In this section of the book, Ibn Fadlan mostly focuses on the extremely cold climate of Jurjaniya. The way to travel through Jurjaniya was to travel across the Jayhun River; however, due to the frigid weather, the river froze for three months, and they could not cross it. Ibn Fadlan stayed in a house during the duration of his stay, but even in the house, he was freezing. He and his group stayed in Jurjaniya for over three months due to this cold: “The cold and the hardships it causes were the reasons for the length of the stay” (Fadlan 8). He gives an anecdote about how two men took their camels into the woods without the ability to make a fire, and their camels froze to death by the next morning. He also mentions how beggars are even allowed to come inside other people’s homes and sit by the fire while they beg for bread. This place was unbelievably cold, even for those who live there. It was impossible for Ibn Fadlan and his traveling companions to do anything, let alone carry on with their journey, due to these conditions. He describes how his beard froze into “a block of ice,” and how the markets and streets were all bare because no one could withstand the freezing temperatures (Fadlan 9). After three months, the Jayhun River melted, and the group purchased camels and made foldable boats made out of camel skin to continue on their journey. 

I think Ibn Fadlan was particularly scarred by his visit to Jurjaniya due to the coldness. He goes on for multiple pages, intently describing how Jurjaniya was “the cold of hell,” but interestingly enough, he does not speak ill of the people in this city (Fadlan 7). In many different instances of this book, Ibn Fadlan does not hesitate to pass judgment on the people he encounters on his travels, but here, he describes, “The local people, with whom we were on friendly terms, urged us to be prudent as regards to clothing and to take large quantities” (Fadlan 9). I assumed that Ibn Fadlan would not be very friendly or warm to the people of this place because of his horrible experiences, but instead, he does not pass judgment and accepts their help. I also thought Ibn Fadlan might attribute the bitter cold to the people of Jurjaniya, pertaining to the seven climes ideology that was popular during this time, which stated that if the climate of a place was bitterly cold, they were closer to hell. Regardless, he spends a lot of time in Jurjaniya but did not say much about the culture or the people because the cold weather was so insufferable that he could not think about anything else. He may also have included such intense detail about the cold to excuse the delay of his journey. His caliph, back in Baghdad, sent him on this mission to spread his religion to the land of the Turks, and he was the original audience of this book. If Ibn Fadlan returned and the caliph was upset about how long his journey took, Ibn Fadlan would want to have these details that explain, or even exaggerate, the circumstances that led to his delay.