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Petachiah of Ratisbon 1
Petachiah of Ratisbon
Petachiah of Ratisbon, also known as Petachiah ben Yakov, Moses
Petachiah, and Petachiah of Regensburg,
was a Bohemian rabbi of the late twelfth and early thirteenth
centuries CE. He is best known for his extensive travels
throughout Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and the Middle
East.
Petachiah was born in Ratisbon (German Regensburg), Bavaria. He
was the brother of Rabbi Yitzhak ha-Lavan ("the
White") ben Yaakov, a renowned Jewish jurist. During his
childhood he was probably tutored by such scholars as
Judah the Pious (Yehuda ben Shmuel). He was the author of
several glosses on the Talmud. As a young man he left
Ratisbon, a city whose Jewish community was so renowned for its
piety and learning that it was sometimes called
the "Jewish Athens", and settled in Prague.
The date of his travels is uncertain. He probably set out from
Prague sometime between 1170 and 1180, and was
certainly in Jerusalem prior to 1187, since he describes it as
being under the control of the Latin Kingdom of
Jerusalem. As Judah the Pious is supposed to have written the
surviving edition of Petachiah's travelogue, he must
have returned to Ratisbon prior to that sage's death in
1217.
The approximate route of Petachiah's journeys.
Petachiah traveled east from Bohemia,through Poland, Ruthenia,
southern Ukraine
(which he called Kedar), and the Crimeaan
Gazaria (Genoese colonies). He describes
the remnants of the Khazars and the early
Crimean Karaite community. He then went
south through the Kipchak khanates and the
Caucasus into Armenia, sojourning for a
while in Nisibis. From there he travelled to
Mesopotamia, visiting Nineveh, Sura,
Pumbedita, and Baghdad before moving onto Persia. Turning
westward, he journeyed
up the Euphrates and into Syria, visiting
Aleppo and Damascus. He travelled on to the Kingdom of
Jerusalem, visiting holy sites in the Galilee and Judea,
from whence he may have taken to the sea, because the next place
he describes is Greece. From there, presumably,
he returned home via the Balkans.
The date of Petachiah's death is unknown but may be around
1225.[citation needed]
Sources
. Benisch. Travels of Petachia of Ratisbon (with English
translation.) London, 1856.
External links
Travels of Rabbi Petachia of Ratisbon[1]
, online version of a bilingual 1856 edition.
References
[1] http:/ /onlinebooks.library. upenn.
edu/webbin/book/lookupid?key=olbp26098
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupid?key=olbp26098http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupid?key=olbp26098http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Balkanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Greecehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Judeahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Galileehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Damascushttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aleppohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Syriahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Euphrateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Persian_Empirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baghdadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pumbeditahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sura_%28city%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ninevehhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mesopotamiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nisibishttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Armeniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kipchak_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Crimean_Karaitehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Khazarshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gazaria_%28Genoese_colonies%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Crimeahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Qedarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ukrainehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rutheniahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Polandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3APetachiah.pnghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kingdom_of_Jerusalemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kingdom_of_Jerusalemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jerusalemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talmudhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Judah_ben_Samuel_of_Regensburghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jewishhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Isaac_ben_Jacob_ha-Lavanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bavariahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Regensburghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ratisbonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Middle_Easthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Caucasushttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eastern_Europehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Common_Erahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rabbihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bohemia
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Article Sources and ContributorsPetachiah of Ratisbon Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=555098522 Contributors:
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Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsImage:Petachiah.png
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License: GNU Free Documentation License Contributors: Briangotts,
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