Petachiah of Regensburg

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Petachiah of Regensburg, also known as Petachiah ben Yakov, Moses Petachiah, and Petachiah of Ratisbon, was a German

travelogue that eventually became known under the title Travels of Rabbi Petachia of Ratisbon.[1]

Petachiah was born in Regensburg, a city whose Jewish community was so renowned for its piety and learning that it was sometimes called the "Jewish Athens". He was the brother of Isaac ben Jacob ha-Lavan ("the White"), a renowned rabbi and Jewish jurist, chief rabbinical authority of the Jews of Prague in that period. During his childhood Petachiah was probably tutored by such scholars as Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg, aka Judah the Pious, who is also thought to have travelled with him for a time, and who is credited with compiling a report of Petachiah's journey.[2] Petachiah entrusted Judah the Pious with his travel notes which were then turned into the aforementioned travelogue.[3]

Petachiah also authored several glosses on the Talmud.[citation needed]

The dates of the travels described in his travelogue are uncertain, but are placed roughly between the years 1170 and 1187.

Kiev.[4]

Some of Petachiah's travelogue is devoted to discussing the oppression of Jews and the struggles they often faced in Greece and other neighboring lands.[1]

The approximate route of Petachiah's journeys.

Petachiah travelled east from

Nisibis. From there he travelled to Mesopotamia, visiting Nineveh, Sura, Pumbedita, and Baghdad before moving on to Seljukid Iran. Turning westward, he journeyed up the Euphrates and into Syria, visiting Aleppo and Damascus. He travelled onward to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, visiting holy sites in the Galilee and Judea, whence he may have taken to the sea. The next place he describes is Greece. From there, presumably, he returned home via the Balkans.[5]

The date of Petachiah's death is unknown, but could be around 1225.[citation needed]

See also

Sources

  1. ^ a b c Petachiah of Regensburg; Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg (1856). Abraham A. Benisch; William Ainsworth (eds.). Travels of Rabbi Petachia, of Ratisbon, who, in the latter end of the twelfth century, visited Poland, Russia, Little Tartary, the Crimea, Armenia, Assyria, Syria, the Holy Land, and Greece (in Hebrew and English). London: Messrs. Trubner & Co. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b Adler, Elkan Nathan (2016). Jewish Travellers in the Middle Ages. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. p. 64.
  3. ^ Zunz, in Asher's Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, ii. 253
  4. JSTOR 2590513
    .
  5. ^ Gottesman, Brian. "Jewish Travelers in the early Middle Ages[dead link]."
  • New facsimile reprint of 1856 Benisch edition: Travels of Rabbi Petachia of Ratisbon. Gorgias historic travels in the cradle of civilization, vol. 31. Piscataway: Gorgias Press. 2012.
    OCLC 712630312
    .

External links
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