pethachia

Updated: May 13, 2025

It was ordered to be restored by William the Good in 1169, so that Benjamin must have visited Bari before that date. See p. 79, note 2. Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. lvi, describing the reconquest of the southern provinces of Italy by the Byzantine Emperor Manuel, 1155, says. It took Rabbi Pethachia eight days to pass through the land of the Khazars. See Dr.

of Tudela Benjamin - The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela

The reader must bear in mind that at the time when Benjamin visited Bagdad, the Seljuk Sultans had been defeated, and the Caliphs stood higher than ever in power. Pethachia makes the same estimate, which, however, is inconsistent with his statement, that the Head of the Academy had 2,000 disciples at one time, and that more than 500 surrounded him.

of Tudela Benjamin - The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela

The Kizil Uzun is on the right of the watershed of the mountains of Kurdistan, and falls into the Caspian Sea. The Khabur above referred to flows through Mesopotamia, not through Media. Rabbi Pethachia, who travelled through Armenia within twenty years after Benjamin, speaks of four mountain peaks, between which the Ark became fixed and from which it could not get free. See also Marco Polo, Bk.

of Tudela Benjamin - The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela

Pethachia's remarks are significant: "In the land of Cush and Babel are more than sixty myriads of Jews; as many are in the land of Persia. But in Persia the Jews are subject to hard bondage and suffering. Therefore Rabbi Pethachia visited only one city in Persia." Benjamin here refers to the Caliph El Mostanshed. The Caliph is aptly compared to the Pope.

of Tudela Benjamin - The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela