Author: Delilah Seaman

The Tabula Rogeriana, completed in 1154, was an atlas commissioned by the Norman king Roger III of Sicily by Al-Idrisi, a Muslim geographer. Though it was one of the most detailed and accurate world maps of its time, it is very different from our standard world maps in 2025, almost 900 years later. Having plotted parts of Benjamin of Tudela’s journeys on both the Tabula Rogeriana and a modern map, there are several significant comparisons to be made between the two experiences. It is of course much easier to plot many accurate points on a modern map using modern software; GPS systems do most of the work for us once we enter the name of a town or city. I was able to plot dozens of places that Benjamin of Tudela stopped fairly quickly in Google Maps, as long as the location still existed or I was able to estimate where it is now.

On the Tabula Rogeriana, the cities are marked and labeled, but since it is written in Arabic and the points are quite small, I was not able to mark the locations as precisely as on a modern map and instead had to estimate where to place the icons. In addition, the axis is switched, with South on top according to medieval Muslim theology. Many features of the map are misshapen and features are also missing, which made some places difficult to map. Rome, especially, was hard to figure out, because its shape in the Tabula Rogeriana is very different from our modern visualizations.

One of the reasons that the Tabula Rogeriana is laid out very differently is that it places Mecca at the center of the world, which, like the South-North layout was standard for medieval Muslim maps. All of the medieval maps that we have studied, across various religions and regions, are based on ideology as well as, or more so than, geographical accuracy. This shaped the way that medieval travelers would have perceived the world, as well, when religion was central to life and philosophy across Europe and the Middle East, where Benjamin traveled. Modern maps, in contrast, are utilitarian, based on standardized measurements of distance. Though there are various projections which change the size of the continents in relation to each other, they are not constructed to promote a certain worldview or belief system.

In the 12^th century, travel was hard and dangerous, and most normal people did not spend very much time traveling through their lifetimes. Travel itself was an enormous undertaking. Now, travel is easy, fast, and widely accessible. In some ways this is reflected in the difference between the two maps. When broad travel was difficult and rare, limited to walking, riding, or ships, constructing a map that accurately reflected the world was nearly impossible. It took Al-Idrisi more than 15 years to complete the Tabula Rogeriana, and he relied mostly on older writings and accounts of contemporary travelers. Modern technology allows us to map the world perfectly and access information about any place in the world in an instant. I was able to be more comprehensive and precise while reconstructing Benjamin of Tudela’s route in Google Maps, but the Tabula Rogeriana is likely closer to his conception of the world and how he would have mapped his travels.

StoryMap page:

From Okbara, Benjamin arrives in Baghdad. He focuses primarily on two people in this section: the Caliph and the Head of the Captivity of Israel. Religion is the main subject here. He first introduces Caliph Emir al Muminin al Abbasi of the family of Mohammed. Baghdad in the 12^th century was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, an empire which at its height controlled the entirety of the Arabian Peninsula and large swathes of the Middle East and North Africa. Benjamin compares his role in Islam like that of the Pope over the Christians, the most important figure in the religion, revered by all Muslims of the empire.

Benjamin of Tudela seems to admire Caliph al Abbasi greatly. He cites his benevolent attitude towards the Jews; he is “kind unto Israel” and has many Jewish attendants. He is well-versed in Jewish law and in Hebrew. Benjamin asserts that al Abbasi is truthful and trustworthy, speaking peace to all men. He calls him a righteous man, whose actions are all for good. He describes at length al Abbasi’s acts of charity. He built a hospital for the sick poor, where every man is treated at his own expense. In addition, there is a sort of mental hospital, where the Caliph provides for them also, even giving them money at their discharge. Strangely, the Caliph’s siblings and family are all imprisoned in their homes inside the palace, to prevent them from rising against him. However, Benjamin assures us that they reside in “great splendour” and are all living lives of great luxury. Perhaps this was a normal enough precaution for kings to take in Benjamin’s time that it did not seem unreasonable to him, or perhaps he admired the Caliph’s actions or patronage of the Jews enough that it did not matter to him. It is interesting that Benjamin of Tudela respects the leader of a different religion so greatly. Throughout the text it’s clear that being Jewish is the surest way for Benjamin to be assured of a person’s goodness, but obviously it is not the only way. He appreciates other signs of good character, like charitableness, peacefulness, modesty, intelligence, and an egalitarian approach to other religions, all traits which he believes al Abbasid possesses.

