On pages eight through ten, Ibn Fadlan records his time in Juj\u0101n\u012bya which is located near the Jayh\u00fan river and \u201cfifty farsakhs\u201d from Khw\u0101razm when traveling on the river (7). Ibn Fadlan and his group stay in Jurj\u0101n\u012bya for many days before the river began to freeze. Once this happens, they are stuck for about three months here. He relates the months as those of \u201cRajab\u201d (the end of said month) \u201cSha\u2019ban, Ramad\u0101n and Shaww\u0101l,\u201d and records that it was around \u201cthe middle of the month of Shaww\u0101l 309\/ February 922\u201d that they were able to finally leave (8-9).<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 During their three months stay, Ibn Fadlan focuses largely on the weather, He is very specific about the cold weather. He says the Jayh\u00fan river was covered in \u201cice [that] was seventeen spans thick\u201d and that \u201cwhen snow falls, it is always accompanied by a rough and violent wind\u201d (8).<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 He seems relatively indifferent about the specific people in this region. He does not say anything judgmental nor very descriptive of who they are. Although, he does mention that they were friendly. He records the prices of their firewood. He only mentions two customs. One being that when a person wants to invite a person over out of gratitude they say, \u201cCome to my house where we can talk, for there is a good fire there\u201d (8). Additionally, it is custom that the beggars in this area just walk right into the houses and warm up before asking for food. Ibn Fadlan also writes of a story he heard about two men forgetting their tools to make a fire, so after a night in the cold, their camels died (9).<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ibn Fadlan, in this section, does relay information about his own experience with the cold in Juj\u0101n\u012bya, most of which are negative. He says his beard froze after he washed. He says his lodgings were \u201ca house, inside which was another, inside which was a Turkish felt tent\u201d and despite these precautions and the addition of many blankets, his face froze to the fabric of his pillow (9). Ibn Fadlan also details the vegetation, specifically trees, breaking in half from the cold.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When he and his companions leave, they gather enough food for three months, some camels, and boats made from the skin of camels to make their journey. Additionally, they must dawn \u201ca tunic,\u201d \u201ccaftan,\u201d \u201ca cloak of sheepskin,\u201d \u201ca felt outer garment, with a head covering,\u201d \u201c a plain pair of trousers and another padded pair, socks, horse-hide boots and over those boots, other boots\u201d (9-10).<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This entire section entirely relates back to the freezing weather Ibn Fadlan is experiencing. Every detail, custom, and experience he mentions can be tied to the weather. While there is very little emotion in his words, it is clear he is dismayed and bewildered by the extent of the cold weather. He even expresses disbelief with the amount of clothes they needed to wear to leave this region and that it was \u201ctwice as bad as [he] had been told\u201d (9). His indication of seeing the cold\u2019s effect on nature showcases his growing fear: \u201cI saw the Earth split\u201d (9).<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In class, we talked about the climes, and how the further north one travel\u2019s the closer to hell they get (in Islamic belief at that time). Hell is bad and cold. It is also where the dangerous tribes of Gog and Magog are trapped behind a wall. In this section Ibn Fadlan says this experience was \u201ca gate to the cold of hell\u201d (8). He believes he is approaching more danger than just the weather with his continued journey. This predisposes his later thoughts of the Ghuzz Turks to already be negative, because it is cold, and he is closer to hell. Additionally, Ibn Fadlan is only about halfway through his journey to Bulghar. Which means, he believes his journey and the climate are only going to get worse (and they are already bad). Overall, there are slightly sarcastic\/dismayed undertones to this section which is likely a message to the Caliph expressing how much worse Ibn Fadlan\u2019s journey is going to get, and how he is very upset about it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ibn Fadl\u0101n.\u00a0Ibn Fadl\u0101n and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travelers in the Far North.<\/em> Translated by Paul Lunde, Penguin Classic, 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On pages eight through ten, Ibn Fadlan records his time in Juj\u0101n\u012bya which is located near the Jayh\u00fan river and \u201cfifty farsakhs\u201d from Khw\u0101razm when traveling on the river (7). Ibn Fadlan and his group stay in Jurj\u0101n\u012bya for many days before the river began to freeze. Once this happens, they are stuck for about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5606,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ibn-fadlan","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-middle-ages-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-middle-ages-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-middle-ages-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-middle-ages-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5606"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-middle-ages-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-middle-ages-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":120,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-middle-ages-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119\/revisions\/120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-middle-ages-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-middle-ages-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/mapping-middle-ages-2025\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}