1: Tudela was called in Benjamin's time _Tuteila_.
Sepharad is Spain.]
[Footnote 2: There is a considerable difference of opinion
as to the exact dates at which Benjamin began and completed
his journey. In my opinion, the period can be placed within
a very narrow compass. Early in his journey he visited Rome,
where he found R. Jechiel to be the steward of the household
of Pope Alexander. This can be no other than Pope Alexander
III, who played so important a part in the struggle between
King Henry II and Thomas a Becket. The German Emperor,
Frederick Barbarossa, supported the anti-Pope Victor IV, and
in consequence Alexander had to leave Rome soon after his
election in 1159 and before his consecration. He did not
return to settle down permanently in Rome until November 23,
1165, but was forced to leave again in 1167. Consequently
Benjamin must have been in Rome between the end of 1165 and
1167. Benjamin terminated his travels by passing from Egypt
to Sicily and Italy, then crossing the Alps and visiting
Germany. In Cairo he found that the Fatimite Caliph was the
acknowledged ruler. The Caliph here referred to must have
been El-'Adid, who died on Monday, September 13, 1171--being
the last of the Fatimite line. A short time before his
death, Saladin had become the virtual ruler of Egypt, and
had ordered the Khotba to be read in the name of the
Abbaside Caliph el-Mostadi of Bagdad. (See the _Life of
Saladin_, by Bohadin: Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, p.
61.) It is clear, therefore, that Benjamin's absence from
Europe must be placed between the years 1166 and 1171.
Benjamin on his return journey passed through Sicily when
the island was no longer governed by a viceroy. King William
II (the Good) attained his majority in 1169, and Benjamin's
visit took place subsequently. It will be found in the
course of the narrative that not a single statement by
Benjamin is inconsistent with this determination of date;
see p. 3, n. 4; p. 9, n. 2; p. 15, n. 4; p. 61, n. 1; and p.
79, n. 2.]
[Footnote 3: Saragossa was called in Benjamin's time
_Sarakosta_ (= Caesar-Augusta). Charisi, in _Tachkemoni_,
46, refers to some of the Rabbis.]
[Footnote 4: The imposing ruins at Tarragona comprise
prehistoric walls of enormous unhewn blocks of stone, as
well as the remains of Roman aqueducts, tombs,
amphitheatres, &c. Here and generally in this narrative the
letter R is used as an abbreviation for Rabbi.]
[Footnote 5: See Graetz, _Geschichte der Juden_, vol. VI,
pp. 230 et seq.; also notes 1 and 10 at the end of vol. VI.]
[Footnote 6: The ancient name of Gerona was Gerunda.]
[Footnote 7: See Geiger's _Jüdische Zeitschrift für
Wissenschaft und Leben_, p. 281. The Records of Narbonne
bear evidence of sales of lands standing in the name of R.
Kalonymos (_Archives Israelites_, 1861, p. 449). His
ancestor, R. Machir, came to Europe in the time of
Charlemagne.]
[Footnote 8: R. Abraham ben Isaac (Rabad II) was author of
the Rabbinic code; Ha-Eshkol, and was one of the
intermediaries between the Talmudists of France and the
Scholars of Spain. He died 1178.]
[Footnote 9: A parasang is about 3-2/5 English miles, and
the distance from Narbonne to Beziers is correctly given. 10
parasangs make a day's journey.]
[Footnote 10: The King of Portugal is even now styled King
of the Algarves.]
[Footnote 11: Cf. Graetz, VI, p. 240, also Joseph Jacob's
_Angevin Jews_, p. 111. R. Asher was one of a group of pious
Rabbis known as Perushim--who might be styled Jewish monks.
His father, Rabbenu Meshullam, died 1170.]
[Footnote 12: He is referred to in _Tosafoth Temurah_, fol.
12a and b.]
[Footnote 13: This eminent Talmudist, known as the Rabad,
was son-in-law of the R. Abraham of Narbonne before referred
to. See Graetz, VI, 243.]
[Footnote 14: The Abbey of St. Aegidius was much resorted to
in the Middle Ages. The Jews of Beaucaire, and the
neighbourhood, enjoyed the patronage of Raymond V, Count of
Toulouse, called by the Troubadour poets "the good Duke."
See Graetz, VI, note I, p. 401. It is impossible to enlarge
in these notes upon the several Jewish scholars referred to
by Benjamin. An interesting article by Professor Israel Levi
on the "Jews in Mediaeval France," and other articles, in
the _Jewish Encyclopaedia_, also Gross, _Gallia Judaica_,
might be consulted with advantage.]
[Footnote 15: The BM. MS. calls R. Abba Mari dead, which
statement, unless qualified, as in a few other instances, by
the insertion of the word "since," would be unintelligible.]
