A Visit to Reshem


 * A Visit to Reshem
 * by Jonathan I. Edelstein
 * 27 November 2001

Benjamin of Tudela ... Although Benjamin of Tudela may not have been the greatest traveler of early medieval times, the diaries of his journeys are among the most intimate glimpses of this age that have come down to us. His published work bespeaks a keen power of observation, not only of cities and kingdoms but of the people who inhabited them.

As his name suggests, Benjamin was born to a rabbinic Jewish family in Tudela, in what was then the Visigothic Kingdom, sometime around SE 190 [962 CE]. They fled to Massilia following the expulsion of the Jews from the Visigothic realm, and again to Alexandria in the wake of the Hundred Years War. Around 220 [992 CE], Benjamin adopted the Ananite faith and became a caravan guard for one of the great merchant houses of that city. Eventually, he rose to become a caravan master, carrying exotic cargoes throughout the civilized world. Sometime during the 230s, he began keeping the travel journals that were discovered and posthumously published by his daughter...

... Three of his journeys in particular have become classics of travel literature -- his caravan journey to Zimbabwe (234-37), his trading expedition to northern Europe and the Outsider realms (240-44), and his voyage to India, the Spice Islands and beyond (248-56). One of the highlights of the first of these was his visit to the city of Reshem in the summer of 234... FN1

... Reshem stands where the White Nile issues from the great lake that is its source. FN2 The king of Reshem pays tribute to the King of Egypt and to the Negus negusti, but is subject to neither; he is the master of his own land. Reshem is a great city, with upwards of eighty thousand people within its walls; there is no greater city in the southern lands.

The name Reshem has no meaning in the language of the city's inhabitants. Instead, the Reshemites tell the tale of a merchant of the B'nei Mikra faith who visited this place some 170 years ago and called it rosh hamayim -- head of the waters. The storytellers say that when the Reshemites drove their herds south to rule this land, they learned of the visitor. Their king then proclaimed that, just as they had come to build a city whose equal had never been seen, they would name it in a language they had never before heard. FN3

As this tale suggests, Reshem is a new city, at least when compared to such anciently inhabited places as Alexandria or Jerusalem. 150 years ago, there was nothing here but mud huts and rude farms. The surrounding towns are still built of mud and thatch, but Reshem is made of stone; its buildings would do credit to any city in the world. The people also strive to build their city in a manner pleasing to their gods (of whom I will speak later) and have filled it with gardens and fountains.

Traders come to Reshem from every direction -- from Egypt, from Axum, from the cities of the coast and the unknown lands to the west. Boats ply the lake bringing goods from other ports to the south. There are four markets in Reshem which are open every day, warehouses filled with riches, and hostelries and baths of every description.

The greatest renown of Reshem, however, is as a place of pilgrimage, both for those who come to bathe at the source of the living water and for those who worship the gods of the city. The king of Reshem, called the omukama, is regarded as the guardian of the living water, and blesses it four times yearly by casting money and foodstuffs from a small boat into the lake. Further it may be said of this king that he is immensely rich, that his raiment is of the purest white, and that he rules with the aid of a council of noblemen and physicians.

There are churches and temples of all faiths in Reshem, which are used by visiting merchants and pilgrims, but the greatest number of churches belong to the gods of the city. It is said that there is a church in Reshem for every day of the year, each with its relics and treasures.

Much can be said about the religion of the Reshemites. They are of a disposition to accept all gods and have adopted the gods and prophets of other faiths as their own, and more besides. Their war gods, for example, bear a striking resemblance to the Christian Saint George and Judah the Maccabee, and their patron of medicine to Saint Luke. The stories that are told of these gods and their deeds have their echoes in the holy books of all religions -- and also in the traditions of the Reshemites and their ancestors, for they have not forgotten their own deities.

The people of Reshem had no writing before the coming of traders from afar, and they first learned of it through the holy books brought by merchants. It is known to them that every religion is founded upon a book, and for this reason they consider the written word to be a potent religious charm. They attach particular significance to words that sound alike in different languages, or whose letters can be rearranged to spell other words, or which occur in similar positions in different holy books; there are a myriad of ways in which they make correspondences between words. They believe, however, that the written word cannot achieve its full power unless it is also spoken, and their prayers often consist of speaking or chanting words of potency. Sometimes a Reshemite in holy ecstasy will sing a word or phrase hundreds of times, with a melody and tone conceived to evoke its power. FN4 Their prayers are also of the more traditional sort, although even these are accompanied by drums and dancing, and sometimes by other instruments...