Description

This is the first translation of an important travelogue through Spain, Sicily, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Arabic Peninsula and Egypt, made between 1183 and 1185 by a Muslim scholar and traveller Ibn Jubair (ابن جبير).

Ibn Jubair (1145-1217) was born in Valencia to an Arab family of the Kinanah tribe, originating from the Hedjaz region from the surroundings of Mecca. His travel through the Mediterranean in the late 12^th century is a groundbreaking work on this multicultural area, as seen from the eyes of a Muslim scholar.

Ibn Jubair’s original manuscript is not preserved. A 210 page manuscript on the journey, from 1470, produced in Mecca, is today housed in the Leiden University Library. The Arabic text was first published by the orientalist William Wright in 1852 and the first translation follower by the Italian scholar Celestino Schiaparelli.

Celestino Schiaparelli (1841-1919) was an Italian arabist and author, who made important researches on the influence of the Arabic world on Italy in the Medieval times. He was the younger brother of the astronomer Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli and the father of the famous fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973).