In Baghdad, there are 40,000 Jews, a very large population, as they live in security and prosperity under Abbasid rule. There are ten Academies in the city, and many great Jewish academics and sages. There is an office of the “Head of the Captivity of Israel”, who has authority over all the Jewish congregations and is appointed by the Caliph. Benjamin writes that this Head of the Captivity is honored by both Gentiles and Jews. He has authority over a large region, within which he gives communities the power to appoint Rabbis and Ministers who receive his authority, and from which he receives tribute. He owns land and receives revenue from Jewish markets and merchants. This position is also known as Exilarch, the hereditary head of the Jewish community, recognized by the ruler, and was present in the region for hundreds of years up until the fall of the Abbasid Caliphate. The safety of the Jews and the Caliph’s appreciation of them clearly assured their stability, as Benjamin says the Jews of Baghdad are well-educated and rich. There are nearly thirty synagogues in the city, crowned by the great synagogue of the Head of the Captivity. He says the city is a full twenty miles in circumference, with gardens and plantations, and prosperous trade, philosophers, and magicians. Overall, he speaks very highly of Baghdad and finds one of the most prosperous Jewish communities there.

Five days’ journey from Abydos is Constantinople, the seat of the Greek empire. Benjamin of Tudela briefly describes the structure of the government under King Emanuel, with his twelve ministers. As is typical for this account, Benjamin does not describe the practical or physical aspects of his journey—there is no indication of where he stayed, or for how long, or how he traveled to and from the city. He does describe the terrain surrounding the city and how it is situated on a peninsula, surrounded on one side by an arm of the Sea of Russia and the other side the Sea of Sepharad. It is eighteen miles in circumference, one of the larger cities he has visited.

He spends a large part of this excerpt talking about the merchant activity, wealth, and material possessions of Constantinople and the Greeks. We know very little about Benjamin of Tudela outside of his Itinerary, but a common theory is that he was a merchant of some kind. This passage certainly supports this conclusion, since he seems especially interested in trade and goods out of everything he saw in Constantinople. In fact, the majority of his writings on this city are devoted to those subjects. He says that Constantinople enjoys lots of merchant activity from all over: Egypt, Persia, Hungary, Russia, Babylon, and more. In terms of the architecture, he describes churches and palaces with pillars of gold and silver, inlaid with precious stones. He says that the King’s palace, Blachernae, was made of so many precious metals and jewels that it shone by moonlight. He is also concerned with the tributes received from all over the kingdom, the total of which he is told amounts to 20,000 gold pieces every year. These include silks and fabrics of purple and gold, the most precious and expensive colors. The inhabitants themselves are rich in gold and jewels and wear silks and embroidery. They ride horses and eat bread, meat, and wine. He says they “look like princes,” and calls it the richest land in the world.

In contrast are the Jews of Constantinople, who are relegated to a ghetto outside the city, behind and inlet, so that they must travel by sea to get in or out. He says that they are permitted to do business in the city, and that there are silkmakers and rich merchants among them, but overall their condition is poor. There are 2,000 Rabbanite and 500 Karaite Jews, divided by a fence. Benjamin sees that the Greeks hate the Jews, defiling their homes and beating them in the streets. These are some of the worst conditions of the Jewish population seen in his travels. Yet, he says, the Jews are good, kind, charitable, and cheerful despite their oppression. Wherever the place, Benjamin of Tudela speaks highly of Jews, even in unfamiliar lands or of different ethnicities, when he otherwise dislikes or distrusts the native populations. There was great allegiance among the Jewish diaspora of Benjamin’s time, and a great desire for communication between scattered groups of Jews, as noted in part II of the introduction: “In the sacred tongue they possessed a common language, and wherever they went they could rely upon a hospitable reception from their co-religionists. Travelling was, therefore, to them comparatively easy, and the bond of common interest always supplied a motive.” Interestingly, he writes that despite the widespread hatred of Jews the King’s physician, R. Solomon Hamitsri, is a Jew who lives in the ghetto, and through him the rest of the Jews enjoy some alleviation of their condition. In this time period the status of Jews was often extremely precarious, changing from one ruler to the next even within a single dynasty, region, or city. In these climates, individuals like R. Solomon could potentially bring their community up with them to a certain degree.

Two of the most common hypotheses for Benjamin’s reasons for traveling are present in this excerpt: first, the merchant theory, as mentioned previously, based on his great interest in trade, wealth, and goods in and out of Constantinople. Second, his interest in the conditions of Jews in each place he traveled, potentially writing a guide for his community on the safest places to live and move around.

In this excerpt, Benjamin of Tudela enters Damascus and spends two pages describing it. He takes on a tone of admiration throughout most of the section, writing appreciatively about the city overall. He says that they trade “with all countries,” indicating wealth and cosmopolitanism. They seem to have rich architecture and large marketplaces. There is abundant water from the two rivers which flow into the city, and infrastructure that brings the water to houses and gardens. He describes building features of glass, gold, and silver. Particularly impressive to him are the Gami mosque and the palace. In the mosque there is a wall of crystal glass “of magic workmanship,” with an integrated sundial. It seems that he has not seen anything like this before either at home or in his travels so far. His journey took place during the Islamic Golden Age, during which such technological and artistic innovations flourished, and we experience it through Benjamin of Tudela’s outsider’s perspective.

