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This collection of travel narratives, primarily from the nineteenth century, describes the topography, antiquities and inhabitants of the Middle East, from Turkey, Kurdistan and Persia to Mesopotamia, Syria, Jerusalem, Sinai, Egypt and Arabia. While some travellers came to study Christian sites and manuscripts, others were fascinated by Islamic culture and still others by the remains of ancient civilizations. Among the authors are several daring female explorers.

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87 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Travel, Middle East and Asia Minor

Page 1 of 5

Persia and the Persian Question
  • Volume 1
  • George Nathaniel Curzon
  • Published online:
    05 June 2016
    Print publication:
    05 February 2016
    First published in:
    1892
  • Following his election to Parliament, George Nathaniel Curzon (1859–1925) embarked on extensive travels and research in Asia, spending several months in Persia in 1889–90. Later viceroy of India, Curzon believed that growing Russian influence in Asia threatened Britain's interests, and that Persia was an important buffer state. Highly regarded upon publication in 1892, this illustrated two-volume work is a mix of history, geography, travel narrative, and social and political analysis. Intended to educate readers at home as to Persia's strategic significance, the work reflects its author's staunch support for British imperialism. Volume 1 describes Curzon's journey to Tehran, offering observations on the situation in the provinces which bordered Russian-controlled territory. Curzon then gives an overview of Persian institutions, including the monarchy, government, and the army. His Problems of the Far East (1894) is also reissued in this series.

Travels in Various Countries of the East
  • Being a Continuation of Memoirs Relating to European and Asiatic Turkey, Etc
  • Edited by Robert Walpole
  • Published online:
    05 November 2015
    Print publication:
    02 February 2012
    First published in:
    1820
  • Robert Walpole (1781–1856), great-nephew and namesake of Britain's first prime minister, was a classical scholar and clergyman. After graduating from Trinity College, Cambridge, he visited Greece and the Middle East. In 1817 he published Memoirs Relating to European and Asiatic Turkey (also reissued in this series), extracts from the unpublished papers of various travellers and antiquaries, and it was so well received that he produced this continuation in 1820. It consists of extracts from the unpublished papers of, among others, W. M. Leake and John Sibthorp, with descriptions of antiquities, and notes by the editor. The topics covered vary considerably and reflect the wide interests of contemporary educated gentlemen: they include travel journals, observations on natural history, inscriptions from Egyptian monuments discovered by Belzoni, and C. R. Cockerell's views on the Labyrinth of Minos. The book remains a rich source for scholars from a wide range of disciplines.

Narrative of a Journey in the Morea
  • William Gell
  • Published online:
    05 November 2015
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1823
  • The antiquary Sir William Gell (1777–1836) was most famous for his two books on the archaeological discoveries at Pompeii (also reissued in this series) but his interest in the topography of classical sites is also reflected in this work, first published in 1823. Gell describes his experiences of many visits to the Peloponnese over a period of twenty years, during which the Greek movement for independence from the Ottoman Empire was gathering momentum and widespread support in Europe. Written partly in response to a request to 'give us anything but your dull maps and measures', the book does not discuss archaeological sites in detail but rather records impressions of the lives of the Greek and Turkish inhabitants in the period immediately before the outbreak of war. Gell's own conclusions about the prospects for 'Grecian liberty' are gloomy: he holds it to be 'quite unattainable at the present day'.

The City of the Sultan, and Domestic Manners of the Turks, in 1836
  • Volume 1
  • Julia Pardoe
  • Published online:
    05 May 2015
    Print publication:
    19 March 2015
    First published in:
    1837
  • Julia Pardoe (1804–62) was famous for her historical biographies (some of which are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection), but this two-volume work, first published in 1837, arose from a visit to Turkey made by Pardoe and her father in 1836. It was very successful, with new editions appearing over the next twenty years, while Pardoe was considered to be second only to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu among female writers on Turkey. Attempting to give her readers 'a more just and complete insight into Turkish domestic life, than they have hitherto been enabled to obtain', in Volume 1 Pardoe describes the inhabitants of Istanbul, both the Ottoman governing elite and the expatriate community of Greeks, Italians, Russians and French, with their constant political intrigues. Her lively and observant account of life in the declining but still powerful Ottoman empire remains of great interest.

The City of the Sultan, and Domestic Manners of the Turks, in 1836
  • Volume 2
  • Julia Pardoe
  • Published online:
    05 May 2015
    Print publication:
    19 March 2015
    First published in:
    1837
  • Julia Pardoe (1804–62) was famous for her historical biographies (some of which are also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection), but this two-volume work, first published in 1837, arose from a visit to Turkey made by Pardoe and her father in 1836. It was very successful, with new editions appearing over the next twenty years, while Pardoe was considered to be second only to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu among female writers on Turkey. Attempting to give her readers 'a more just and complete insight into Turkish domestic life, than they have hitherto been enabled to obtain', in Volume 2 Pardoe travels in western Turkey, visiting Bursa, the former Ottoman capital, and encountering dervishes, hot springs and tortoises, before returning to Europe via the Black Sea and the Danube. Her lively and observant account of life in the declining but still powerful Ottoman empire remains of great interest.

