Author: kremerv (Page 2 of 2)

When Ibn Battutah visits Damascus, he focuses on a variety of aspects of the city, specifically the religious sites, activities, and people. He describes the main mosque in Damascus, called the Mosque of the Umayyads. He lists the history of the mosque, such as the architect and the history of its construction. He explains how the mosque was originally a church and how the Muslims negotiated and conquered to get the land. He continues by describing the architectural features like the measurements and details such as the fusaifisa. Ibn Battutah also mentions the Mosque of the Footprints, which is where Muslims believe Moses walked and left his footprints. Ibn Battutah also talks about the religious activities people did in Damascus while he was there. He mentions the Great Plague also known as the Black death and how the Muslim community fasted for three days to fight the plague. Members of all three religions, Jews, Christians, and Muslims, supplicated and were answered by God by having only two thousand die a day, as opposed from Cairo which had 24 thousand a day. Ibn Battutah praises how Damascus has a variety of charitable endowments in the city that help people in need like travelers and the poor. Beyond religious charities, Ibn Battutah talks about the religious academics who are active in Damascus. Ibn Battutah has multiple interactions with these academics, learning from them and observing their traditions.

Nearly all of Ibn Battutah’s observations about Damascus relate to religion. Ibn Battutah clearly cares deeply for the religious practices that occur in Damascus, recording his interactions and observations. This emphasis on religion demonstrates how important religion was to Ibn Battutah own life and culture. Some of Ibn Battutah’s emphasis on religion may come from his background. Ibn Battutah was related to Islamic legal scholars, and he attended a Muslim school where he learned Islamic law. This may have biases Ibn Battutah to record religious observations over others, but religion was an integral part of the life for people in Damascus.  Life in Damascus seemed to center around religion. People’s identities are connected to their religion and people are classified by their religious beliefs, as demonstrated in Ibn Battutah’s observations about actions during the Black Death and religious academics. It seems like religion is the most important identifier when it comes to a person. This circles back to how the mosque and religion seemed to the center of life, with religious groups sponsoring charities and schools. The idea of religion being the center of life is not unique to Damascus and the Middle East during the medieval period. Other places that were organized religion was prevalent, such as in Jewish communities and Christian communities. I wonder if when Ibn Battutah visits areas of the world where religion is less organized, will he be confused or disturbed. I predict that Ibn Battutah uncomfortable-ness with non-Islamic religions and polytheistic religions will outweigh his discomfort with less organized religions.

Name of text and traveler: Ibn Battutah and The Travels of Ibn Battutah

List of locations: Alexandria, Cairo, Jerusalem, Damascus, Medina, Mecca, Messhed Ali (Najaf), Basra, Shiraz, Baghdad

1. Location: Jerusalem

Where was the last place the traveler stopped? How far away is it?

Cairo- 264 miles

Describe the terrain.

The route that Ibn Battutah took from Cairo to Jerusalem seems to generally follow the coastline of the Mediterranean, but at a distance, which meant he was traveling mainly through deserts. As Ibn Battutah got closer to the Levant, the terrain becomes more mountainous and rockier which continues all the way into Jerusalem.

What modes of transportation are necessary? How many days would it take?

Ibn Battutah was either traveling by foot, horseback, or cart. He does not mention which of these, but a boat would not have been necessary. If everyone was on foot, it would have taken around 13 days. If everyone was on horseback, it would have taken around 9 days. If carts were used, it would have taken around 20 days.

2. Location: Mecca

Where was the last place the traveler stopped? How far away is it?

Medina- 218 miles

Describe the terrain.

The terrain from Medina to Mecca is very rocky and mountainous. The overall elevation does not change significantly, but it is far from being flat. The climate is also desert, which meant water was harder to come by, especially because no major freshwater bodies are near the route.

What modes of transportation are necessary? How many days would it take?

Ibn Battutah most likely was on foot when traveling from Medina to Mecca because he was doing Hajj (pilgrimage). Hajj is required to be on foot travel. Because Ibn Battutah was on foot, traveling on rocky terrain, it would have taken him around 12 days.

3. Location: Shiraz

Where was the last place the traveler stopped? How far away is it?

Basra- 295 miles

Describe the terrain.

The terrain from Basra starts out flat and sandy, but around 130 miles into the journey, the elevation begins to increase, and the terrain gets rocky. Until reaching Shiraz, where the land flattens out into a desert, the terrain is all mountainous and rocky, making it difficult to travel. Access to freshwater after leaving Basra would also have been an issue.

What modes of transportation are necessary? How many days would it take?

Ibn Battutah either traveled on foot, by horse, or by cart. If on foot, it would have taken around a month if they managed to go 10 miles a day. If on horseback, if would have taken around 20 days. If on carts, it would have taken around a month.

