The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela throws a flashlight upon one of
the most interesting stages in the development of nations.

The history of the civilized world from the downfall of the Roman
Empire to the present day may be summarized as the struggle between
Cross and Crescent. This struggle is characterized by a persistent ebb
and flow. Mohammed in 622 A.D. transformed, as if by magic, a cluster
of Bedouin tribes into a warlike people. An Arabian Empire was formed,
which reached from the Ebro to the Indus. Its further advance was
stemmed in the year 732, just a hundred years after Mohammed's death,
by Charles Martel, in the seven days' battle of Tours.

The progress of the culture of the Arabs was as rapid as had been that
of their arms. Great cities such as Cairo and Bagdad were built.
Commerce and manufactures flourished. The Jews, who enjoyed protection
under the benign rule of the Caliphs, transmitted to the Arabs the
learning and science of the Greeks. Schools and universities arose in
all parts of the Empire. The dark age of Christendom proved to be the
golden age of literature for Jew and Arab.

By the eleventh century, however, the Arabs had lost much of their
martial spirit. Islam might have lost its ascendancy in the East had
not the warlike Seljuk Turks, coming from the highlands of Central
Asia, possessed themselves of the countries which, in days of old,
constituted the Persian Empire under Darius. The Seljuks became ready
converts to Islam, and upheld the failing strength of the Arabs.

It was the ill-treatment by the Seljuks of the Christian pilgrims to
Palestine which aroused Christian Europe and led to the First Crusade.