Nadene Goldfoot
Jews were prompted to undertake long journeys from early in their history either by the desire for travel and thirst for knowledge, or for commercial and political purposes. Their dispersion over the whole populated world facilitated such travels.
In the 9th century, Jewish merchants, called RADANITES regularly undertook distant journeys from Europe to the Orient, from Franconia (southern France) to China. They are known mainly from a description by the early Arab geographer, Ibn Khordadbeh, (846 to 886) who stated that they spoke Arabic, Persian, Roman and the languages of the Franks, Andalusians, and Slavs. He describes in detail 4 trade routes that they followed. The 1st was via the Mediterranean to Alexandria, overland to the Red Sea, and via the Indian Ocean to the China Sea. The 2nd route went overland via Damascus, Baghdad, and Basra and then continued as in the previous route. The 3rd of the routes was entirely overland across North Africa to Palestine, Baghdad, and then into the interior of China, while the 4th went across central Europe.
The emperor Charlemagne sent a deputation to the caliph, Haroun al-Raschid, which included a Jew, Isaac, who alone returned. Charlemagne or Charles the Great was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and Emperor of the Romans from 800. During the Early Middle Ages, Charlemagne united the majority of western and central Europe.
Eldad HA-DANI son of Mahli the Danite', living in 883, a philologist (A philologist is someone who studies the history of languages, especially by looking closely at literature. If you're fascinated with the way English has changed over time, from Beowulf to Beloved, you might want to become a philologist. Linguistics is the study of language, and a philologist is a type of linguist.), who made adventurous journeys, but the historical value of his reports is disputed. He was a Jewish, Hebrew-writing merchant and traveler of the ninth century. He professed to be a citizen of an independent Jewish state in eastern Africa, probably Ethiopia, inhabited by people claiming descent from the lost Tribes of Dan, Asher, Gad, and Naphtali. Eldad visited Babylonia, Kairouan, and Iberia, where he spread fanciful accounts of the Ten Lost Tribes and halakhot which he claimed he had brought from his native country. "And a Jew, a Merchant from the tribe of Issachar, found me and bought me for 32 gold pieces and brought me back with him to his country. They live in the mountains of the seacoast and belong to the land of the Medes and Persians."
Eldad's Hebrew narrative, Sefer Eldad, established his reputation as a philologist whom leading medieval Jewish grammarians and lexicographers quoted as an authority on linguistic difficulties. His halakhot, which dealt with the laws of shechita, differ in many places from the Talmudic ordinances, and are introduced in the name of Joshua ben Nun, or, according to another version, of Othniel Ben Kenaz. Eldad's accounts soon spread, and, as usual in such cases, were remolded and amplified by copyists and editors. There are numerous differing versions in several languages, made adventurous journeys, but the historical value of his reports is disputed.
About 970, the caliph of Cordova, Spain sent a deputation to Germany, incorporating a Jew, Ibrahim ibn Jakub/ Ibrahim Ben Yacub al-Israili of the 10th century who wrote an account of his journey. His descriptions of his travels have only survived in quotations. He started from Spain in about 965 and traveled through Central Europe, visiting the court of Otto 1st of Germany and reaching Stettin, Poland.
The most famous Jewish traveler was BENJAMIN OF TUDELA Spain, who, about 1160 to 1173, visited about 300 places, journeyed from Spain to France, Italy, Greece, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Persia. His account in 1543 gives much information about the Jewish communities visited. Benjamin was interested not only in the Jewish communities but also in economic and political conditions generally, and collected information on many places which he did not himself visit.
Later (1178-1185) a German Jew, PETHAHIAH OF REGENSBURG, traveled through Poland, Russia, Crimea, the land of the Khazars, Armenia, Media, Babylonia, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Palestine. His travels served as material for a book. Petachiah of Regensburg, also known as Petachiah ben Yakov, Moses Petachiah, and Petachiah of Ratisbon, was a German rabbi of the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries CE. At some point he left his place of birth, Regensburg in Bavaria, and settled in Prague.