[Footnote 16: Asher's Text and Epstein's MS. give the
distance between Arles and Marseilles as three days'
journey. The actual distance is about fifty-three English
miles. Probably the Roman roads were still in use.]
[Footnote 17: R. Isaac, son of Abba Mari, is the celebrated
author of "Baal Haittur"; he wrote this work at Marseilles,
1179. It is doubtful whether he was the son of Count
Raymond's bailiff.]
[Footnote 18: His full name is R. Jacob Perpignano. See
Graetz, VI, note 1, p. 399.]
[Footnote 19: The meaning of course is that the Genoese
pillage Christian and Mohammedan places alike.]
[Footnote 20: See Dr. H. Berliner's work _Die Geschichte der
Juden in Rom._ His derivation of the Hebrew word used for
Pope, [Hebrew:] from Peter, is questionable. It is the Greek
[Greek: hepiphoros]. See Talmud, _Aboda Zarah_, 11 a.]
[Footnote 21: The great work alluded to is the _Talmudical
Dictionary_, completed in 1101. See Graetz, VI, p. 281.]
[Footnote 22: The palace of the Caesars on the Palatine Hill
is no doubt here referred to.]
[Footnote 23: [Hebrew:], quoted by E and Asher, is a corrupt
reading for [Hebrew:].]
[Footnote 24: This is Josippon's story. Benjamin
occasionally embodies in his work fantastic legends told
him, or recorded by his predecessors. His authorities lived
in the darkest period of the Middle Ages. Josippon, Book I,
Chap, iv, speaks of 320 senators. I have followed
Breithaupt, and rendered [Hebrew:] "consul."]
[Footnote 25: Having regard to the various readings, it is
possible that the Thermae of Diocletian or more probably the
Flavian amphitheatre, which early in the Middle Ages began
to be called the Colosseum, is here referred to. It had four
stories, each floor composed of arcades containing eighty
separate compartments, making 320 in all. Our author in the
course of his narrative speaks more than once of buildings
erected on a uniform plan corresponding with the days of the
year.]
[Footnote 26: I. Heilprin, the author of _Seder Hadoroth_
(Warsaw, 1897 edition, p. 157) as well as Zunz, appear to
have here fallen into error, assuming as they do that
Benjamin refers to the ten teachers of the Mishna, R.
Gamaliel, R. Akiba and the other sages who suffered
martyrdom in Palestine at the hands of the Roman Emperors.
The ten martyrs here alluded to are those referred to in the
Preface to Hakemoni, published by Geiger in [Hebrew:],
Berlin, 1840, and [Hebrew:], Berlin edition, fols. 151-2
[Hebrew:] Rome, as so many other cities, had its own
martyrs.]
[Footnote 27: This is the statue of Marcus Aurelius now
before the Capitol.]
[Footnote 28: Even in Benjamin's time the Campagna was noted
for malaria.]
[Footnote 29: Professor Ray Lankester, in a lecture given on
Dec. 29, 1903, at the Royal Institution, illustrated changes
in the disposition of land and water by pointing to the
identical ruined Temple referred to by Benjamin. It now
stands high above the sea, and did so in the second and
third centuries of the present era, but in the eighth and
ninth centuries was so low, owing to the sinking of the
land, that the lower parts of its marble pillars stood in
the sea, and sea-shells grew in the crevices.]
[Footnote 30: Josippon gives these legends in Book I, chaps.
iii and iv, when speaking of Zur, whom he associates with
Sorrento. Benjamin had few other sources of information. In
the immediate neighbourhood of Pozzuoli is Solfatara, where
sulphur is found. A destructive eruption from the crater
took place in 1198. Hot springs abound, and the baths at
Bagnoli are much frequented to the present day. The
underground road is the Piedi grotta of Posilipo,
constructed by Augustus.]
[Footnote 31: R. Isaac, the father of R. Judah, must be the
"Greek Locust" against whom Ibn Ezra directed his satire
when visiting Salerno some twenty years before R. Benjamin.
See Graetz, VI, p. 441.]
[Footnote 32: Cf. Isaiah lxvi. 19.]
[Footnote 33: This city was destroyed by William the Bad in
1156. It was ordered to be restored by William the Good in
1169, so that Benjamin must have visited Bari before that
date. See p. 79, note 2. We have here another clue as to the
date of Benjamin's travels.]
[Footnote 34: See H.M. Adler's article on Jews in Southern
Italy, _J.Q.R._, XIV, p. 111. Gibbon, _Decline and Fall of
the Roman Empire_, chap. lvi, describing the reconquest of
the southern provinces of Italy by the Byzantine Emperor
Manuel, 1155, says. "The natives of Calabria were still
attached to the Greek language and worship."]
