Early Travels in Palestine Part 10

Above Mizraim the Nile is divided into four arms, one of which proceeds to Damietta, which is Caphtor of Scripture, and there falls into the sea; a second flows towards Rashid (or Rosetta), which is near Alexandria, and there falls into the sea; the third takes the direction of Ashmun, the large city on the frontier of Egypt. The banks of these four arms are lined on both sides with cities, towns, and villages; and are enlivened by numerous travellers who journey both by river and by land. In fact, upon the whole earth there is no country so populous and well cultivated as Egypt, which is of ample territory and full of all sorts of good things.

From New to Old Mizraim is a distance of two parasangs. The latter lies in ruins, but the sites of the walls and the houses may still be traced at this day, as also the granaries of Joseph, of which there is a large number. The pyramids, which are seen here, are constructed by magic; and in no other country or other place is any thing equal to them. They are composed of stones and cement, and are very substantial. In the outskirts of the city is the very ancient synagogue of our great master Moses, upon whom be peace. An old and very learned man is the overseer and clerk of this place of public worship; he is called Al-Sheikh Abunasar. Old Mizraim is three miles in extent. From thence to the land of Goshen, eight parasangs. It is called Belbeis, is a large city, and contains about three thousand Jewish inhabitants. Half a day to Iskiil Ain-al-Shems, the ancient Raamses, which is in ruins. Here are remains of the buildings erected by our forefathers, and tower-like buildings constructed of bricks. One day's journey to Al-Boutidg; about two hundred Jews live here. Half a day to Sefita, which contains about two hundred Jews. To Damira, four parasangs; this place contains about seven hundred Jews. Five days to Mahaleh, which contains about five hundred Israelites[275]. Two days from thence stands Alexandria, which Alexander the Macedonian, who built this extremely strong and handsome city, called after his own name. In the outskirts of the city was the school of Aristotle, the preceptor of Alexander. The building is still very handsome and large, and is divided into many apartments by marble pillars. There are about twenty schools, to which people flocked from all parts of the world in order to study the Aristotelian philosophy.

The city is built upon arches, which are hollow below. The streets are straight, and some of them are of such extent that the eye cannot overlook them at once; that which runs from the Rosetta to the sea-gate is a full mile in length. The port of Alexandria is formed partly by a pier, which extends a mile into the sea. Here is also a high tower, called lighthouse, in Arabic, Minar of Alexandria, on the summit of which was placed a gla.s.s mirror. All vessels which approached with hostile intentions, from Greece and from the western side, could be observed at fifty days' distance by means of this gla.s.s mirror, and precautions were taken against them. Many years after the death of Alexander there arrived a Grecian vessel commanded by a man of the name of Theodoros, who was extremely cunning. The Grecians were subject to the Egyptians at the time, and the above-named shipper brought a valuable present to the king of Egypt, consisting of silver, gold, and silk garments. He rode at anchor in view of the mirror, the customary station of all merchantmen who arrived, and the keeper of the lighthouse, as well as his servants, were invited every day by him, until they became very intimate and paid one another frequent visits.

Upon a certain day the keeper and all his servants were invited to a sumptuous meal, and were plied so much with wine that both he and his servants became drunk and fell into a sound sleep. This opportunity was seized by the shipper and his crew to break the mirror, after which exploit they left the port the same night. From that time the Christians began to visit Alexandria with small and large vessels, and took the large island of Crete, as well as Cyprus, which are in possession of the Greeks unto this day; and the Egyptians have not been able to withstand the Greeks ever since[276]. The lighthouse is still a mark to all seafaring men. It is observed at the distance of one hundred miles by day, and at night bears a light which serves as a guide to all mariners.

The city is very mercantile, and affords an excellent market to all nations. People from all Christian kingdoms resort to Alexandria, from Valentia, Tuscany, Lombardy, Apulia, Amalfi, Sicilia, Rakuvia, Catalonia, Spain, Roussillon, Germany, Saxony, Denmark, England, Flandres, Hainault, Normandy, France, Poitou, Anjou, Burgundy, Mediana, Provence, Genoa, Pisa, Gascony, Arragon, and Navarre. From the west you meet Mohammedans from Andalusia, Algarve, Africa, and Arabia, as well as from the countries towards India, Savila, Abyssinia, Nubia, Yemen, Mesopotamia, and Syria, besides Greeks and Turks[277]. From India they import all sorts of spices, which are bought by Christian merchants. The city is full of bustle, and every nation has its own fonteccho (or hostelry) there.