Many Jews undertook journeys to Palestine and others went in search of the Lost ten tribes. Other notable Israelites were Abraham Ibn Ezra 1089-1164-a scholar and poet from Spain until 1140 but from then on journeyed extensively. He visited Italy, France, England, and perhaps Palestine. His writings are in Hebrew, was also a Hebrew grammarian of importance, translating from the Arabic and writing several compositions. He was also a scientist and author of several studies on astrology in which he firmly believed. His son, Isaac, was also a poet who lived in the Near East and for a period, professed Islam; Judah Al-Harizi 1170-1235 Spanish Hebrew poet and translator. He traveled widely through Mediterranean countries. His wanderings are reflected in his writings, the most important of which is his Tahkemoni (Hebrew for "The Wise One"). The book is of historical importance as it describes the communities visited by Alharizi and gives appreciations of contemporary Hebrew poets. He translated many books from Arabic into Hebrew, and from Maimonides' Guide to the Perplexed. His style was light and humorous; and Estori Ha-Psariji, who wandered through Palestine for 7 years and wrote a valuable book on the topography.
In the 15th to 17th centuries, individual Jews played some part in the expeditions of the Portuguese and the English. The crew of Christopher Columbus is known to have included at least one hidden Jew, eluding the Spanish Inquisition.
At the end of the 18th century, Samuel Romanelli of Mantua, described his travels from Gibraltar to Algiers and Morocco and in the 19th century, the missionary, Joseph Wolff, traveled to Bokhara. Nathaniel Isaacs explored Zululand and Natal.(KwaZulu-Natal, a coastal South African province, is known for its beaches, mountains and savannah populated by big game. The safari destination Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, in the northeast, is home to black and white rhinos, lions and giraffes. Durban is an Indian-influenced harbor city and a popular surfing spot. Cultural villages around the town of Eshowe showcase the traditions of the indigenous Zulu people. Arminus Vambery penetrated to Central Asia, and Emin Pasha investigated Central Africa. Eduard Glaser and Hermann Burchardt explored Arabia; Aurel Stein explored Central Asia, Arminius Vambery explored Peris. Other African explorers were Angelo Castelbolognesi, Eduard Foa, Louis Binger and Henry Aaron Stern. The Artic explorers included Rudolf Samoilovich, Isaac Israel Hayes, and August Sontag.
Jews have been most known for their contribution to exploring through providing maps and nautical instruments, but there were many who got involved in the exploration of the unknown places as well.
Gasper Da Gama was one from 1444 to 1510. He was an interpreter ("Língua", in old Portuguese) and guide to several fleets of the Portuguese maritime explorations. He was of Jewish origin and was probably born in Poznań in the Kingdom of Poland. In 1498 he was taken captive aboard Vasco da Gama's fleet on its return voyage to Portugal from India. He was known to speak multiple languages including Hebrew and Chaldean, as well as a mixture of Italian and Spanish. There are several versions of his life before meeting Vasco da Gama in India.
Some of these were sourced at Gaspar da Gama himself, but he probably tried to hide some "inconvenient" facts about his own past. According to Gaspar's own account, he became a Jewish traveller, making his way to Jerusalem, and then Alexandria, where he was taken prisoner and sold as a slave in India. In India he secured his freedom in the service of the ruler of Goa.
The chronicler Gaspar Correia states that, when found by the Portuguese, Gaspar da Gama was Captain of the fleet of Yusuf Adil Shah, the Sultan of Bijapur, Arab governor of Goa in India. Damião de Góis says Gaspar da Gama was a Jew born in the city of Poznań in the Kingdom of Poland and that at that time he did not speak Spanish, but the Venetian language, the very language used in European based commercial centers in the East. Could that have been Yiddish?
In 1502 Gaspar da Gama participated in another travel to India commanded by Vasco da Gama, and again in 1505 with the recently appointed viceroy Francisco de Almeida. During these trips, he learned a few African languages.
All this took place at a time when man's only available means of a faster transportation other than his feet, were donkeys and camels, then horses. Horses were first domesticated around 3500 BC, near the steppes of southern Russia and Kazakhstan. At about 2300 BC, horses were brought to the ancient Near East, and by 2000 BC, they were used to pull carts, chariots, wagons, and riding. Even with donkeys they must have done plenty of hiking, themselves, possibly with packs on their backs.
Resource:
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldad_ha-Dani
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliphate_of_C%C3%B3rdoba
https://sites.google.com/site/historyofeastafrica/eldad-ha-dani
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaspar_da_Gama- big article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petachiah_of_Regensburg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Szczecin
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