LA ALTERIDAD RELIGIOSA Y ÉTNICA EN LOS ESCRITOS DE VIAJES
Judíos, Cristianos y Musulmanes de Siria-Palestina (siglos XII-XVII) Ref. FFI2010-16633
Jacob son of Nathanel ha-Cohen
(second half of the 12th century)
This traveller came probably from Germany to the Land of Israel in the first half of the Crusade period, namely before the conquest of the country by Saladin in 1187. He started his short account in describing his journey inside the country and mentions several localities, such as: Hebron, Beit-Lehem, Jerusalem, Acre and some other places in the north and the south, where he passed and also mentions in most of them the holy grave of Biblical and Tanaitic figures. It seems that his description is a draft, since there is a disorder in surveying the places from geographical point of view. Maybe this disorder has been done by a copiest of this text. It seems that his way home was directed from south via Sinai peninsula to Alexandria, but he did not leave details on that way, just a short description of the town of Alexandria and its harbour.
Manuscripts
- 1.ספור מסעות ומקומות א"י וקברות הצדיקים אשר הם שם שחבר כהר"ר יעקב בר נתנאל כהן כשנכנס לארץ ישראל. Cambridge – University library Add. 539, fol. 139v-140r. 16th century. Italian script.
Hebrew Printed editions (selection)
- 1. L. Grünhut, As an appendix edition in Petahya of Regensburg's Sibbuv edition of L. Grünhut, Jerusalem 1905, pp.
- 2. J. D. Eisenstein In Ozar Massaoth, New York 1926, pp. 58-62. second edition Tel-Aviv 1969.
- 3. A. Yaari, Maso't Eretz-Israel, Jerusalem 1946, pp. 55- 62. second edition, Ramat Gan 1976.
Translated editions
- H. Harboun, Les Voyageurs juifs du Moyen Age XIIe sie'cle, translated by H. Harboun, Aix-en-Provence 1986, pp. 187-204.
- E. N. Adler, Jewish Travellers in the Middle Ages, London 1930, pp. 92-99. Second edition, NewYork 1987.
- J. R. Magdalena Nom de Deu, Palestina y eurasis a finales del siglo XII, Barcelona 1989, pp. 8-18.
French
English
Spanish
Studies bibliography
- J. Prawer, The Hebrew itineraries of the Crusades period, Cathedra (Hebrew), 40 (1986), pp. 41-45.
- J. Prawer, The History of the Jews in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, Oxford 1988, pp. 184-191. Hebrew edition, Jerusalem 2000, pp. 187-192.
