Benjamin’s travels to the Khuzistan province, otherwise known as the ancient civilization of Elam in Iran, seem to have been documented because of an important lesson he learned there. Benjamin began by explaining the layout of the land. When he visited Elam, the province was not fully inhabited and consisted of much waste and ruins. He traveled towards the center of the province however, which was where one could find the capital and palace of King Ahasuerus: Shushan. In Shushan there were 7,000 Jews and 14 synagogues. The most significant of these synagogues had the Sepulcher of Daniel. 

Shushan is divided in half by the Tigris River, yet the two halves of the city are connected by a single bridge. Where the Sepulcher of Daniel was located was the side where all the Jews lived. This side also had all of the market places which served as the main sources of income for the population on that side of the city. The other side of the city was very poor without any merchants or marketplaces. All that could be found on this side were gardens and plantations. That said, Benjamin described that the poor side of the city became jealous of the other side. This eventually led to a war erupting between both sides. A compromise was reached after a few days had passed, in which one side would take Daniel’s coffin for a year and then it would be brought to the other side the following year. This allowed for both sides of Shushan to gain wealth and prosperity. Then, the mighty Sultan-Al-Fars-Al-Khabir, whose empire extended as far as a four month journey, came to visit. He stepped in and made the executive decision that Daniel’s coffin should be suspended underneath the middle of the bridge, equidistant from both sides of the city.

By including this story, as well as the physical layout of the city, Benjamin was able to capture what the culture, people and environment of Shushan was like. From the disparity of wealth that the city originally started out with, one can deduce that money was brought in by travelers who came to see the Sepulcher of Daniel and merchants who would travel to the various market places there. It is also clear that the people of Shushan and their culture altogether highly value the Sepulcher of David, for both religious and practical reasons (to commemorate and to bring in travelers/merchants). In having the coffin be the comprising factor of the war that erupted on both sides, one could posit that the people of both sides of Shushan were more similar to each other than they’d have liked to admit. 

Furthermore, it seems that there was an important moral to the story that Benjamin tells of the bridge separating both sides of the city. I interpreted this story to show that sharing the coffin, and sharing in general, was one way that peace could be guaranteed. Perhaps Benjamin felt the need to document his travels to Shushan for the simple reason that there was hope for peace to be achieved in the world, especially for Jews, and this instance in Shushan helps to prove so.