BENJAMIN, Israel Joseph. Eight Years in Asia and Africa from 1846 to 1855

In emulation of the medieval Spanish traveler Benjamin of Tudela, the self-styled Benjamin II, Israel Joseph Benjamin, a native of Foltitscheny, Moldavia, recorded his travels through Egypt, Eretz Israel, Syria, Armenia, Iraq, Kurdistan, Persia, India, and China. He returned to Europe via Afghanistan, reaching Vienna in the year 1851, only to set out again on another voyage from Italy to North Africa. His reports earned the praise of the German scholar Alexander von Humboldt. The first appearance of this work was the French edition of 1856: Cinq années de voyage en orient 1846-1851. Benjamin died in London in abject poverty while making preparations for a second journey to the Orient. See EJ, Vol. IV, cols. 526-7 Present-day readers may find revealing Benjamin’s tale of woe concerning the Jews of Iraq and the barbarous conditions generally prevailing in that country (pp. 88-90)