An Arab's Journey to Colonial Spanish America: The Travels of Elias al-Mûsili in the Seventeenth Century

Preface

Preface The original title of this work is not known, it being undoubtedly a record of travel by the author. The title that has come down to us was the contribution of the Arabic editor of a portion of a larger anthological compilation by al-Mûsili himself. The editor entitled this edition of the travel portion: The Journey of the First Eastern Tourist to America 1668–1683 Nature of the Account This translation is based on the account of one Reverend Elias al-Mûsili, described as a priest of the Chaldean church, from the family of ‘Amûda1 (some say ‘Amûna)2 that hailed originally from Baghdad . It is a rendition into English of the Arabic edition by the Reverend Antûn Rabbât, S.J., a highly regarded Jesuit scholar of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Rev. Rabbât was a contributor to  1. ‘Amûna is the most likely title of the family. It would be easy to mistake (in the original Arabic handwritten script) a d for an n. 2. So listed in D. Christianus Fridericus de Schnurrer, BibliothecaArabica, part 4, Die Ostsyrischen Schriftsteller (no. l59, p. 97). The Arab editor spelled the name“‘Amûda”but also claims it could be“‘Amûna.” the esteemed Jesuit publication of the University of Saint Joseph of Beirut, Lebanon, al-Mashriq (The East). He was also an authority on Eastern Christianity, as evinced by the scholarly production he bequeathed to posterity. He himself was of Syrian origin, which might explain why he chose to title the manuscript as he did. His Syrian origin might also be the cause of his tendency to translate “Suryân” as “Syrian.”The term Suryân traditionally refers to the liturgical language of Eastern Christians, which is expressed in Syriac, a derivative of ancient Aramaic. The author of the travelogue was not of Syrian origin; rather, his original home was in northern Iraq, although upon his return from his travels he did settle in northern Syria. The term Chaldean, utilized by al-Mûsili, implies that he belonged to the rite that had joined the Church of Rome. The Holy See chose to dub as “Chaldeans”both the Jacobites and the Nestorians who acknowledged the pope as their spiritual leader. Both were of the Monophysite persuasion but utilized differing liturgies in their services. It is not clear whether Rev. al-Mûsili used the Jacobite or the Nestorian version. Judging from the fact that the manuscript was discovered in a monastery located in the Jacobite heartland, we might safely assume that this was his religious affiliation. In consulting a prayer book of the Chaldean rite, which our author prepared after his return to Baghdad and which was published in Rome by the Propaganda Fide in 1692, we find a statement by him that he was related to the patriarch of the Chaldean church. Among the titles he lists for himself we read:“Archdeacon of the Church of Baghdad ,”followed by a string of Latin qualifications, to wit:“Protonotarius Apostolicus, Staurophorus D. Petri, Comes Palatinus,” and “priest of the church of the king of Spain.”3 It appears that his father was also a priest of the same rite. According to Rabbât, we know nothing about the ‘Amûda family, the only other reference being to a nephew called Yunân who, after completing his studies at the Propaganda Fide in Rome, returned to Aleppo in 1670. Later, when Elias undertook the trip to America, he  Preface 3. See de Schnurrer, BibliothecaArabica (Halle on the Sale, Prussia, 1811), 256–60. regretted having sent Yunân home, thus missing the opportunity of having him as his companion. The Manuscript The manuscript was discovered by Rev. Antûn Rabbât in the library of the Suryân (Jacobite Orthodox) bishopric in Aleppo. Fascinated by its contents, Rev. Rabbât recommended its publication to His Eminence Dionysius Efram Naqqâsh, the bishop of the Chaldean rite, a branch that split off from the Jacobite church to join Rome. Permission granted, Rabbât proceeded to copy and edit in the original Arabic that portion of the manuscript that related to Rev. Elias’s travel to America. The editor was intrigued by the fact that, while Easterners are noted for their love of travel, none before Rev. Elias had ventured into the Americas and left a record of his observations and experiences...