Treatise on the Comparative Geography of Western Asia
  • Accompanied with an Atlas of Maps
  • Volume 2
  • James Rennell
  • Published online:
    05 February 2015
    Print publication:
    13 November 2014
    First published in:
    1831
  • James Rennell (1742–1830) could be claimed as the father of historical geography. After a long career at sea and in India, during which he had learned surveying and cartography, he returned to England, and entered the circle of Sir Joseph Banks, who encouraged him to widen the his interests to include the geography of the ancient world. This two-volume work was published posthumously in 1831: Rennell had been working on the topic for many years, and had published a part of his findings in 1814, as Observations on the Topography of the Plain of Troy, also reissued in this series. The area covered in the treatise is a wide one, from Egypt to the Danube and from the Aegean to the Caspian Sea. In Volume 2, Rennell surveys the Greek and Roman territories of Asia Minor, and considers in detail the Roman road network of the area.

Treatise on the Comparative Geography of Western Asia
  • Accompanied with an Atlas of Maps
  • Volume 1
  • James Rennell
  • Published online:
    05 February 2015
    Print publication:
    13 November 2014
    First published in:
    1831
  • James Rennell (1742–1830) could be claimed as the father of historical geography. After a long career at sea and in India, during which he had learned surveying and cartography, he returned to England, and entered the circle of Sir Joseph Banks, who encouraged him to widen the his interests to include the geography of the ancient world. This two-volume work was published posthumously in 1831: Rennell had been working on the topic for many years, and had published a part of his findings in 1814, as Observations on the Topography of the Plain of Troy, also reissued in this series. The area covered in the treatise is a wide one, from Egypt to the Danube and from the Aegean to the Caspian Sea. In Volume 1, Rennell lays out his geographical findings, and begins to discuss the relations of the modern to the ancient world.

A Voyage into the Levant
  • Perform'd by Command of the Late French King
  • Volume 2
  • Joseph Pitton de Tournefort
  • Translated by John Ozell
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    22 May 2014
  • Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656–1708) was originally destined for the church, but his interest in botany led him to become professor of botany at the Jardin des plantes in Paris, and to travel all over Europe and beyond in search of interesting specimens. He was chiefly interested in the classification of plants, but is now best remembered for the accounts he wrote of voyages undertaken for the purpose of scientific discovery. This illustrated two-volume work, published posthumously in French in 1717 and translated into English the following year, recounts a journey begun in 1700, around the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, visiting Crete and other Greek islands, Istanbul, Armenia and Georgia. Tournefort notes not only plants, but geographical features, antiquities, the people he encounters, and their way of life, agriculture and industry. Volume 2 continues the journey around the Black Sea and describes the voyage home.

A Voyage into the Levant
  • Perform'd by Command of the Late French King
  • Volume 1
  • Joseph Pitton de Tournefort
  • Translated by John Ozell
  • Published online:
    18 December 2014
    Print publication:
    22 May 2014
  • Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656–1708) was originally destined for the church, but his interest in botany led him to become professor of botany at the Jardin des plantes in Paris, and to travel all over Europe and beyond in search of interesting specimens. He was chiefly interested in the classification of plants, but is now best remembered for the accounts he wrote of voyages undertaken for the purpose of scientific discovery. This illustrated two-volume work, published posthumously in French in 1717 and translated into English the following year, recounts a journey begun in 1700, around the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea, visiting Crete and other Greek islands, Istanbul, Armenia and Georgia. Tournefort notes not only plants, but geographical features, antiquities, the people he encounters, and their way of life, agriculture and industry. Volume 1 begins with a biography of Tournefort, and ends with an account of Constantinople.

Travels along the Mediterranean and Parts Adjacent
  • In Company with the Earl of Belmore, during the Years 1816–17–18
  • Volume 2
  • Robert Richardson
  • Published online:
    05 December 2014
    Print publication:
    31 July 2014
    First published in:
    1822
  • After qualifying as a physician, Robert Richardson (1779–1847) joined the household of the earl of Belmore, and accompanied him and his family on a tour of the eastern Mediterranean in his yacht the Osprey, converted from a captured American schooner. Richardson dedicated this two-volume work to his patron in 1822. Having spent several months in Naples, the party travelled through the Greek islands to Constantinople, arriving in Alexandria in September 1817. Volume 2 describes further exploration in Egypt, before the party travelled into Palestine, where they visited Jerusalem and the Holy Places, and the cities of the Old Testament, continuing through Syria and Lebanon. Their intention of revisiting Greece on their return was thwarted by reports of the plague, and they arrived back in Malta in July 1818. Richardson's account is full of detail, both of the archaeological remains and of everyday life in the Middle East.

