Benjamin of Tudela
Benjamin von Tudela , also Benjamin ben Jona , actually Benjamin bar Jonás de Tudela (* around the first decades of the 12th century in Tudela in the Kingdom of Navarre ; † around 1173 in Castile ) was the most important Jewish traveler of the Middle Ages . All information about him comes from his travel report "Massaot Binjamin mi-Tudela" (Benjamin's Travels from Tudela).
Itinerary and travel report
Benjamin traveled between 1160 and 1173 via the kingdoms of Navarre and Aragon , southern France ( Languedoc and Provence ), Italy , Greece and the Holy Land as far as Mesopotamia on the borders of Persia and on to Egypt .
Via Saragossa , Tarragona , Barcelona and Girona , he first traveled to Provence , where he described the cities, economic life and Jewish scholars in Narbonne , Béziers , Montpellier , Lunel , Posquières and Arles in great detail. In Marseilles he took a ship to Genoa and traveled from there via Pisa to Rome , where he stayed for a long time, as he described the ancient monuments of the city in detail. He also mentioned the Jewish community in Rome and its relationship with Pope Alexander III. It is therefore assumed that Benjamin's stay in Rome began shortly after the beginning of the pontificate of Alexander III. fell in September 1159. From Rome, Benjamin traveled on through southern Italy and described Salerno , Amalfi , Melfi , Benevento and Brindisi , among others . In Otranto , he traveled by ship via Corfu to Arta . In Greece he mentioned the Jewish silk weavers and the agricultural colony in Krissa on Parnassus . (See also Aitoliko ). He seems to have spent a particularly long time in Constantinople , from where he made a detailed report, for example on Hagia Sophia .
Benjamin's other travel destinations included Patras , Corinth , Thebes , Thessaloniki , Cyprus , Beirut , Jerusalem , Damascus , Mosul , Baghdad , Sura and Pumbedita , Cairo and Alexandria .
Benjamin's statements on Arabia , Persia , India , China and Ethiopia were in all probability composed of reports that he heard, perhaps in Baghdad. For reasons of time alone, Benjamin could not have been able to travel to all of these countries. In 1168 and 1169 he was in Palestine , which at that time was under the rule of the Crusaders as the Kingdom of Jerusalem . His account of the holy places in Palestine, especially the buildings in Jerusalem, is of outstanding importance for the history of Palestine at that time. In Jerusalem he mentioned the Tower of David , the Church of the Holy Sepulcher , the Dome of the Rock and the prayer of the Jews at the Western Wall . He referred to some places in Palestine with their French names, for example Hebron as "Saint Abraham de Bron". In 1170 he was in Mosul and around 1171 in Egypt. This results from the fact that he described the clashes between the Abbasids in Baghdad and the Fatimids , whose rule in Egypt was ended by Saladin in 1171 . Benjamin returned to Spain via Sicily ( Palermo ) no later than 1173 . Benjamin was probably the first European to report on trade with India without having been there himself. He is also considered the first European to mention China by its current name. His report closes with an idealized description of Jewish life in northern France and Germany, which is probably based on reports from other people. He noted that he returned to Spain via Castile after leaving it via Aragón .
Since one of the goals of his trip and his report was to find out something about the living situation of the Jewish fellow believers and the Jewish communities, he indicated, among other things, many places in his travel report ( Massaot ), which was written in Hebrew . Often the names of the rabbis are mentioned as well as the number of Jews (or Jewish families) resident there, sometimes also their professions (e.g. dyers in Brindisi, silk weavers in Thebes, tanners in Constantinople, glaziers in Aleppo and Tire ).
As further sights, Benjamin mentioned the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, the palace of the caliph in Baghdad or the Pharos in Alexandria , the famous 110 meter high lighthouse, one of the seven wonders of the world (one of the last descriptions of the tower that we before it collapsed in 1326 after more than 1600 years). The distance between the places Benjamin traveled was given in day trips or parasangs (1 day trip = 10 parasangs, 1 parasange = about 4 kilometers).
His reports on the wealth and weaknesses of the Byzantine Empire , the assassins in Lebanon and the Oghuz are first-rate historical sources. His travelogue has been translated into almost all European languages and is an important source for medievalists . The Travels of Benjamin of Tudela were first printed in Constantinople in 1543; a second edition, based on a very different manuscript , appeared in Ferrara in 1556 . The standard editions are based on Adolf Asher , with numerous comments and additional material (London 1840–41, reprint New York 1927).
Reason for the trip
Benjamin's purpose of travel is unknown. It is believed that he was a jeweler as he showed interest in the coral trade at several points in his report . Another reason was to find out how Jews lived all over the world in the most varied of living conditions in all possible rulers and cultures.
Another reason that should not be neglected is the situation of the Jews in Spain and throughout Europe. In both Christian and Islamic dominated areas, life for the Jews in the High Middle Ages became more and more threatening. On the Muslim side, fanatical Almohads conquered Córdoba in 1148 . In 1146, Abd al-Mumin , founder of the Almohad Empire, announced to Jews and Christians in Fez : “You only have the choice: Islam or death!” On the Christian side, the crusades began with cruel anti-Jewish riots in the Rhineland in the 11th and 12th centuries. which continued during the Second Crusade , when Flemish and German crusaders wreaked havoc among the Jews in Tortosa in 1147 and 1148 . It can be assumed that Benjamin also explored escape routes from Spain and shelter for his fellow believers in the areas visited.
literature
- Jewish journeys in the Middle Ages: Benjamin von Tudela; Petachja of Regensburg . Translated from Hebrew, with notes and an afterword by Stefan Schreiner. Leipzig 1991, ISBN 3-7350-0140-8
- Syria and Palestine: based on Benjamin of Tudela's travelogue. (ADPV 12). Translated and explained by Hans Peter Rüger. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1990. ISBN 3-447-02881-5
- Meyer Kayserling : History of the Jews in Spain and Portugal. Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 1978. First part, p. 81.
- Paul Borchardt: The travel route of Rabbi Benjamin von Tudela and Rabbi Petachia from Regensburg in Mesopotamia and Persia. In: Yearbook of the Jewish-Literary Society 1924, pp. 137–162
- Gundula M. Tegtmeyer: B. v. T. - Adventure in the 12th century. in: construction . Main topic: The myth of the Silk Road . Searching for traces: the beginning of globalization. No. 7/8, July / Aug. 2010. pp. 16-18. - With another article about the Sassoon family , silk weaving , Jacob d'Ancona (allegedly from the 13th century), a pseudo figure according to the assertion of David Selbourne et al. In German, abstract in English
Web links
- Literature by and about Benjamin von Tudela in the catalog of the German National Library
- Description of Rabbi Benjamin from Tudela of Rome in the XII. century
- The travel report in the critical translation and edition by Nathan Adler: 1907. (PDF file; 9.15 MB)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Benjamin of Tudela |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Benjamin ben Jonah; Benjamín bar Jonás de Tudela (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Jewish merchant and world traveler |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 12th Century |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tudela |
| DATE OF DEATH | around 1173 |
| Place of death | Castile |