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On his travels, Ibn Battutah visits the city of Jerusalem which he refers to as Bait al-Muqaddas. Ibn Battutah spends limited time actually describing the city as a whole, comparing it with the cities of Medina and Mecca and then saying it “is large and imposing, and built of squared stones” (26). Ibn Battutah then moves on to the focus of his description which are the various religious landmarks that are located in Jerusalem. First, Ibn Battutah talks about what he calls the “Sacred Mosque” which refers to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Temple Mount area in the old city of Jerusalem. Ibn Battutah admires the mosque greatly, commenting on its beauty and brilliant architecture. Ibn Battutah is incredibly detailed in his description, going so far as to describe the dimensions of the mosque. After talking about the Sacred Mosque, Ibn Battutah speaks about the Dome of the Rock, which is located within the Sacred Mosque complex. Again, Ibn Battutah uses extensive details to talk about the architecture and physical makeup of the structure. He uses rich adjectives to describe the physicality of the building and the actual rock, which some Quranic commentators believe is where Muhammad began the Night Journey. Ibn Battutah finishes off his description of religious sites by talking about what refers to the Mount of Olives, where Jesus ascended into Heaven. After speaking on this and similar Christian sites, Ibn Battutah moves on in his journey from Jerusalem.

I was very surprised by how little time Ibn Battutah spent describing Jerusalem. This may be because I am coming from a Christian background but even in Islam, Jerusalem is still home to the third holiest site. It is significant that all of Ibn Battutah’s attention seems to be on the religious sites in Jerusalem, since he never talks about any of the people or geographical landmarks that he sees except in reference to those religious sites. Clearly religion is important to Ibn Battutah and his own identity. He speaks about the sites in a reverential way, highlighting their sanctity. Interestingly, Ibn Battutah does not only speak about Muslim religious sites; he also mentions Christian ones. His descriptions of Christian religious sites and Christian pilgrims provides an interesting lens into Muslim-Christian relationships in this time period. While describing his journey to Jerusalem, Ibn Battutah states that he briefly stopped at Bait Lahm or Bethlehem, which he calls the birthplace of Jesus. Ibn Battutah comments that the Christian also regard the location highly and “hospitably entertain all who alight it” (26). This implies some level of cooperation between people of different religions which is not always presented as common in the medieval period. On the other hand, Ibn Battutah also brings up interactions that seem to imply higher tensions between the two religions. Ibn Battutah mentions the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Christians believe that Christ was buried before the Resurrection. In this section, Ibn Battutah says that Christians have to pay a tax to the Muslims and “various humiliations, which they suffer very unwillingly” (28). This description sounds more stereotypical of other medieval narratives I have read where there is a lot of animosity between the two groups. It also emphasizes how Muslims have control of the Levant, which angered a lot of European leaders and religious officials.

Near the beginning of his travels, Ibn Battutah comes to the modern-day city of Cairo, which he refers to as Misr. Ibn Battutah focuses on the cultural and political aspects of Cairo as opposed to the geographic and natural physical characteristics. The only natural phenomenon that Ibn Battutah talks at length about is the Nile River. Ibn Battutah describes how he uses the Nile to travel both to and from Cairo. He claims that the Nile is one of the world’s most important rivers, comparing it to the Euphrates and the Tigris. He notes that the Nile is extraordinary because it flows south to north unlike any other river. Ibn Battutah emphasizes how the Nile is essential to life in Cairo and how Cairo is located where it is because of the Nile. Ibn Battutah comments that Cairo’s location of the Nile helps Cairo in its agricultural pursuits, trade, and travel. The Nile is a major thoroughfare in Egypt, with goods traveling up and down the river. The allowed easy travel to and from Cairo, and also made Cairo a stopping point in trade that was going out into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile was also good for agriculture around Cairo, helping to support its population and furthering trade. Ibn Battutah notes that Cairo is the place “of broad provinces and fruitful lands.”

Instead of focusing on geographic landmarks, Ibn Battutah is more concerned with the culture and people that live in Cairo. Ibn Battutah describes Cairo as being an incredibly cosmopolitan city, with many different types of people. Ibn Battutah says the population varies greatly, with some being incredibly wealthy and others destitute and poor. He goes into detail about the more important people that live in Cairo such the Sultan of Egypt and the amirs of Cairo. Ibn Battutah comments on the nobility and generosity of these different characters, how they were very wealthy and religiously virtuous. I think that Ibn Battutah includes these details because they are people, he would need to endear himself to those people and treat them with respect, especially if they were going to read his work or hear about.

Beyond people, Ibn Battutah also describes many buildings and cultural landmarks. Many of these were religious in nature like famous mosques, madrasahs, and convents. He notes how these buildings are all beautiful. He also describes their location in detail and the types of people that live there. Ibn Battutah relates how the people in convents lived such as their daily routines and how they practiced Sufism and were Persian. Ibn Battutah notes the great cultural landmarks around Cairo like the pyramids and berbas. There are also other more significant religious sites that Ibn Battutah encounters like the al-Qarafah cemetery, the mausoleum, and the shrine of Husain. I think Ibn Battutah intentionally focuses on religious sites and monuments because religion is important to his own personal identity. Ibn Battutah is a Muslim and constantly references God and the Quran. Clearly, religious matters are important to him so it makes sense that he would pay special attention to religious places and the behaviors of religious people.