It can already be assumed that Benjamin of Tudela, as a product of his upbringing in recently Muslim-controlled Navarre, would have been quite familiar with Islam and its cultural influences. It shows up in this excerpt; it does not seem as though the people or practices as particularly foreign to him, nor does he pass judgment on the people and practices as he does in other sections (such as the children of Ammon). For example, he admires their mosque, saying that there is no building like it in the whole world, and does not state any further opinions. In this passage, like in several of our other readings, there is a mention of the ancient giants which once ruled the world. A rib of one of these giants is said to be housed in the palace. He is told that this rib belonged to the King Anak, or so it said on his grave. It’s interesting that the biblical mythology of the giants was so prevalent across the Abrahamic religions in the medieval era, brought up frequently throughout the writings of all the travelers. It’s not something that’s brought up often in modern life.

As usual, Benjamin completes the passage by cataloguing the Jewish population in Damascus, noting population, particular important individuals, and relationship with others in the city. He does not explicitly discuss the state of Jewish rights in Damascus, but since three thousand Jews lived in the city at the time it was probably accepting to his people to a fairly high degree, and perhaps they enjoyed some privileges. Many Palestinian Jews came to Damascus escaping the crusaders, bolstering the Jewish population in the city before Benjamin of Tudela’s arrival. Damascus was under Seljuk rule at the time: he writes that the city is the beginning of the empire of Nur-ed-din, the king of the Turks. The place of Jews under Turkish rule often changed from king to king. It’s unclear based on this text alone exactly where Nur-ed-din stood. There are  several notable Jewish scholars in Damascus that he names, all of which work in some fashion for the Academy of the Land of Israel, including the head of the Academy. There are also 400 Cuthim (Samaritans) and a hundred Karaites, which are an alternative sect of Judaism. According to him, their relationship is peaceful, but they don’t intermarry. He doesn’t specify if this peaceful relationship extends between them and the rest of the Jews of Damascus, but he doesn’t mention any conflict either. As I’ve touched on in other posts, Benjamin of Tudela could have been writing a sort of guide for other Jews across the diaspora. The introduction to the Project Gutenberg edition speculates that wide-scale upheaval in Jewish communities during the era of the Crusades and of Christian encroachment into Spain may have motivated Benjamin to find places suited for asylum if needed and convey the information back to the Jews of Navarre. This seems like a reasonable extrapolation.

In this passage, Benjamin of Tudela describes the demographic makeup of Jerusalem, lists several landmarks of note, writes a bit about infrastructure, and describes the surroundings of the city, including the Mount of Olives, the Sea of Sodom, and the valley of Jehoshaphat. Reading this, we can get some idea of the conditions in and around the city at the time, and what the important religious sites were like. He came from just north of Jerusalem from “Mahomerie-le-Grand” or Gibeon, according to him three parasangs from Jerusalem (probably just over ten miles distance, a day or two’s journey). As is common with Benjamin of Tudela, he records no specifics about travel logistics, length of stay, or dates

Jerusalem is and was one of the holiest (if not the holiest) site in all three Abrahamic religions. Since long before Benjamin of Tudela it has been a place unique in all the world because of this. Though he calls the city small, he describes it as very religiously, ethnically, and linguistically diverse, inhabited by Jacobites, Syrians, Greeks, Georgians, Franks, and various others. Since Benjamin’s journey likely began in the mid-1160s, Jerusalem would have still been under Crusader rule for another decade or so, until 1187. He estimates that only 200 Jews remained in Jerusalem, probably a result of the policies of the Christian kings—Jews were deported or temporarily banned throughout much of this period. He does still describe Jewish and Muslim inhabitants, however, and Muslim, Christian, and Jewish holy sites. Jewish dyers did have singular access to the profession in exchange for a small annual tax, according to Benjamin. This was clearly not a high point of the Jewish population in Jerusalem, but perhaps not the darkest either. He notes that the few hundred Jews in the city all live together in one corner of the city, under the Tower of David. Isolation of Jewish communities, either self-imposed or decreed from above, has long been common, especially during hostile administrations. He also writes that there are old Israelite cemeteries just outside the city, but the Christians had been destroying the sepulchres and using the stones to build their own houses.

