Having regard to the strained relations between the Christians and
Saracens, and to the fights and forays of the Latin knights, we can
understand that Benjamin had to follow a very circuitous way to enable
him to visit all the places of note in Palestine. From Damascus, which
was then the capital of Nureddin's empire, he travelled along with
safety until he reached Bagdad, the city of the Caliph, of whom he has
much to tell.

It is unlikely that he went far into Persia, which at that time was in
a chaotic state, and where the Jews were much oppressed. From Basra,
at the mouth of the Tigris, he probably visited the island of Kish in
the Persian Gulf, which in the Middle Ages was a great emporium of
commerce, and thence proceeded to Egypt by way of Aden and Assuan.

Benjamin gives us a vivid sketch of the Egypt of his day. Peace and
plenty seemed to prevail in the country. This happy state of things
was entirely due to the wise measures taken by Saladin, who, however,
kept himself so studiously in the background, that not even his name
is mentioned in the Itinerary. The deposition of the Fatimite Caliph
on Friday, September 10, 1171, and his subsequent death, caused little
stir. Saladin continued to govern Egypt as Nureddin's lieutenant. In
due course he made himself master of Barca and Tripoli; then he
conquered Arabia Felix and the Soudan, and after Nureddin's death he
had no difficulty in annexing his old master's dominions. The
Christian nations viewed his rapidly growing power with natural alarm.

About that time news had reached Europe that a powerful Christian king
named Prester John, who reigned over a people coming from Central
Asia, had invaded Western Asia and inflicted a crushing defeat upon a
Moslem army. Pope Alexander III conceived the hope that a useful ally