[Footnote 35: The river Achelous falls into the Ionian Sea
opposite to Ithaca.]
[Footnote 36: Anatolica is now known as Aetolicum.]
[Footnote 37: Patras, the ancient Patrae, was founded long
before the time of Antipater. _Josippon_, II, chap. xxiii,
is again the questionable authority on which Benjamin
relied.]
[Footnote 38: Lepanto in the early Middle Ages was called
Naupactus or Epacto, and to reach it from Patras the Gulf of
Corinth had to be crossed.]
[Footnote 39: Chalcis, the capital of Euboea or Negroponte,
is even now called Egripo. It is situated on the Straits of
Euripus.]
[Footnote 40: Some twenty years later the Wallachians were
in open revolt and became independent of the Byzantine
Empire. Gibbon, chap. lx.]
[Footnote 41: See Gibbon, chap. liii. He often quotes
Benjamin.]
[Footnote 42: The Grand Duchy of Kieff was called Russia.
See page 81.]
[Footnote 43: The Petchinegs, as well as the Khazars,
Bulgarians, Hungarians, and Turks, are called by Josippon,
I, chap. i, descendants of Togarma. Patzinakia was the
country from the Danube to the Dnieper, and corresponds with
Dacia of classical times.]
[Footnote 44: The readings of E and A are corrupt. R has
[Hebrew:], and BM. has [Hebrew:], the southern provinces of
Russia were spoken of as the land of the Khazars, especially
by Jewish writers, long after the Russian conquest about the
year 1000, and the Crimea was known to European travellers
as Gazaria. It took Rabbi Pethachia eight days to pass
through the land of the Khazars. See Dr. A. Benisch,
_Translation of Petachia's Travels_. In note 3, p. 70, he
gives a short sketch of their history. The ruling dynasty
and most of the inhabitants embraced the Jewish religion.]
[Footnote 45: _Procopius_, vol. I (Palestine Pilgrims' Text
Society), gives a full description of Constantinople.]
[Footnote 46: The commentator, wrongly supposed to be Rashi,
gives an interesting note upon the passage in I Chron. xx.
2, where it is mentioned that David took the crown of the
king of the children of Ammon, and found it to weigh a
talent of gold, and it was set upon David's head. Rashi
states that the meaning of the passage must be that this
crown was hung above David's throne, and adds that he heard
in Narbonne that this practice was still kept up by the
kings in the East.]
[Footnote 47: See for a full account of these powerful
Seljuk Sultans F. Lebrecht's Essay on the Caliphate of
Bagdad during the latter half of the twelfth century. Vol.
II of A. Asher's _Itinerary of Rabbi Benjamin_.]
[Footnote 48: Ibn Verga, _Shevet Jehuda_, XXV, states that a
predecessor of the Emperor Manuel Comnenus issued an edict
prohibiting the Jews from residing elsewhere than in Pera,
and restricting their occupation to tanning and
shipbuilding.]
[Footnote 49: This place is mentioned by _Procopius_, p.
119, as having been fortified by Justinian. It is now known
as Rodosto.]
[Footnote 50: Ibn Ezra visited Cyprus before his arrival in
London in 1158, when he wrote the _Sabbath Epistle_. It is
not unlikely that the heterodox practices of the sect of
whom Benjamin here speaks had been put forward in certain
books to which Ibn Ezra alludes, and induced him to compose
the pamphlet in defence of the traditional mode of
observance of the Sabbath day. This supposition is not
inconsistent with Graetz's theory, vol. VI, p. 447. See also
Dr. Friedlander, _Ibn Ezra in England, J.Q.R._, VIII, p.
140, and Joseph Jacobs, _The Jews of Angevin England_, p.
35.]
[Footnote 51: See Gibbon, chaps, lviii and lix; Charles
Mills, _History of the Crusades_, I, p. 159; C.R. Conder,
_Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem_, p. 39.]
[Footnote 52: The several MSS. give different readings. The
kingdom reached to the Taurus mountains and the Sultanate of
Rum or Iconium.]
[Footnote 53: Beazley remarks that Benjamin must have passed
along this coast before 1167, when Thoros died at peace and
on terms of vassalage to the Emperor Manuel Comnenus.
Malmistras is forty-five miles from Tarsus. Both had been
recaptured by Manuel in 1155. _Josippon_, I, chap. i,
identifies Tarshish with Tarsus.]
