book III

, chap. 33: "It is for all the world like an eagle, but one indeed of enormous size. It is so strong that it will seize an elephant in its talons and carry him high into the air and drop him so that he is smashed to pieces; having so killed him, the gryphon swoops down on him and eats him at leisure. The people of those isles call the bird 'Rukh.'" Yule has an interesting note (vol. II, p. 348) showing how old and widespread the fable of the Rukh was, and is of opinion that the reason that the legend was localized in the direction of Madagascar was perhaps that some remains of the great fossil Aepyornis and its colossal eggs were found in that island. Professor Sayce states that the Rukh figures much--not only in Chinese folk-lore--but also in the old, Babylonian literature. The bird is of course familiar to readers of _The Arabian Nights_.]

[Footnote 176: Neither Al-Gingaleh nor Chulan can be satisfactorily identified. Benjamin has already made it clear that to get from India to China takes sixty-three days, that is to say twenty-three days from Khulam to Ibrig, and thence forty days to the sea of Nikpa. The return journey, not merely to India but to Zebid, which Abulfeda and Alberuni call the principal port of Yemen, seems to take but thirty-four days. With regard to Aden, the port long in England's possession, and the so-called first outpost of the Indian Empire, it has already been explained (p. 50) that this part of Arabia as well as Abyssinia on the other side of the Red Sea were considered part of Middle India. Ibn Batuta says about Aden: "It is situated on the sea-shore and is a large city, but without either seed, water, or tree. They have reservoirs in which they collect the rain for drinking. Some rich merchants reside here, and vessels from India occasionally arrive." A Jewish community has been there from time immemorial. The men until recent times used to go about all day in their Tephillin. Jacob Saphir devotes vol. II, chaps, i-x of his _Eben Saphir_, to a full account of the Jews of Aden.]

[Footnote 177: We must take Benjamin's statements here to mean that the independent Jews who lived in the mountainous country in the rear of Aden crossed the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb and made war against the inhabitants of the Plains of Abyssinia. J. Lelewel, in a series of letters addressed to E. Carmoly, entitled _Examen geographique des Voyages de Benjamin de Tudèle_ (Bruxelles, 1852), takes great pains to locate the land of Hommatum [Hebrew:] in lieu of which our text reads [Hebrew:] the land of the Plains; but he quite fails in this and in many other attempts at identification. The Jews coming from Aden had to encounter the forces of the Christian sovereign of Abyssinia, and sought safety in the mountainous regions of that country. Here they were heard of later under the name of Falasha Jews. Cf. Marco Polo, vol. III, chap. xxxv. The reader is referred to Colonel Yule's valuable notes to this chapter. He quotes Bruce's _Abstract of Abyssinian Chronicles_ with regard to a Jewish dynasty which superseded the royal line in the tenth century. See also Dr. Charles Singer's interesting communication in _J. Q.R._, XVII, p. 142, and J. Halevy's _Travels in Abyssinia_ (Miscellany of Hebrew Literature: 2nd Series, p. 175).]

[Footnote 178: Assuan, according to Makrizi, was a most flourishing town prior to 1403, when more than 20,000 of its inhabitants perished. Seba cannot be identified. No doubt our author alludes to Seba, a name repeatedly coupled in Scripture with Egypt, Cush and Havilah.]

[Footnote 179: Heluan is the present Helwan, fourteen miles from Cairo, which was greatly appreciated by the early Caliphs for its thermal sulphur springs. Stanley Lane Poole, in _The Story of Cairo_, p. 61, tells us of its edifices, and adds: "It is curious to consider how nearly this modern health-resort became the capital of Egypt." Heluan is situated on the right bank of the Nile. One would have thought that the caravans proceeding to the interior of Africa through the Sahara Desert would have started from the left bank of the Nile; but we must remember that ancient Memphis, which stood on the left bank and faced Heluan, had been abandoned long before Benjamin's time. Edrisi and Abulfeda confirm Benjamin's statement respecting Zawila or Zaouyla, which was the capital of Gana--the modern Fezzan--a large oasis in the Sahara Desert, south of Tripoli.]

[Footnote 180: This sentence is out of place, and should follow the sentence in the preceding paragraph which speaks of the Sultan Al-Habash.]

[Footnote 181: Kutz, the present Kus, is halfway between Keneh and Luxor. The old town, now entirely vanished, was second in size to Fostat, and was the chief centre of the Arabian trade. The distance of Kus from Fayum is about 300 miles. The letter [Hebrew: 'Sin'] denotes 300, not 3.]

