Historically Awesome World Travelers

Pausanias

Although Pausanias of Lydia (western Turkey) is best known for writing his comprehensive “Description of Greece,” he traveled widely throughout the known world. He was born in 110 CE and was contemporary with the Roman Emperors Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius. For his narrative, he spent 10 years traveling throughout Greece and recording the most famous sights (a sort of ancient guide book). He documented ancient Greek sculptures, especially the Parthenon works completed by Phidias. He often engaged himself in religious/mythological debates so his writing can sometimes be convoluted and misleading.

According to Wikipedia (I couldn’t find this information anywhere else), Pausanias also traveled to Antioch (in modern Syria), Joppa (a port city in Israel), the Jordan River, Egypt, Macedonia, Italy, and Troy. In Egypt, he purportedly marveled at the Pyramids at Giza, and he even saw the tomb of Orpheus (an ancient Greek prophet and musician) in Macedonia. In “Description of Greece”, he even hops over to Mycenae and describes the city with these words,

“In the ruins of Mycenae is a fountain called Persea; there are also underground chambers of Atreus and his children, in which were stored their treasures. There is the grave of Atreus, along with the graves of such as returned with Agamemnon from Troy, and were murdered by Aegisthus after he had given them a banquet.” —Pausanias

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pausanias_(ge%C3%B3grafo)

The other Roman traveler worthy of mention is the Emperor Hadrian (76-138 CE), who was born in Hispania, not Italy. He was enamored with Greek culture, and he visited the area repeatedly. He also went to Bithynia (Northern Turkey) where he met his lover and friend, Antinous. Unfortunately, Antinous drowned in the Nile River when him and Hadrian were traveling together in Egypt; consequently, Hadrian founded Antinopolis near Upper Egypt in the memory of his lover. Finally, Hadrian went to the island of Britannia to build his famous Wall between the unruly Caledonian tribes and civilized Romans. Parts of the wall still remain today as well as many other public works of Hadrian.

Hadrian’s Wall, Scotland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrian’s_Wall

Xuanzang

Xuanzang was a Chinese Buddhist monk who embarked on a trip to India to promote relations between the countries and to hear Indian Buddhist teachings directly from the source. He was born in 602 during the illustrious Tang Dynasty in China. The Tang is known for the flowering of art, music, poetry, the bureaucratic system, and their tribute system with Vietnam, Korea, and Tibet. Their capital was at Chang’an, and Xuanzang was in the confidence of the Tang Emperor, Taizong. After illegally leaving China to embark on a trip to India (c.630), he went through Bactria, Kashmir, and many other Central Asian cities. He believed that Buddhist texts originally in the Indian tongue had been poorly translated into Chinese, so he spent 17 years collecting the true texts. India was ruled by King Harvavardhana at this time; Xuanzang visited the capital city of Kanauj c.638. He returned to China in 645 and wrote an account of his extensive travels (Great Tang Records on the Western Regions).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Xuanzang_w.jpg

Ibn Battuta

Although I’m sure nearly everyone has heard of the famous Muslim Traveler Ibn Battuta, I think his experiences were so unique and progressive, especially for living in the 14th century. He was born in Morocco in 1304 and wrote “Rihla,” an account of his extensive journeys. Overall, he traveled to 44 modern countries and trekked 73,000 miles in the known Muslim world. Starting at 22 years old, he traveled for nearly 30 years and finally returned to Morocco in 1355. Comprehensively, he went to Tunis, Tripoli (where he married his wife, Sfax), Alexandria, Cairo, Jerusalem, Damascus, Medina, Mecca, Basra (Iraq), Baghdad, Tabriz (Iran), Zabid (Yemen), Somalia, the Swahili Coast, Oman, Jedda (Saudi Arabia), Anatolia (Turkey), Crimea (Ukraine), Constantinople (Ibn actually described the Hagia Sophia!!), India, Java, China, Malaga (Spain), Granada (Spain), the kingdom of Mali (including Timbuktu), and back to Fez, Morocco again. He was truly amazing, and usually traveled by caravan across deserts to avoid bandits and foul weather. He met Sultans, Emperors, and many other important figures along the way because he was an esteemed Muslim Scholar. Some of my favorite quotes by Ibn are as follows.

“Traveling- it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”

“I have journeyed to the countries of the world and met their kings.”

“A traveler in this country carries no provisions, whether plain food or seasonings, and neither gold nor silver. He takes nothing but pieces of salt and glass ornaments, which the people call beads, and some aromatic goods. “