Beginning in his hometown of Tudela, Benjamin set out to record as many jewish settlements as he could find and hear about. He left Tudela between 1159 and 1163 and returned in 1172/1173. During this time he visited many places listing them all in his travel diary known today as The Itinerary on Benjamin of Tudela. What is left of his itinerary today is nothing more than the town name, the distance to the town, the prominent Rabbis and scholars of the town, and the occasional description of his journey. When traveling through a large town such as Rome or Constantinople he might describe the town and its people in more detail, but this is a rare occurrence.
These were pivotal times for all three of the abrahamic religions. It seems as if Benjamin could see the emerging power struggle between cross and crescent and that Judaism was going to be caught in the middle of this struggle. His journey then becomes a proactive attempt to show that judaism was just as widespread as christianity and Islam. When setting out to travel the know world he left home deliberately with the goal of identifying as many Jewish settlements as possible. His cataloging of as many jewish settlements and their leaders as he could was an act of necessity to show that though Judaism was not a religious superpower he was not going to …show more content…
The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela is a travel log of what Benjamin did and saw.” Benjamin is certainly a man held in high esteem by these people which might blind them to any shortcomings of his or his travels. No information is given on how these statements were tested or by who exactly. After this introduction the itinerary becomes a first person narrative in Benjamin's voice starting in his native town of
These were pivotal times for all three of the abrahamic religions. It seems as if Benjamin could see the emerging power struggle between cross and crescent and that Judaism was going to be caught in the middle of this struggle. His journey then becomes a proactive attempt to show that judaism was just as widespread as christianity and Islam. When setting out to travel the know world he left home deliberately with the goal of identifying as many Jewish settlements as possible. His cataloging of as many jewish settlements and their leaders as he could was an act of necessity to show that though Judaism was not a religious superpower he was not going to …show more content…
The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela is a travel log of what Benjamin did and saw.” Benjamin is certainly a man held in high esteem by these people which might blind them to any shortcomings of his or his travels. No information is given on how these statements were tested or by who exactly. After this introduction the itinerary becomes a first person narrative in Benjamin's voice starting in his native town of