[Footnote 182: In the Middle Ages the Fayum was wrongly called Pithom. E. Naville has identified the ruins of Tell-el-Maskhuta near Ismailieh with Pithom, the treasure city mentioned in Exodus i. 11. Among the buildings, grain-stores have been discovered in the form of deep rectangular chambers without doors, into which the corn was poured from above. These are supposed to date from the time of Rameses II. See _The Store City of Pithom and the Route of the Exodus_: A Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund. E. Naville, 1885. The Fayum, or Marsh-district, owes its extraordinary fertility to the Bahr Yussuf (Joseph's Canal).

The Arab story is that when Joseph was getting old the courtiers tried to bring about his disgrace by inducing Pharaoh to set him what appeared to be an impossible task, viz. to double the revenues of the province within a few years. Joseph accomplished the task by artificially adapting a natural branch of the Nile so as to give the district the benefit of the yearly overflow. The canal thus formed, which is 207 miles in length, was called after Joseph. The storehouses of Joseph are repeatedly mentioned by Arabic writers. Cf. Koran xii. 55, _Jacut_, IV, 933 and _Makrizi_, I, 241.]

[Footnote 183:'Mr. Israel Abrahams, in _J. Q.R._, XVII, 427 sqq., and Mr. E.J. Worman, vol. XVIII, 1, give us very interesting information respecting Fostat and Cairo, as derived from Geniza documents, but to comprehend fully Benjamin's account, we must remember that at the time of his visit the metropolis was passing through a crisis. Since March, 1169, Saladin had virtually become the ruler of Egypt, although nominally he acted as Vizier to the Caliph El-Adid, who was the last of the Fatimite line, and who died Sept. 13, 1171, three days after his deposition. The student is referred to the biography of Saladin by Mr. Stanley Lane Poole, 1878. Chap, viii gives a full account of Cairo as at 1170 and is accompanied by a map. The well-known citadel of Cairo, standing on the spurs of the Mukattam Hills, was erected by Saladin seven years later. The Cairo of 1170, which was styled El Medina, and was called by Benjamin [Hebrew:], was founded in 969, and consisted of an immense palace for the Caliph and his large household. It was surrounded by quarters for a large army, and edifices for the ministers and government offices. The whole was protected by massive walls and imposing Norman-like gates. The civil population--more particularly the Jews--dwelt in the old Kasr-esh-Shama quarter round the so-called Castle of Babylon, also in the city of Fostat, founded in 641, and in the El-Askar quarter, which was built in 751. These suburbs went under the name of Misr or Masr, but are called by Benjamin "Mizraim." Fostat was set on fire on Nov. 12, 1168, by the order of the Vizier Shawar, in order that it might not give shelter to the Franks who had invaded Egypt, but was soon rebuilt in part. It now goes under the name Masr-el-Atika, and is noted at the present day for its immense rubbish heaps. See Stanley Lane Poole's _Cairo_, p. 34.]

[Footnote 184: Cf. two elaborate papers by Dr. A. Büchler, "The Reading of the Law and Prophets in a Triennial Cycle," _J. Q.R._, V, 420, VI, I, and E.N. Adler, ib. VIII, 529. For details as to synagogues, see _J. Q.R._, XVIII, 11; Letter I of R. Obadja da Bertinoro; _Miscellany of Hebrew Literature_, p. 133; Joseph Sambari's Chronicle in Dr. Neubauer's _Anecdota Oxoniensia_, p. 118. Sambari must have had Benjamin's _Itinerary_ before him, as has been pointed out by Mr. I. Abrahams, _J. Q.R._, II, 107.]

[Footnote 185: Zunz was the first to put forward the supposition that R. Nethanel is identical with Hibet Allah ibn al Jami, who later on became Saladin's physician (Asher, vol. II, p. 253). Graetz, vol. VI, p. 307, inclines to the same view. Dr. Steinschneider, _Die arabische Literatur der Juden_, 1902, p. 178, confirms this opinion, and gives a detailed account of Hibet Allah's medical and philosophical works. Dr. Neubauer, in an article, _J.Q.R._, VIII, 541, draws attention to a Geniza fragment which contains a marriage contract dated 1160, wherein R. Nethanel is called a Levite. Benjamin does not style him so here. The same article contains the so-called Suttah Megillah, on which Professor Kaufmann comments, _J.Q.R._, X, p. 171. It would appear that R. Nethanel never attained the dignity of Nagid. During Benjamin's visit to Egypt Sutta, in his capacity of Chief Collector of Taxes, filled nominally that office. Later on, after Sutta's fall, the dignity of Nagid was offered to Moses Maimonides, but was not accepted by him.]

[Footnote 186: This term (which is not given in the printed editions) means that the people were followers of Ali, the son-in-law of Mohammed, founder of the Shiite sect.]

[Footnote 187: This same Nilometer is readily shown to the visitor at the south end of the Island of Roda, which is accessible by means of a ferry-boat from the Kasr-esh Shama, not far from the Kenisat Eliyahu, where the Geniza manuscripts were found. See E.N. Adler's _Jews in Many Lands_, p. 28, also _J.Q.R._, IX, 669. The Nilometer is in a square well 16 feet in diameter, having in the centre a graduated octagonal column with Cufic inscriptions, and is 17 cubits in height, the cubit being 21-1/3 inches. The water of the Nile, when at its lowest, covers 7 cubits of the Nilometer, and when it reaches a height of 15-2/3 cubits the Sheikh of the Nile proclaims the Wefa, i.e., that the height of the water necessary for irrigating every part of the Nile valley has been attained. The signal is then given for the cutting of the embankment. We know that the column of the Nilometer has been frequently repaired, which fact explains the apparent discrepancy between the height of the gauge as given in Benjamin's narrative and the figures just mentioned.]

[Footnote 188: It has only been established quite recently that the periodical inundations of the Nile are not caused by the increased outflow from the lakes in Central Africa, inasmuch as this outflow is quite lost in the marshy land south of Fashoda. Moreover, the river is absolutely blocked by the accumulation of the Papyrus weed, known as Sudd, the [Hebrew: êis] of Scripture, Exod. ii. 3-5. The inundations are brought about purely by the excessive rains in the highlands of Abyssinia, which cause the flooding of the Blue Nile and the Atbara in June and July and of the lower Nile in August and September.]

[Footnote 189: In a Geniza fragment C quoted by Dr. Neubauer in _J.Q.R._, IX, p. 36, this city is called [Hebrew:]. Probably the first two letters denote that it is an island. Compare the passage in Schechter's _Saadyana_, pp. 90, 91, [Hebrew:].]

[Footnote 190: Ashmun is described by Abulfeda as a large city. We read in a Geniza fragment that David ben Daniel, a descendant of the Exilarch, passed through this place on the way to Fostat, _J.Q.R._, XV, 87. The fourth channel is the Tanitic branch. See p. 78, n. 2.]

[Footnote 191: See Koran xii. 55. Sambari, who being a native of Egypt knew Cairo well, explains very fully, p. 119, that Masr-el-Atika is not here referred to, but ancient Memphis, the seat of royalty in Joseph's time. He explains that it was situated on the left side of the Nile, two parasangs distant from Cairo. See Reinaud's _Abulfeda_, vol. II, p. 140.]

[Footnote 192: See _Makrizi_, vol. II, 464, and _J.Q.R._, XV, p. 75; also XIX, 502.]

[Footnote 193: E. Naville in his _Essay on the Land of Goshen_, being the fifth Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund, 1887, comes to the conclusion that the land of Goshen comprised the triangle formed by Bilbais, Zakazig, and Tel-el-Kebir. He is of opinion that the land of Ramses included the land of Goshen, and is that part of the Delta which lies to the eastward of the Tanitic branch of the Nile. The capital of the province--the Egyptian nome of Arabia--was the Phakusa of the Greeks. A small railway station is now on the spot, which bears the name Ramses. Cf. Gen. xlvii. 11.]

[Footnote 194: Ain-al-Shams was situated three parasangs from Fostat, according to Jacut (III, 762), who records that in his day the place showed many traces of buildings from Pharaoh's time. Benha is now a somewhat important railway station about thirty miles north of Cairo. Muneh Sifte is a station on the Damietta arm of the Nile.]

[Footnote 195: Samnu is perhaps Samnat, Dukmak, V, 20. On Damira see Schechter, _Saadyana_, p. 82; Worman, _J.Q.R._, XVIII, 10. The zoologist Damiri was born here. Lammanah in the other versions is Mahallat or Mehallet-el-Kebir, mentioned by Abulfeda as a large city with many monuments, and is now a railway station between Tanta and Mansura. Sambari (119, 10) mentions a synagogue there, to which Jews even now make pilgrimages (Goldziher, _Z.D.P.G._, vol. XXVIII, p. 153).]

