In his description of Rome, Benjamin of Tudela spends the vast majority of the passage describing the architecture. The only other factor he notes is the notable Jewish scholars who live there. He describes the palaces of the Roman emperors with specific emphasis given to Titus’ as it related to the capture of Jerusalem. The storage location of Titus’ pillaged temple relics is also specifically noted. He also talks about the Colosseum and catacombs with stories about the bones and statues contained within each. None of this, however, is done with much detail. His writing is very direct and to the point with little elaboration on any of his statements. No mention is given (at least this far into the reading) to the practical elements of travel aside from the number of days’ travel between locations. Also absent are Benjamin’s personal thoughts or opinions on any of the places he visits or sights he sees.
The most prominent feature of Benjamin’s writing up to this point is the presence of Jewish communities in the places he visits. Even in cities where he has nothing else written, he documents the notable rabbis and the approximate number of Jews. This shows the importance of the Jewish community to both his motivation for travel and his intended audience. He appears to be writing for a diasporic Jewish population to give them a sense of what community they can expect to find in various locations across the lands he travels. The bare bones descriptions and lack of narrative places this text squarely within the realm of travel accounts rather than narratives. This more utilitarian tone indicates that the text is meant more as a source of information rather than entertainment or ethnography. He centers the presence of Jewish community in his writing as it is the relevant touchstone for his audience and the core of what would be important for them to know about a place. The references to history also focus on events that hold specific relevance to Jewish history that his audience is more likely to recognize.
Benjamin’s focus on architecture shows his reverence for Rome as a city with great historical importance and lasting influence. Even the basic descriptions of its monuments are much more than what is given to the other cities he has passed through thus far. Genoa and Pisa have scant mentions of their fortifications, but nothing of beauty. Rome is prioritized as the first cultural center he is passing through. Benjamin is showing his scholarly merit through his knowledge of history. The cultural artifacts he notes are those of scholarly importance which indicate a minimum degree of education in his audience, as they would have to be aware of the names he was referencing. He is writing for an educated Jewish population that might find use in knowing the relative size of Jewish populations and their leaders in various locations. He lets them know who to contact and where they might find further learning, as all the most notable figures are scholars like himself.
Month: September 2025 (Page 3 of 3)
Ibn Battutah was a young Moroccan Muslim that set out on pilgrimage of his own volition. He explains early that he had no caravan initially and set out totally alone, instead requesting to travel with an envoy of the ‘king of Africa’. This was not a king of Africa but instead a Roman province of the time, consisting of territory in modern Tunisia and Algeria. I call the beginning of his journey to attention not just to emphasize the imperative safety a caravan offers that is almost a necessity for traveling in this time, but also in an effort to understand how Ibn Battutah writes about the places he visits. His focus in each new location they reach tends to lean towards the behavior of people he meets, even remarking that upon reaching Tunis he was overcome by a grave loneliness at having no one to welcome him. By joining a caravan of frequent and seasoned travelers, the young Ibn Battutah did not receive the same enthusiasm as those who had been to Tunis before. He soon forgets this loneliness it seems, as much of his focus shifts to the festival the locals celebrate, claiming to be “overtaken” by this feast he was now participating in.
Upon reaching Alexandria, Ibn Battutah’s fascination for the people only grows as well. While he first praises the divine architecture of the citadel, saying it to be “of memorable edifices both secular and religious”, his attention seems to once again gravitate towards the people he finds there. In not just Alexandria but almost every settlement along the Nile, Ibn Battutah praises the local Shaikh as wise and displaying various forms of power. Whether or not there is any truth to the miracles he writes of, these local elders each leave an impression on his travels. The Shaikh of Alexandria seemed to affect Ibn Battutah most of all, as he gives him gifts of money and provisions and tasks him with sending a greeting to three of his cousins in different countries. Ibn Battutah spares the suspense and immediately writes in past tense that he has already met and greeted these three men in his travels, further cementing the influence this Shaikh had on his will to travel. Once reaching Cairo, Ibn Battutah does express fascination at the Nile River and how unique it is compared to other Great Rivers, but his attention overall still remains on the peoples and cultures he encounters.
Where his focus in the cities and towns was drawn to the interesting people he met, the process of travel bore clear hardships that draws his attention as well. Before reaching Cairo, Ibn Battutah describes points in their journey when the caravan had to take shelter from rain in stone or wood structures for days at a time. This seems to me that they were travelling during North Africa’s wet season, as is evident by the dates of these reports being after leaving Tunis in early November. The dry season has sparce rain, while the wet season has rainstorms that can last weeks, as his travel account clearly shows. Also be aware that the months these seasons occur differ depending location, with Northern Africa beginning its wet season around November. There is also some run in with dangerous wildlife, as Ibn Battutah recounts a night where hyenas raided their camp, though I doubt this was a one and only time wild animals posed a problem. This particular incident ends in his own personal sack of dates being stolen, leading me to believe that this was simply the worst instance he decided to write about.
Of the travel narratives we have collectively experienced as a class, Ibn Battutah stands out to me as travelling solely for personal reasons. His travels begin simply because he was encouraged to journey to Mecca to deepen his spiritual and religious understanding. Throughout his travels he meets people that tell him stories and give him advice that he seems more then happy to transcribe and take to heart. I can say I’m very intrigued at how the remainder of his journey plays out, as his accounts Egypt were fascinating.
Here you will write an annotation about a location of your choice from your travel narrative. Include the title of the book and the location in the post’s title.
Guidelines: For each post, you will choose a location featured in your travel narrative. You will then answer two factual questions to the best of your ability (some locations or narratives may not include all of this information):
What kinds of things does the author describe there? Is (s)he focused on the buildings, the culture, the people, the environment?
What do we learn about the practical or physical aspects of the traveler’s journey (food, lodging, weather, terrain)? When did they arrive, and how long did they stay?
Once you have summarized the factual information about the traveler’s stay, you must also interpret these facts in some way that is interesting to you, with an emphasis on cultural connections or divisions. Example questions might be:
What might we assume about the traveler’s own culture based on the observations noted here?
What aspects of this location, or this description of the location, are particularly to the medieval traveler? Why?
What do you think is the writer’s purpose in recording this information? To whom is s(he) writing?
You should not attempt to answer all of these questions, and you do not have to choose any of them. The point of this assignment is to move from facts to an interpretation of the facts. What do you find particularly interesting or significant about this stop on the traveler’s journey?