Benjamin of Tudela’s account of Jerusalem focused primarily on the major sites of worship and the variety therein. He described the vast diversity of peoples found there as “Jacobites, Syrians, Greeks, Georgians and Franks, and of people of all tongues” (35). He claimed that these were the names the Muslim residents had for these peoples which shows that while he acknowledged the diversity of peoples in Jerusalem, he had little personal ethnographic interests. His attention quickly turned back to architecture, which has been his primary focus whenever he stopped to say more than the briefest description of a place. In quick succession, he mentions the Sepulcher, which is a holy place for Christians, the Dome of the Rock, a Muslim holy site, and the western wall, which is a Jewish holy site (36-37). The proximity of these locations makes the quick transitions easy; however, his description shows how tightly intertwined the members of the Abrahamic religions were in Jerusalem. Despite traveling in the wake of the second crusade, the city Benjamin describes has plentiful Christians, Muslims, and Jews all worshipping in the same areas. The differences are in the way each religion’s presence appears. Jewish structures are shown to be the base on which later developments are added. The Tower of David and western wall are relics of an ancient past which permeates the city despite the small Jewish population. Islamic structures are the ones built on top of the ancient ones. They are the contemporary rulers who hold the most current sway. Even though the sites Benjamin mentions are not themselves new, they are recent in comparison. Islamic influence is the driving force of change in Jerusalem which builds upon the Jewish past. The Christians, however, are presented as a primarily military presence. The remnants of the crusades appear in the hospital of St. John, the Temple of Solomon, and the combined seven hundred knights house between them. The Temple of Solomon is another ancient site that has been taken over by the crusaders. They are not described as contributing to the growth of the city, but rather as heavily armed pilgrims making dramatic shows of force.
This section also features a more narrative anecdote which stands out dramatically from Benjamin’s otherwise incredibly dry writing. He tells a story he heard about a pair of workmen who entered the sepulchers of the biblical kings and were scared off by the voice of God (38-40). This story shows a sense of wonder that Benjamin has for the holy land and the belief in an increase in miracles in this holy and historied place. Biblical lands deserve recent stories that reaffirm the divine nature of the sites. The story also reaffirms the place of the Jewish community as the guardians of ancient sites in Jerusalem, as when an issue arose with the restoration of the sepulcher the Patriarch turned to Rabbi Abraham (who supposedly told Benjamin this story himself) for assistance (40). Jewish scholars are framed as the ultimate authorities on ancient relics and how to handle them. Their sites form the foundation of the holy city and are protected by God himself.