Travels along the Mediterranean and Parts Adjacent
  • In Company with the Earl of Belmore, during the Years 1816–17–18
  • Volume 1
  • Robert Richardson
  • Published online:
    05 December 2014
    Print publication:
    31 July 2014
    First published in:
    1822
  • After qualifying as a physician, Robert Richardson (1779–1847) joined the household of the earl of Belmore, and accompanied him and his family on a tour of the eastern Mediterranean in his yacht the Osprey, converted from a captured American schooner. Richardson dedicated this two-volume work to his patron in 1822. Having spent several months in Naples, the party travelled through the Greek islands to Constantinople, arriving in Alexandria in September 1817. Volume 1 recounts their journey up the Nile, exploring both the antiquities of Egypt and the modern cities, especially Cairo, where Richardson made the acquaintance of Burckhardt (whose death he witnessed), Belzoni, Henry Salt and other early explorers of Egypt's past. Having reached the Nile's second cataract, they returned to Thebes, where they were greeted with news of Princess Charlotte's death. Richardson's account is full of detail, both of the archaeological remains and of everyday life in modern Egypt.

Amurath to Amurath
  • Gertrude Bell
  • Published online:
    05 November 2014
    Print publication:
    23 January 2014
  • Traveller, archaeologist, mountaineer and diplomat, Gertrude Bell (1868–1926) poured her extraordinary talents into a series of adventures through Europe and the Middle East. Addressing her experiences in Persia and Syria respectively, Safar Nameh (1894) and The Desert and the Sown (1907) are both reissued in this series. The present work, first published in 1911 and among Bell's most acclaimed, describes her recent expedition to Mesopotamia. She recounts her outward journey to the Abbasid palace of Ukhaidir and her return via Baghdad and Asia Minor. Notably discussing changes in the region after the rise of the Young Turks, including their easing of restrictions throughout the declining Ottoman Empire, Bell also saw this book as 'the attempt to record the daily life, the speech of those who had inherited the empty ground where empires had risen and expired'. Replete with photographs, it vividly opens up Middle Eastern history and archaeology.

The History of the Temple of Jerusalem
  • Translated from the Arabic Ms. of the Imám Jalal-Addín al Síútí
  • Jalal al-Dinh al-Suyuti
  • Translated by James Reynolds
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    26 September 2013
    First published in:
    1836
  • Ascribed to the Egyptian scholar Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (1445–1505), this medieval Arabic history was translated into English by the orientalist James Reynolds (1805–66). An outstanding Islamic polymath, al-Suyuti produced a large body of work in such fields as grammar, rhetoric, theology, medicine and history. The present work may have been compiled from his earlier General History and Critical History of Traditions. It contains rich descriptions of religious places and buildings in Jerusalem, including the Dome of the Rock and the Mosque of Omar, and offers a historical account of the city. First published in 1836 for the Oriental Translation Fund of the Royal Asiatic Society, the translation was based on the text of two Arabic manuscripts preserved in the British Museum. Including a translator's preface and detailed exegetical notes, this publication remains a rich source for the architectural and topographical history of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem
  • The Topography, Economics and History from the Earliest Times to AD 70
  • Volume 2
  • George Adam Smith
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013
  • First published in two volumes between 1907 and 1908, this major work by the Scottish biblical scholar and geographer Sir George Adam Smith (1856–1942) is organised into three books. Volume 2 contains the third book and consists of a historical narrative that clarifies political and religious developments in ancient Jerusalem. It contains a number of useful maps, plans and photographs. Best known for his celebrated Historical Geography of the Holy Land (1894), Smith provides here a more detailed and specialist analysis, based on first-hand knowledge derived from the visits he made to the region over the years. Spanning more than fourteen centuries of Jerusalem's history from 1400 BCE to 70 CE, these well-illustrated volumes remain a standard work of scholarship, expertly elucidating the changing shape of the city.

Voyage en Syrie et en Égypte pendant les années 1783, 1784 et 1785
  • Constantin-François Volney
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013
  • The French author and traveller Constantin-François de Chasseboeuf (1757–1820) adopted the pen name Volney, which combined the name of Voltaire and Ferney, where the great philosopher lived. A friend of Thomas Jefferson and other Enlightenment figures, Volney used an inheritance to further his education by travelling to Ottoman Egypt and the historical region of Syria, visiting areas of present-day Lebanon and Israel. He chose these lands as he believed he would gain political and philosophical insights from their ancient heritage. Very little had been written in the West about these areas before he published this two-volume account in 1787. It enjoyed great popularity and even accompanied Darwin aboard the Beagle on his own voyage of discovery decades later. Reissued here is the revised and corrected French second edition, which also appeared in 1787. Volume 1 delves into the geography, ethnic divisions, religious beliefs, commerce and politics of Egypt and Syria.

