The Travels of Benjamin of Tudela : Through Three Continents in the Twelfth Century

Through Three Continents in the Twelfth Century . . .}}Imagine a time when streets were narrow and dirty, towns were}surrounded by walls, brigands lurked alongside roads that were}treacherous and few, bridges over rivers were rare, and a man}setting out on a journey never knew if he would return alive.}It was the year 1159 when the medieval Jewish traveler}Benjamin left his native town of Tudela in northern Spain on}an adventure to see the places he had read about in the Bible.}He traveled for fourteen years – from Rome to Constantinople}to Jerusalem to Baghdad, among others – by ship, by cart, and}on foot, enduring great hardships in his quest for knowledge}of other places and people.}}Working from Benjamin’s original chronicle, written in}Hebrew, as well as other sources on the period, Uri Shulevitz}captures the true spirit of this amazing adventurer, using a text written in the first person and superlative illustrations. Ages 9-12