[Footnote 54: No doubt the river Fer, otherwise Orontes, is
here referred to. Ancient Antioch lies on the slope of Mount
Silpius, and the city-wall erected by Justinian extended
from the river up to the hill-plateau. Abulfeda says: "The
river of Hamâh is also called Al Urunt or the Nahr al Maklûb
(the Overturned) on account of its course from south to
north; or, again, it is called Al' Âsi (the Rebel), for the
reason that though most rivers water the lands on their
borders without the aid of water-wheels, the river of Hamâh
will not irrigate the lands except by the aid of machines
for raising its waters." (Guy le Strange, _Palestine under
the Moslems_, p. 59.) It is strange that R. Benjamin should
call the Orontes the river Jabbok, but he always takes care
to add that it rises in the Lebanon, to avoid any
misconception that the Jabbok which falls into the Jordan is
meant.]
[Footnote 55: Boemond III, surnamed le Baube (the
Stammerer), succeeded his mother in 1163. We owe the
doubtless correct rendering of this passage to the ingenuity
of the late Joseph Zedner. Benjamin visited Antioch before
1170, when a fearful earthquake destroyed a great part of
the city.]
[Footnote 56: It must be inferred from the context here, as
well as from other passages, that when Benjamin mentions the
number of Jews residing at a particular place he refers to
the heads of families.]
[Footnote 57: Gebal is the Gabala of ancient geographers.
See Schechter, _Saadyana_, p. 25. Many travellers, among
them Robinson, identify Baal-Gad with Banias, others suppose
it to be Hasbeya.]
[Footnote 58: Hashishim--hemp-smokers--hence is derived the
word "assassin." See Socin, _Palestine and Syria_, pp. 68
and 99. Ibn Batuta and other Arabic writers have much to say
about the Assassins or Mulahids, as they call them. They are
again referred to by Benjamin on p. 54, where he states that
in Persia they haunted the mountainous district of Mulahid,
under the sway of the Old Man of the Mountain. The manner in
which the Sheik acquired influence over his followers is
amusingly described by Marco Polo (_The Book of Ser Marco
Polo_: translated and edited by Colonel Sir Henry Yule;
third edition, London, John Murray, 1903): "In a fertile and
sequestered valley he placed every conceivable thing
pleasant to man--luxurious palaces, delightful gardens, fair
damsels skilled in music, dancing, and song, in short, a
veritable paradise! When desirous of sending any of his band
on some hazardous enterprise the Old Man would drug them and
place them while unconscious in this glorious valley. But it
was not for many days that they were allowed to revel in the
joys of paradise. Another potion was given to them, and when
the young men awoke they found themselves in the presence of
the Old Man of the Mountain. In the hope of again possessing
the joys of paradise they were ready to embark upon any
desperate errand commanded by the Old Man." Marco Polo
mentions that the Old Man found crafty deputies, who with
their followers settled in parts of Syria and Kurdistan. He
adds that, in the year 1252, Alaü, lord of the Tartars of
the Levant, made war against the Old Man, and slaughtered
him with many of his followers. Yule gives a long list of
murders or attempts at murder ascribed to the Assassins.
Saladin's life was attempted in 1174-6. Prince Edward of
England was slain at Acre in 1172. The sect is not quite
extinct. They have spread to Bombay and Zanzibar, and number
in Western India over 50,000. The mention of the Old Man of
the Mountain will recall to the reader the story of Sinbad
the Sailor in _The Arabian Nights_.]
[Footnote 59: See Parchi, _Caphtor wa-pherach_, an
exhaustive work on Palestine written 1322, especially chap.
xi. The author spent over seven years in exploring the
country.]
[Footnote 60: Socin, the author of Baedeker's _Handbook to
Palestine and Syria_, p. 557, gives the year of the
earthquake 1157. It is referred to again p. 31. There was a
very severe earthquake in this district also in 1170, and
the fact that Benjamin does not refer to it furnishes us
with another _terminus ad quem_.]
[Footnote 61: See the narrative of William of Tyre.]
[Footnote 62: Gubail, the ancient Gebal, was noted for its
artificers and stonecutters. Cf. I Kings v. 32; Ezek. xxvii.
9. The Greeks named the place Byblos, the birthplace of
Philo. The coins of Byblos have a representation of the
Temple of Astarte. All along the coast we find remains of
the worship of Baal Kronos and Baaltis, of Osiris and Isis,
and it is probable that the worship of Adonis and
Jupiter-Ammon led Benjamin to associate therewith the
Ammonites. The reference to the children of Ammon is based
on a misunderstanding, arising perhaps out of Ps. lxxxiii.
8.]
[Footnote 63: _The Quarterly Statements of the Palestine
Exploration Fund_ for 1886 and 1889 give a good deal of
information concerning the religion of the Druses. Their
morality is there described as having been much maligned.]
[Footnote 64: Tyre was noted for its glass-ware and sugar
factories up to 1291, when it was abandoned by the
Crusaders, and destroyed by the Moslems.]