Voyage en Syrie et en Égypte pendant les années 1783, 1784 et 1785
  • Constantin-François Volney
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    06 February 2014
  • The French author and traveller Constantin-François de Chasseboeuf (1757–1820) adopted the pen name Volney, which combined the name of Voltaire and Ferney, where the great philosopher lived. A friend of Thomas Jefferson and other Enlightenment figures, Volney used an inheritance to further his education by travelling to Ottoman Egypt and the historical region of Syria, visiting areas of present-day Lebanon and Israel. He chose these lands as he believed he would gain political and philosophical insights from their ancient heritage. Very little had been written in the West about these areas before he published this two-volume account in 1787. It enjoyed great popularity and even accompanied Darwin aboard the Beagle on his own voyage of discovery decades later. Reissued here is the revised and corrected French second edition, which also appeared in 1787. Volume 2 is devoted to Syria. It looks in detail at the region's history, justice, trade and customs.

An Englishwoman in Angora
  • Grace Ellison
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    17 April 2014
  • Grace Ellison (d.1935) was a journalist with an enthusiasm for Turkish culture. She had previously published works on life in a liberal Turkish family, and on the experiences of two modern Turkish women in Europe, which have also been reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection. In this 1923 book, she recounts what she found on revisiting Turkey in the aftermath of the First World War and the war between Turkey and Greece which had arisen after the dismemberment of the Ottoman empire. Passionately pro-Turk, Ellison was dismayed at the peace treaties' punitive effect on Turkey. This work describes a journey via Athens (filled with destitute refugees) and devastated Smyrna to Angora (Ankara), the small town which was the new capital of the Turkish Republic, where she had several meetings with Mustafa Kemal, the reforming president. This is a partisan but fascinating view of the birth of modern Turkey.

Jerusalem
  • The Topography, Economics and History from the Earliest Times to AD 70
  • Volume 1
  • George Adam Smith
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013
  • First published in two volumes between 1907 and 1908, this major work by the Scottish biblical scholar and geographer Sir George Adam Smith (1856–1942) is organised into three books. Volume 1 contains the first two books. Book 1 covers the topography, geology and climate of ancient Jerusalem, while Book 2 focuses on the economic and political development of the city. Best known for his celebrated Historical Geography of the Holy Land (1894), Smith provides here a more detailed and specialist analysis, based on first-hand knowledge derived from the visits he made to the region over the years. Spanning more than fourteen centuries of Jerusalem's history from 1400 BCE to 70 CE, these well-illustrated volumes remain a standard work of scholarship, expertly elucidating the changing shape of the city.

Ludolph von Suchem's Description of the Holy Land, and of the Way Thither
  • Written in the Year A.D. 1350
  • Ludolf von Suchem
  • Edited and translated by Aubrey Stewart
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013
    First published in:
    1895
  • Beyond the fact that he made a journey to the Holy Land between 1336 and 1341, very little is known about Ludolf von Suchem (whose first name may in fact have been Rudolf). However, his work has long been regarded as a major source of information about the eastern Mediterranean in the fourteenth century, owing to its high level of detail. Ludolf states his intention to describe the region, its buildings, towns, fortified places, people, customs, stories and legends, drawing on both his own observations, and on information from the 'kings, princes, nobles and lords' with whom he spent days and nights in conversation. Some stories are clearly travellers' tales, but others, like his account of the fall of Acre (1291), based on reports by eyewitnesses, are both full and convincing. This English translation, by Aubrey Stewart (1844–1918), of Ludolf's Latin text was published in 1895.

Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan
  • Including a Summer in the Upper Karun Region and a Visit to the Nestorian Rayahs
  • Volume 1
  • Isabella Bird
  • Published online:
    05 March 2014
    Print publication:
    01 July 2010
    First published in:
    1891
  • Isabella Bishop (née Bird) published her Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan in 1891, compiled from a series of letters home. Recommended an open-air life from an early age as a cure for physical and nervous difficulties, Bird toured the United States and Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the Far East. After her marriage, and the death of her husband in 1886, she did missionary work in India and then, in 1890, travelled to little-known parts of Turkey, Persia and Kurdistan in the company of Major Herbert Sawyer of the Indian Army. This came to be the hardest journey of her experience, with extremes of temperature and harsh living conditions for the sixty-year-old, although she was able to provide medical care for the local people. Volume 1 introduces the region, its people, and their customs and includes many evocative anecdotes. It also contains a glossary and maps.

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