On the sea-sh.o.r.e is a marble sepulchre, upon which are depicted all sorts of birds and beasts, all in very ancient characters, which n.o.body can decipher; but it is supposed that it is the tomb of a king of very ancient date, who reigned even before the flood. The length of the tomb is fifteen spans by six in breadth.

Alexandria contains about three thousand Jews.

From hence we reach Damietta, which is Caphtor[278], in two days; this place contains about two hundred Jews. Half a day from thence to Sunbat, the inhabitants of which sow flax and weave fine linen, which forms a very considerable article of exportation. Four days to Ailah, which is Elim of Scripture; it belongs to the Bedouin Arabs. Two days to Rephidim, which is inhabited by Arabians, and contains no Jews. One day to Mount Sinai, on the summit of which the Syrian monks possess a place of worship. At the base of the mountain is a large village; the inhabitants, who speak the Chaldean language, call it Tour Sinai. The mountain is small, is in possession of the Egyptians, and is distant five days from Mizraim. The Red Sea is one day's journey from Mount Sinai; this sea is an arm of the Indian Sea.

Back to Damietta, from whence by sea to Tennis, the Chanes of Scripture, an island of the sea, containing about forty Israelites; here is the boundary of the empire of Egypt. From thence we go, in twenty days, by sea to Messina, on the coast of the island of Sicily, situated on the strait called Lunir, an arm of the sea which divides Calabria from Sicily. This city contains about two hundred Jews, and is beautifully situated in a country abounding with gardens and orchards, and full of good things. Most of the pilgrims who embark for Jerusalem a.s.semble here, because this city affords the best opportunity for a good pa.s.sage.

Two days from thence stands Palermo, a large city, two square miles in extent. It contains the extensive palace of king William[279], and is inhabited by about fifteen hundred Jews and many Christians and Mohammedans. The country is rich in wells and springs, grows wheat and barley, and is covered with gardens and orchards; it is, in fact, the best in the whole island of Sicily. This city is the seat of the viceroy, whose palace is called Al-Hacina, and contains all sorts of fruit trees, as also a great spring, surrounded by a wall, and a reservoir called Al-Behira, in which abundance of fish are preserved.

The king's vessels are ornamented with silver and gold, and are ever ready for the amus.e.m.e.nt of himself and his women. There is also a large palace, the walls of which are richly ornamented with paintings and with gold and silver. The pavement is of marble and rich mosaic, representing all sorts of figures; in the whole country there is no building equal to this.

The island begins at Messina, where many pilgrims meet, and extends to Catania, Syracuse, Masara, Pantaleone, and Trapani, being six days in circ.u.mference. Near Trapani is found the stone called coral, in Arabic, al-murgan[280]. From thence you cross over and reach Rome in three days; from Rome by land in five days to Lucca, from whence you get in twelve days to Bardin, by Mount Maurienne, and over the pa.s.ses of Italy.

Here are the confines of Germany, a country full of hills and mountains. The Jewish congregations of Germany inhabit the banks of the great river Rhine, from Cologne, where the empire commences, unto Ca.s.sanburg, the frontier of Germany, which is fifteen days' journey, and is called Ashkenas by the Jews. These are the cities of Germany which contain congregations of Israelites, all situated on the river Moselle-Coblence, Andernach, Kaub, Kartania, Bingen, Worms, and Mistran. In fact, the Jews are dispersed over all countries, and whoever hinders Israel from being collected, shall never see any good sign, and shall not live with Israel. And at the time which the Lord has appointed to be a limit of our captivity and to exalt the horn of his anointed, every one shall come forth and shall say, "I will lead the Jews and I will a.s.semble them."

These cities contain many eminent scholars; the congregations are on the best terms with one another, and are friendly towards strangers.

Whenever a traveller visits them they are rejoiced thereat and hospitably receive him. They are full of hopes, and say-"Be of good spirit, dear brethren, for the salvation of the Lord will be quick, like the twinkling of an eye; and, indeed, were it not that we had doubted hitherto that the end of our captivity had not yet arrived, we should have a.s.sembled long ago; but this is impossible before the time of song arrive, and the sound of the cooing turtle gives warning[281]; then will the message arrive, and we will say, The name of the Lord be exalted!"[282] They send letters to one another, by which they exhort to hold firm in the Mosaic law. Those that spend their time as mourners of the downfall of Sion and the destruction of Jerusalem, are always dressed in black clothes, and pray for mercy before the Lord, for the sake of their brethren.