Since Benjamin of Tudela often writes in a fairly impersonal manner and does not typically discuss logistics or personal experiences, it’s difficult to tell what his experience of Jerusalem was like as a Jewish man, but it seems that he didn’t face any difficulties traveling freely in and out of the city from authorities, at least not ones he found worth mentioning. He talks briefly about some existing Jewish holy sites, including the wall of the court of the Temple, and the old pool used by priests where Jews write their names on the wall. Interestingly, he spends more time on an anecdote about the sepulchres of the kings of Judah than on any other aspect of the city. The story is an explanation of why the exact locations of the sepulchres are hidden and sealed up, as told to him by a Rabbi Abraham el Constantini. Rabbi Abraham is one of the infrequent individuals mentioned which Benjamin of Tudela has a personal exchange with; in other cases, he also relays stories as told to him by Rabbis, whom he clearly finds trustworthy as a whole. This makes sense: Rabbinical status would have implied respectability and learnedness to him.

This excerpt doesn’t directly explain the political and religious climate of Jerusalem at the time, but that theme does run through many parts of it, giving unique insight into the relationship between Christians, Jews, and Muslims from the point of view of a foreigner. It feels like a sort of uneasy accord. However, this is a fairly short piece of writing, and Benjamin of Tudela was simply a traveler, who probably didn’t spend very much time in Jerusalem. As usual, Benjamin is focused mostly on architecture, sightseeing, general lifestyles, interesting stories, and Jewish communities. At most places he stops, he at least briefly describes the condition of the Jewish population, if it exists, potentially indicating that his intended audience is primarily other Jews.

Europe

Asia

Link to full map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1KbMXk61iebYfY4LHM5QQkYRSbhjzPmw&usp=sharing

The main two categories are by region. I have mapped Benjamin of Tudela’s travels in Europe (red) and Asia (green). Important locations on which he spends the most time are marked in slightly darker colors with city icons.

Benjamin of Tudela was a Jew from Sepharad, now Spain. His journey most likely began sometime in the mid-1160s, though exact dates are debated upon. Benjamin of Tudela’s travels took him through Europe, Asia, and Africa over the course of about eight years, and he wrote an account of his experiences, which has been published as The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela and remained a well-known account of travel in the Middle Ages since the 12^th century. In this excerpt, Benjamin travels to Rome. This is early in his travels; he began in his home town of Saragossa, and traveled from the Iberian Peninsula to France, stopping in several cities, the last of which was Marseilles. From Marseilles he takes a ship to Genoa, Italy, then from Genoa to Pisa, Lucca, and finally Rome. It’s unclear how much time he spends in each place before moving on. Benjamin does not often describe much about logistics, simply that it takes this or that amount of time to get from one place to the next. He often doesn’t specify what mode of transportation he used, though does mention taking ships in a few cases, such as from Marseilles to Genoa.

Benjamin describes Rome as the seat of Christianity, though it contains about 200 Jews who “occupy an honourable position and pay no tribute.” He writes that there are great Jewish scholars in Rome who live alongside the Christians, and even some who are officials of the Pope. He notes several individuals by name, various rabbis and respected scholars of Judaism. Benjamin’s travel account focuses mostly on Jewish culture, monuments, and people. At most locations, he makes note of the most important scholars and leaders who reside there, the size of the Jewish community, and the state of the community and its privileges (or lack thereof). He does not talk as much about the native populations outside of his own people.

While the previous cities have only taken up a few paragraphs each, he spends the better part of two pages describing the city of Rome. He describes St. Peter’s, the palaces of emperors including Caesar, the Colosseum, and many ruins which were already ancient by the 12^th century. He seems to take a particular interest in art and architecture, as well as Jewish and Christian legends and landmarks. He references some stories of old battles fought in the city, and of the catacombs of a King Tarmal Galsin; the only reference I could find to this king is in the Itinerary, so perhaps this was a myth he was told by a local, or a name he misspelled of an existing figure. Another story he describes is about the Church of St. John the Lateran, which contained two columns taken from the Temple. The Roman Jews tell him that once a day every year the columns exude water. He clearly enjoyed his time in Rome, and he finishes his descriptions of the city by saying that it is full of “remarkable sights beyond enumeration.”

The Hebrew introduction to the compiled travel writings of Benjamin of Tudela appears to have been added after his death, but by people who were familiar with him. The author(s) praise him as a wise, understanding, and learned man, and say that “wherever we have tested his statements we have found them accurate, true to fact and consistent; for he is a trustworthy man.” It’s impossible to know how they “tested” his statements and if Benjamin of Tudela’s writings are entirely accurate, but it seems that he was a well-respected man in his own community. Also according to the introduction, Benjamin was creating a record of “stories and sights unknown in the land of Sepharad (Spain), which he brought back with him on his return to Castile.” The purpose of his account may have been simply to bring knowledge of far-away places to his homeland, perhaps hoping for Spanish Jews in his community to use his writings to learn more about the world. It could have also served as a sort of guide for Jewish travelers who wished to know what places were safe and which families and scholars lived in certain kingdoms and cities.