[Footnote 196: In the Middle Ages certain biblical names were without valid reason applied to noted places. No-Ammon mentioned in Scripture (Jer. xlvi. 25 and Nahum iii. 8), also in cuneiform inscriptions, was doubtless ancient Thebes. See Robinson, _Biblical Researches_, vol. I, p. 542. Another notable example is the application of the name of Zoan to Cairo. Ancient Tanis (p. 78) was probably Zoan, and we are told (Num. xiii. 22) that Zoan was built seven years after Hebron. It can be traced as far back as the sixth dynasty--over 2,000 years before Cairo was founded.]

[Footnote 197: Josephus, who had the opportunity of seeing the Pharos before it was destroyed, must likewise have exaggerated when he said that the lighthouse threw its rays a distance of 300 stadia. Strabo describes the Pharos of Alexandria, which was considered one of the wonders of the world. As the coast was low and there were no landmarks, it proved of great service to the city. It was built of white marble, and on the top there blazed a huge beacon of logs saturated with pitch. Abulfeda alludes to the large mirror which enabled the lighthouse keepers to detect from a great distance the approach of the enemy. He further mentions that the trick by which the mirror was destroyed took place in the first century of Islamism, under the Caliph Valyd, the son of Abd-almalek.]

[Footnote 198: It will be seen that the list of names given in our text is much more complete than that given by Asher, who enumerates but twenty-eight Christian states in lieu of forty given in the British Museum MS. In some cases the readings of _R_ and _O_, which appear to have been written by careful scribes, and are of an older date than _E_ and the printed editions, have been adopted. In our text, through the ignorance of the scribe, who had no gazetteer or map to turn to, some palpable errors have crept in. For instance, in naming Amalfi, already mentioned on p. 9, the error in spelling it [Hebrew:] has been repeated. Patzinakia (referred to on p. 12, as trading with Constantinople) is there spelt [Hebrew:] not [Hebrew:]. [Hebrew:] may be read [Hebrew:]; I have rendered it Hainault in accordance with Deguigne's _Memoir_, referred to by Asher. Maurienne (mentioned p. 79) embraced Savoy and the Maritime Alps. It was named after the Moors who settled there.]

[Footnote 199: Simasin or Timasin is doubtless near Lake Timsah. Sunbat is spoken of by Arabic writers as noted for its linen manufactures and trade.]

[Footnote 200: Elim has been identified with Wadi Gharandel. It is reached in two hours from the bitter spring in the Wadi Hawara, believed to be the _Marah_ of the Bible. Burckhardt conjectures that the juice of the berry of the gharkad, a shrub growing in the neighbourhood, may have the property, like the juice of the pomegranate, of improving brackish water; see p. 475, Baedecker's _Egypt_, 1879 edition. Professor Lepsius was responsible for the chapter on the Sinai routes.]

[Footnote 201: A journey of two days would bring the traveller to the luxuriant oasis of Firan, which ancient tradition and modern explorers agree in identifying as Rephidim. From Firan it is held, by Professor Sayce and others, that the main body of the Israelites with their flocks and herds probably passed the Wadi esh-Shekh, while Moses and the elders went by Wadi Selaf and Nakb el-Hawa. The final camping-ground, at which took place the giving of the Law, is supposed to be the Raha plain at the foot of the peak of Jebel Musa. It may be mentioned that some explorers are of opinion that Mount Serbal was the mountain of revelation. There are authorities who maintain that Horeb was the name of the whole mountain range, Sinai being the individual mountain; others think that Horeb designated the northern range and Sinai the southern range. See Dr. Robinson's _Biblical Researches_, vol. I, section iii: also articles _Sinai_ in Cheyne's _Encyclopaedia Biblica_ and Dean Stanley's _Sinai and Palestine_.]

[Footnote 202: The monastery of St. Catherine was erected 2,000 feet below the summit of Jebel Musa. It was founded by Justinian to give shelter to the numerous Syrian hermits who inhabited the peninsula. The monastery was presided over by an Archbishop.]

[Footnote 203: The passage in square brackets is inserted from the Oxford MS. The city of Tur, which Benjamin calls Tur-Sinai, is situated on the eastern side of the Gulf of Suez, and affords good anchorage, the harbour being protected by coral reefs. It can be reached from the monastery in little more than a day. The small mountain referred to by Benjamin is the Jebel Hammam Sidna Musa, the mountain of the bath of our lord Moses.]