Beside the cities which we have already mentioned as being in Germany, there are, further, Astransburg, Duidisburg, Mantern, Pisingas, Bamberg, Zor, and Regensburg, on the confines of the empire; all these cities contain many rich and learned Jews. Further on is the country of Bohemia, called Prague. Here begins Sclavonia, called by the Jews who inhabit it Khenaan, because the inhabitants sell their children to all nations, which is also applicable to the people of Russia. The latter country is very extensive, reaching from the gates of Prague to those of Kiev, a large city on the confines of the empire. The country is very mountainous and full of forests; in the latter the beasts called vaiverges[283] are met, which yield the sable fur or ermine. In winter the cold is so intense that n.o.body ventures to leave his house. So far the kingdom of Russia.

The kingdom of France, called by the Jews Tsarphat, reaches from the town of Alsodo to Paris, the metropolis, and is six days in extent. This city, situated on the river Seine, belongs to king Louis[284], and contains many learned men, the equal of which are to be met with at present nowhere upon earth: they employ all their time upon the study of the law, are hospitable to all travellers, and on friendly terms with all their Jewish brethren.

May the Lord in his mercy be full of compa.s.sion towards them and us, and may he fulfil towards both the words of his Holy Scripture (Deut. x.x.x.

3), "Then the Lord thy G.o.d will turn thy captivity, and have compa.s.sion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the Lord thy G.o.d hath scattered thee."-Amen, Amen, Amen.

FOOTNOTES:

[125] The expression "of blessed memory" is generally added by Jews when mentioning the "honoured dead," (see Proverbs x. 7,) and recurs frequently in the following narrative.

[126] This city was one of great antiquity; and at this time the remains of its ancient walls appear to have been very remarkable. Destroyed at an earlier period by the Saracens, Tarragona was rebuilt in the twelfth century.

[127] The church of St. Egidius, or Giles, in this town, was a celebrated place of pilgrimage in the middle ages. It was the birthplace and first appanage of the celebrated Raymond, count of St. Gilles and Toulouse, duke of Narbonne, and marquis of Provence, whose family were so active in the crusades. The count Raymond here mentioned, in whose household R. Abba Mari held office, was Raymond V., son of Alphonso, who had the t.i.tle of count of St. Gilles during his father's life.

[128] Alexander III., who held the papacy from 1159 to 1181. The employment of Jews in the service of the pope is a circ.u.mstance worthy of remark.

[129] The book Aruch was a celebrated dictionary, completed by rabbi Nathan at Rome, in A.D. 1101.

[130] These singular legends relating to the ancient buildings in Rome are chiefly taken from the writings of Josephus Ben Gorion. Some of them may be compared with similar tales which are found in Christian writers, and of which several examples are inserted in William of Malmesbury's History.

[131] The time of the destruction of both temples at Jerusalem. The day is still one of fast and mourning to all Jews, and is celebrated as such by all synagogues.

[132] These were ten ancient teachers of the Mishna, who suffered violent death in the period between Vespasian and Hadrian. A late legend not only connected these persecutions as one event, but a.s.signed to the victims a common sepulchre at Rome. The legend contains a conversation of the ten martyrs with the emperor. Several of the ten were certainly not buried in Rome; the sepulchres of three, Akiba, Ishmael, and Juda Ben Thema, were shown in Palestine in the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. Antipatris is said by others to be the place of the sepulchre of R. Akiba. A more recent catalogue notices, as known in Palestine, the sepulchres of R. Juda, son of Baba, and Simon, son of Gamaliel, two others of the "ten martyrs."

[133] This account of Puzzuolo is also chiefly taken from Josephus Gorionides. Modern researches prove that some Roman villas on the sea-coast are now covered by the sea; and this led to the story of the submerged city.

[134] See Isaiah, lxvi. 19. This, it need hardly be observed, is one of the erroneous identifications of Scriptural names which have so frequently arisen from a false importance given to their similarity of sound.

[135] This t.i.tle was given to a man conversant with the Hagada, or ancient manner of expounding the holy scripture. The Hebrew appellation is "darschan."

[136] Bari, which was taken and almost destroyed by the Greeks during the reign of William of Sicily, was called St. Nicholas, in honour of the celebrated church and priory of that saint, which are its most remarkable ornaments. They were built in 1098, and richly endowed by Roger, duke of Apulia; and they escaped the great and general destruction with which the city was visited.

[137] This island, though for some time subject to Roger and William, kings of Sicily, was reconquered by the emperor Manuel in 1149; and the words of our author are probably intended to express that this was the first spot at which he touched after leaving the kingdom of Sicily.

[138] This erroneous account of the foundation of Patras is taken from Josephus Gorionides.

