Fabri spends one night in an inn in the village of Schneckenhusen while on his way to Innspruck. During his stay in the inn, Fabri speaks of some of the people that he sees. Primarily he speaks of a group of silver miners who speak of gambling, drinking, and their own entertainment. Fabri describes these men as suspicious which is later proven right. The next morning Fabri recounts how the whole inn was up in arms because the silver miners had robbed a group of people of all of their money. Fabri then goes on to speak of how he feared that those same miners would be waiting to rob him on the road. Fabri’s focus on the moral aspects of the men in the inn in which he stayed shows how even in that era, individuals had to be weary of anyone who could have poor intentions while on a journey. Fabri is then proven right to be suspicious of the men when he speaks of how that night they had robbed two people. Fabri’s focus on the intentions of those around his is put in contradiction with that of the two men who must not have been careful enough being that they were robbed. This shows how Fabri’s perspective of the areas that he is passing through are much different than that of others being that he was overly cautious in a way that others were not. Being that this is only Fabri’s second journey and he is traveling alone, he is right to be cautious and it is in his best interest to be. However, this may not have been the case for many or most others making similar journeys.
Month: March 2022 (Page 5 of 8)
During his pilgrimage to the city of Mecca, Ibn Battutah visits the city of Damascus and stays for several weeks during the month of Ramadan. Battutah, both leading up to and during his stay in Damascus, constantly praises the city for its beauty and importance. His narrative especially focuses on the city’s religious nature and the ways in which the Islamic faith influences people, architecture, and culture. Battutah’s status as an Islamic scholar, then, positively affected his time spent in the city as it granted him increased respect and hospitality. During this section of his narrative, Battutah provides insight into the ways which religious customs and beliefs, particularly those of Islam, can act as the foundation of a thriving city.
The first section of Battutah’s narrative while in Damascus describes the Mosque of the Umayyads in terms of its history, its appearance, and its role in the everyday lives of Damascus’s people. He establishes the historical importance and religious power of the mosque by explaining the way it was created. While the building was originally divided into two separate parts, one being a Muslim mosque and the other a Christian church, a group of Muslims eventually invaded the Christian church as in act of service to God and made the entire building a mosque; this invasion showed the combined power of Muslim people and supported the notion that, as His servants, God would lead and protect them (37). The implications associated with the creation of the Mosque of the Umayyads align with Battutah’s religious beliefs about the power and greatness of Islamic people. Battutah shows such admiration towards Damascus and its people because the city’s values so closely align with his own. Referencing this story shows the importance of the Islamic faith in Damascus’s history, which Battutah then connects to the still influental role of Islam in present day Damascus.
After describing the city’s mosque, Battutah goes on to write about the city’s inhabitants and their customs. He notes the generosity of the people and specifically focuses on the large number of endowments given to those in need. Endowments were granted to a wide range of people for a number of reasons, such as, “[assisting] Pilgrimages… supplying wedding outfits… freeing prisoners… [supporting] travelers… [and] paving the streets” (40). By endowing their money to those in need, the people of Damascus uphold their religious duty to perform good, charitable, and selfless deeds.
Along with being charitable, Battutah also describes Damacus’s people as being helpful and hospitable. He explains several situations in which the city’s people provide the needy with not only food and shelter, but also with education, occupation, and religious opportunities. People during the medieval era typically viewed vagabonds and people of low economic status in a negative light and treated them poorly, but those in Damascus go against this trend by giving above and beyond what is expected. Similar to the nature of the endowments, these actions align with the guiding principles of Islam and show that the people of Damascus uphold their religious duties.
Battutah praises these practices for being “the best of good works”, and claims that these good deeds will lead to recognition and rewards from God (40). Through this comment, Battutah shows his approval of the city and its people. He considers Damascus a great city not because of its physical beauty or upstanding universities, but because of the people who live in the city and the pious, charitable nature of these people. This shows that, above all else, Battutah cares about the real-life application and promotion of the Islamic faith.
Ibn-Baṭṭūṭa Muḥammad Ibn-ʿAbdallāh, and Tim Mackintosh-Smith. The Travels of Ibn Battutah. Translated by Gibb Hamilton Alexander Rosskeen, Picador, 2002.
In his description of the Valley of Hebron, Mandeville focuses on the valley’s biblical legacy and the places pilgrims might like to visit while they are there. He describes Hebron’s history and relates it to biblical figures and events, claiming that Adam lived there, King David ruled over it for seven and a half years, and the patriarchs and their wives (Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, and Jacob and Rebecca) are buried there (36). He also relates the biblical legacies of locations he describes, talking about the church where the patriarchs are buried, a cave where Adam and Eve supposedly lived after the Fall, the place where Abraham’s house was, and the grave of Lot two miles outside of Hebron (36-37). Mandeville doesn’t spend much time talking about practical aspects of this location, choosing instead to essentially lay out a guide for sightseeing. However, travelers have to pass through a desert to reach Hebron and Mandeville mentions hills and rocks, giving the impression that it is a valley within a dry, mountainous area (36-37).