[Footnote 204: Tanis, now called San, was probably the Zoan of Scripture, but in the Middle Ages it was held to be Hanes, mentioned in Isa. xxx. 4. It was situated on the eastern bank of the Tanitic branch of the Nile, about thirty miles south-west of the ancient Pelusium. The excavations which have been made by M. Mariette and Mr. Flinders Petrie prove that it was one of the largest and most important cities of the Delta. It forms the subject of the Second Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund, 1885. The place must not be confounded with the seaport town Tennis, as has been done by Asher. In the sixth century the waters of the Lake Menzaleh invaded a large portion of the fertile Tanis territory. Hence Benjamin calls it an island in the midst of the sea. In a Geniza document dated 1106, quoted by Dr. Schechter, _Saadyana_, p. 91, occurs the passage: [Hebrew:] "In the city of the isle Hanes, which is in the midst of the sea and of the tongue of the river of Egypt called Nile."]

[Footnote 205: The straits of Messina were named Faro. Lipar has reference, no doubt, to the Liparian Islands, which are in the neighbourhood.]

[Footnote 206: Cf. Bertinoro's interesting description of the synagogue at Palermo, which he said had not its equal, _Miscellany of Hebrew Literature_, vol. I, p. 114.]

[Footnote 207: Hacina is the Arabic for a fortified or enclosed place.]

[Footnote 208: Buheira is the Arabic word for a lake. The unrivalled hunting grounds of William II are well worth visiting, being situated between the little town called Parco and the magnificent cathedral of Monreale, which the king erected later on.]

[Footnote 209: King William II, surnamed "the Good," was sixteen years old when Benjamin visited Sicily in 1170. During the king's minority the Archbishop was the vice-regent. He was expelled in 1169 on account of his unpopularity. Asher asserts that Benjamin's visit must have taken place prior to this date, because he reads [Hebrew:] _This is the domain of the viceroy._ The Oxford MS. agrees with our text and reads [Hebrew:] _This is the domain of the king's garden._ Chroniclers tell that when the young king was freed from the control of the viceroy he gave himself up to pleasure and dissipation. Asher is clearly wrong, because a mere boy could not have indulged in those frolics. The point is of importance, as it absolutely fixes the date of Benjamin's visit to the island. It was in the year 1177 that William married the daughter of our English king, Henry II.]

[Footnote 210: Edrisi, who wrote his Geography in Sicily in 1154 at the request of King Roger II, calls the island a pearl, and cannot find words sufficient in praise of its climate, beauty, and fertility. He is especially enthusiastic concerning Palermo. Petralia is described by him as being a fortified place, and an excellent place of refuge, the surrounding country being under a high state of cultivation and very productive. Asher has no justification for reading Pantaleoni instead of Petralia.]

[Footnote 211: The passage in square brackets is to be found in most of the printed editions, as well as in the Epstein (E) MS., which is so much akin to them, and is comparatively modern. The style will at once show that the passage is a late interpolation, and the genuine MSS. now forthcoming omit it altogether.]

[Footnote 212: See Aronius, _Regester_, p. 131. This writer, as a matter of course, had only the printed editions before him. His supposition that [Hebrew:] is Mayence is more than doubtful, but his and Lelewel's identification of [Hebrew:] with Mantern and [Hebrew:] with Freising has been accepted. Aronius casts doubts as to whether Benjamin actually visited Germany, in the face of his loose statements as to its rivers. It will now be seen that he is remarkably correct in this respect.]

[Footnote 213: The Jews of Prague are often spoken of in contemporary records. Rabbi Pethachia started on his travels from Ratisbon, passing through Prague on his way to Poland and Kieff.]

[Footnote 214: Benjamin does not tell us whether Jews resided in Kieff. Mr. A. Epstein has obligingly furnished the following references: In [[Hebrew:], Graetz, _Monatsschrift_, 39, 511, we read: [Hebrew:]. In [Hebrew:], _Monatsschrift_, 40, 134, [Hebrew:]. This Rabbi Moses is also mentioned in _Resp._ of R. Meir of Rothenburg, ed. Berlin, p. 64. Later records give the name [Hebrew:].]

[Footnote 215: The vair (vaiverge or wieworka in Polish) is a species of marten, often referred to in mediaeval works. Menu-vair is the well-known fur miniver.]

[Footnote 216: Lelewel, having the reading [Hebrew:] before him, thought Sedan was here designated. H. Gross suspected that the city of Auxerre, situated on the borders of the province of the Isle de France, the old patrimony of the French kings, must have been intended, and the reading of our text proves him to be right. The Roman name Antiossiodorum became converted into Alciodorum, then Alcore, and finally into Auxerre. The place is often cited in our mediaeval literature, as it was a noted seat of learning. The great men of Auxerre, [Hebrew:], joined the Synod convened by Rashbam and Rabenu Tam. See _Gallia Judaica_, p. 60, also Graetz, vol. VI, 395 (10).]

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