[139] Thebes contained, at this time, the greatest number of Jews of any city in Greece, some of whom are stated to have been eminent manufacturers, princ.i.p.ally of silk and purple cloths. Gibbon states that artists employed upon these trades enjoyed exemption from personal taxes. "These arts, which were exercised at Corinth, Thebes, and Argos, afforded food and occupation to a numerous people: the men, women, and children were distributed according to their age and strength; and if many of these were domestic slaves, their masters, who directed the work and enjoyed the profits, were of a free and honourable condition." At present the whole population of Thebes does not amount to above 3500 individuals.

[140] No place of this name is now known. Mr. Asher conjectures, from the Sclavonic sound of the word, that it was a town of the Wallachians, and that it has been destroyed in the perpetual wars of which this part of Greece was the scene.

[141] Rabenica is mentioned by several medieval writers, though its exact situation is not now known. Henri de Valencienne, Chronique, edited by Buchon, p. 259, says "Ensi comme jou devant vous dys, fut li parlemens ou val de Ravenique."

[142] Gardiki, or Cardiki, a small town on the coast of the gulf of Volo, and the seat of a bishop. The time at which it was ruined, or the occasion upon which its destruction took place, cannot be ascertained.

[143] Armyro, also on the coast of the gulf of Volo. By the writers of the middle ages it was called Amire, Amiro, and Almyro. Poucqueville (iii. 72) mentions it as the princ.i.p.al town of a district which bears its name.

[144] This place is not now known, but it is mentioned by medieval writers under the name of Vissena, Vessena, and Bezena. As our author embarked at or near this station, it cannot have been Velestino, which we meet with by following his route on a map of Greece, because, although in the vicinity of Armyro, and on the road to Saloniki, it is an inland town.

[145] The ancient Thessalonica; the modern Saloniki, contained, at our author's time, more Jewish inhabitants than any town in Greece, Thebes alone excepted. It is stated by good authorities to contain at present 20,000 Israelites, a large proportion of the whole population, amounting altogether to but 70,000 souls. Some popular tradition probably induced our author to ascribe the origin of the city to Seleucus. The favourable situation of Saloniki, which has made it one of the most commercial towns of the Turkish empire, was probably the cause of its considerable Jewish population.

[146] This place, which has vanished from the modern maps of Greece, was called correctly Dimitritzi, and was situated near Amphipolis, on the Cercinian Sea.

[147] Villehardouin mentions this place as belonging to the king of Thessalonica, and calls it "Dramine el val de Phelippe." Another MS.

reads Draimes, which is more in conformity with the appellation given to it by Nicephorus Gregoras, who, like our author, frequently calls it Drama. It stands in a valley, near the site of the ancient city of Philippi, the ruins of which are still to be seen.

[148] The original word is [Hebrew: ????????]; but there can hardly be any doubt that our author wrote it so only because he did not like to mention the name of Christ. We observe this in several other instances in the course of this work. Christopoli was on the direct road from Thessalonica to Constantinople. It was situated on the frontiers of Macedonia and Thracia, on the European sh.o.r.e of the Propontis, opposite the island of Thaso; and here travellers from Macedonia to Constantinople generally embarked.

[149] Manuel Comnenus, emperor from 1143 to 1180.

[150] The best account of the imperial officers of state will be found in Gibbon, "Decline and Fall," chap. liii. The Praepositus magnus was one of the princ.i.p.al officers, governor of the city and of the forces stationed in it; the Megas Domesticus was the commander in chief of the army; the Dominus, court marshal, lord steward of the household; Megas Ducas, the commander of the naval forces, or lord high admiral of the empire; conomos magnus, a clerical officer of high rank.

[151] The Hippodrome is now known by the Turkish paraphrased name of the At-Meidan, _i. e._ the horse-market. It was the site chosen for the display of the games by which the emperor Manuel entertained the sultan Azeddin Kilidscharslan, on his visit to Constantinople in 1159; and Mr.

Asher observes that Benjamin was probably an eyewitness of the public rejoicings and games which took place in honour of the celebration of the marriage of the emperor Manuel with Maria, daughter of the prince of Antiochia, on "the birth-day of Jesus," A.D. 1161, which he seems to describe here. Compare the account of the games at Constantinople exhibited to the Northmen, pp. 60, 61.

[152] Micah, iv. 4.

[153] The former respect and conform with the authority of the rabbinic explanations, which are rejected by the latter.

[154] This is the Cla of Ptolemy, and the Celus of Pliny and Mela, a sea-port-town on the eastern coast of the peninsula of Gallipoli, still bearing the Turkish name of Kilia.

[155] The island of Chio is still celebrated for its mastic; and the population of twenty villages are employed exclusively in cultivating the tree and gathering its produce. These villages are situated in the mountainous parts; and the Christian cultivators of the mastic not only paid no t.i.the nor tribute, but enjoyed certain privileges.