Mandeville prioritizes the religious aspects of Hebron, as well as other locations he describes prior to this, which makes sense given that this part of the text describes various routes which pilgrims can take to Jerusalem. Mandeville seems to think that his readers will mainly care about the religious histories of these locations and their connections to biblical stories, as well as what relics and religious locations they would be able to see during their travels. He doesn’t talk much about the people in Hebron, aside from grouping them by religion and talking about Christians, Jews, and “Saracens”; he also doesn’t give much attention to economics, trade, or government. His focus is solely to provide a kind of “Guide for Pilgrims” hitting all the religious must-sees in this area. I find Mandeville’s focus on religious legacy specifically interesting, as he tries to relate every place he describes in this location to at least one (usually more) stories from the Old Testament. It’s as though he needs to show his readers the reasons this place is significant and explain why they should stop there and what they should pay attention to. Given that pilgrimages are generally about journeying to a place to pay homage to its historical and cultural significance, this makes sense; however, I do find it unusual that he would spend so much time on places along the way to Jerusalem. The potential pilgrimages his text prevents seem almost like a leisurely road trip, in which travelers take their time getting to their destination and stop to see sights along the way.
(pp. 36-37)
While Ibn Fadlan is in Saqaliba, he comes across a people camped by the Itil river called the Rus. In Saqaliba for trade, the Rus appear to be from the North. Fadlan first recalls their “beauty,” describing their appearance. Here he mentions race for one of the only times in his travel narrative. He says they are “fair and ruddy.” Then he talks about their dress, specifically their weapons, and then he mentions that they have tattoos and how their women wear expensive jewelry. After he is done talking about their “beauty,” he talks about their “uncleanliness.” From literal dirtiness to “disgusting habits,” Fadlan spends pages ranting about the Rus and their inferiority. He belittles their religious practices, describing Rus rituals revolving around slavery and money. He focuses on practices, true or not, that the Islamic world would consider immoral. For example, abandoning sick people, cruel and unusual punishment, sex-slavery, and especially sacrilegious burials.
In Islam, burning bodies is considered mutilation and is forbidden, so Fadlan is extremely disturbed by this. He talks in-depth about the Ritual, about slaves and animals buried with their masters and about the burning of boats. He recalls that, when a man dies, an enslaved girl and all the man’s horses must be sacrificed with him, then they are burned together.
Fadlan’s account of the Rus is most peculiar because of his contradictions. First, he says he “has never seen bodies more perfect than theirs,” then he calls them, “the filthiest of God’s creatures.” It is almost as if he wrote the former one day, and the latter, unfavorable entries, after he had learned of the practices and culture of the Rus. Sacrilege practices like tattoos or the indulgence of jewelry does not bother Fadlan until he learns that they burn their dead. Also, Fadlan is not bothered by the treatment of enslaved people or slavery itself, until he meets the Rus.
The day-to-night-like switch of Fadlan’s stance on the Rus suggests that his opinions on peoples and cultures are heavily dependent on how they align with his own religious culture and values. Furthermore, how he portrays a group of people is reflective of how he wants other people to think about said group of people. Here with the Rus, he wants his audience to fear and dehumanizes the Rus –to “other” them. Fadlan does not want his audience to believe that the Rus are a civilized culture worthy to interact with, to trade with, etc.
In his account of Zanzibar, a location of which Polo did not actually visit, but provides his written account of, Polo begins with basic information about their nation and their culture. He notes their practice of idolatry, having a king, having their own language, and paying tributary to no one. Polo writes of their goods that would be of interest to traveling merchants. He talks about their abundance of elephants and the profitable trade of their tusks. As well, he mentions the many lions, lynxes, sheep, giraffes, and leopards that these people have for trade and food services. The diet of this group of people consists of rice, meat, milk, and dates. Additionally, they are written to be good fighters. Polo explains how the people of Zanzibar will ride into battle on elephants with no arms, but with leather shields, lances, and swords.
For most of his account of Zanzibar, Polo focuses on the appearances of this group of people. He describes them as having the stature of giants, and are abnormally strong due to their immense size and claims they can carry the load big enough for five men. These people are of a big built race and are stout and large limbed. According to Polo, they have big mouths, flattened noses, and lips and eyes so big they’re horrible to look at. He also notes that these people go completely naked in their daily lives. Further in his account, Polo dedicates a separate passage to the physical description of the women of Zanzibar. According to him, the women are also “very ugly to look at”. They too have huge mouths, eyes, and noses, and have breasts four times as big as other women.
Most notably in this section is the rare appearance of Polo’s notation of race in the people of Zanzibar. In his account of this nation, Polo mentions that the people here are “quite black”, an infrequent occasion when Polo notes the skin color of the people he visits and reveals his negative opinion based on it. He describes that “altogether their appearance is quite repulsive” and concludes his narrative of the people of Zanzibar with the comment that “anyone who saw them in another country would say they were devils.”
Polo’s account of Zanzibar showcases one of the few instances where he mentions and shares his opinion on the race of one of the groups of people that he visits on his travels. On the one hand, it suggests the lack of importance of a group’s race to Marco, given how the very few times where he notes race at all in his physical descriptions of groups of people. However, he seems to use race in this situation as a means of warning future travelers of the ugliness of this group. Polo writes extensively about the unpleasant appearance of this group, including their dark skin color as one of the reasons for their “quite repulsive” appearance, even though he usually does not make note of the specific race of the groups he visits. His long-winded negative physical description of this group suggests Polo’s appalled reaction and urgency to other travelers of how ugly these people are. Additionally, it is worthy to note that Polo creates a separate section in his writing to discuss the unpleasant appearance of the women of this group. In this description, he uses similar terms to describe their big noses, mouths, and breasts. In giving the physical description of women a separate paragraph, Polo indicates he feels it more abhorrent for the women to be just as ugly as the men, implying beauty standards within his own culture.