Likewise, returning to Jerusalem, we went down by the road which goes to Gaza and Ascalon, twenty miles. From Jerusalem we came to Mount Gilboa, where David slew Goliath the giant. And there Saul and his son Jonathan died. Goliath lies there in the middle of the road, with a heap of wood at his head. And over him is a great pile of stones, so that for twenty miles you cannot find a stone that you can move. For such is the custom: as often as anyone passes there, he carries three stones with him and throws them there; and we likewise did so. For upon those mountains neither dew nor rain descends, after David cursed them. And in the night hours unclean spirits are seen rolling about there secretly, like fleeces of wool or the waves of the sea.
Then, turning aside to one side, we came to the city which is called Eleutheropolis, in the place where Samson, that mightiest man, slew a thousand men with the jawbone of an ass. From that jawbone, while he prayed, water flowed forth. That spring waters those places to the present day. For we were in the place where it rises. Then we came between the temple and the altar, where Zacharias was slain, and where he rests there is an adorned church; in it are many servants of God. From there we came to the place where the prophet Isaiah was sawn asunder with a wooden saw, and there he lies beneath the oak of Rogel beside a watercourse. And that very saw is placed for a testimony at the church of Saint Zacharias.
From there we came to the place where the prophet Habakkuk was carrying a meal to the reapers, when an angel, holding him by the crown of his head, led him over the den in which Daniel was praying among the lions. And there rises a spring in which Philip baptized the eunuch. In those very places are the wells which Abraham and Jacob dug, which they called 'Calumny.' From there we entered Ascalon; there is a well of peace made in the manner of a theatre, in which one descends to the water by steps, where three brother martyrs rest; they have indeed their own names, but commonly they are called 'the Egyptians.' A mile from the city of Sarafia is the city Mazom of Ascalon. From there we came to the city of Mazomates, in which rests the holy martyr Victor.
From Mazoma to Gaza is one mile. Now Gaza is a splendid, delightful city, with most honourable people, graced with every liberality, lovers of pilgrims. From there, at the second milestone, rests the holy father Hilarion. And from there we came to the city of Elusa at the edge of the desert which leads to Mount Sinai; and there too, from a revelation of the bishop of that city, we heard one miracle which ought not to be passed over in silence. A certain most noble maiden named Mary, when she had been married, on that very wedding night her bridegroom died; she too bore this matter patiently. And within the week she distributed all her possessions to the poor. When the seventh day had been observed, on that night the bridegroom's garment was taken away and was not found.
Concerning her it was told us that she was in the desert beyond the Jordan, among the reed-beds and palm-groves before us, within the borders of Zoar near the sea of salt. In those places we found monasteries of more than fifteen or eighteen maidens, whom the Christians were furnishing. They had a single little ass which carried their food, and they were rearing a lion terrible to behold. And when we had drawn near to the cell, all the animals that were with us, at its roar, made water and fell to the ground. And they told us that the lion himself shepherded that little ass in the pastures. They even offered it to us for a hundred solidi. But father Antoninus was unwilling to receive it.
But he quickly sent to Jerusalem and brought them three tunics apiece, and oil for the lamps, and much pulse. And they themselves told us of the powers of Mary, whom we mentioned above, who had walked in the desert alone, carrying pulse and little baskets full and tunics, which they wished to take from her; but no one was able to find her. Yet of what she had carried with her she brought back nothing when she returned from the desert. Her affliction and lamentation we could in no way console. But she only said again and again, weeping: 'Woe is me, wretched one, for whose cause do I call myself a Christian?' Setting out from the city of Elusa, we entered the desert at the twentieth milestone. In it there is a fort, where there is a hospice of Saint George.
In it those passing through, or the hermits, have refuge and provisions. Then, entering into the inner desert, we came to the places concerning which it is said in the psalm: 'A fruitful land into barrenness, that is, into bitterness, because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it'; and there we saw shaven men fleeing with camels. For at Jerusalem too we saw men from Ethiopia having their noses and ears slit, with little sandals on their feet and rings put through the toes of their feet. We asked why it was so. They said: 'Because the emperor Trajan left this mark to us.' Walking through the desert for six days, with the camels carrying water for us, a sextarius in the morning and a sextarius in the evening was given out daily per man.
When the water turned bitter in the skins like gall, we put sand into it and it was sweetened. But the household of the Saracens and their wives, coming from the desert with lamentation, sitting on the road with their burdens laid down, begged bread from those passing by. And their husbands came from the inner part of the desert and brought skins with cold water, and received bread for themselves. And they brought ropes with roots, whose fragrance was sweeter than spices, and they celebrated their festal days. Now the people who entered through that greater desert for exploration numbered twelve thousand six hundred. As they journeyed through the desert, on the eighth day we came to the mountain of God, Horeb.
And moving on from there, to ascend Mount Sinai, behold, a multitude of hermit monks with crosses, chanting psalms, met us, and prostrate on the ground they adored us. In like manner we, doing the same, wept. Then they led us into the valley between Horeb and Sinai. At the foot of that mountain is the spring where Moses watered the sheep when he saw the burning bush. That spring is enclosed within the monastery. In that monastery there are three abbots who know languages, that is, Latin, Greek, Syriac, and Egyptian — and Bessan. From there we came to the cave where the prophet Elijah hid himself when he fled from Jezebel, the faithless woman; before that cave rises a spring which waters the mountain itself.
From there we ascended to the very summit of the mountain, on which there is a small oratory measuring six feet in length and likewise in breadth, in which no one presumes to remain. But when day has already risen, the monks ascend from the aforesaid monastery and themselves celebrate the office. In that place many, out of devotion, shave their hair and beards. For I too there touched my beard. Now Mount Sinai is rocky, has scarcely any soil, and round about it are many cells of the servants of God, and likewise on Horeb. And on one part of that mountain the Saracens have set up their idol of marble, white as snow. There also their priest remains, clothed in a dalmatic and a linen pallium.
And when the time of their festival comes, with the moon waxing, before it appears, from the day of their feast that marble begins to change colour; and when they begin to worship the idol, that marble becomes black as pitch. When the time of the festival is completed, it returns again to its former colour. At this I greatly marvelled. Between Sinai and Horeb there is a valley, in which at certain times a dew descends from heaven which they call manna; and it congeals and becomes like grains of mastic, and they have casks full of it from there. And they give it to others for a blessing. And they gave us five sextarii. From it too, when it was brought forth, they drank, and gave to us also to drink.
For on those mountains the lion and the leopard, the wild goats and the wild asses graze together, and none of them is harmed by the lion, because of the vastness of the desert. And because the festal days of the Ishmaelites were now drawing to a close, a herald went out so that no one should remain in the desert through which we had entered. Some were to return to the holy city by way of Egypt, others by way of Arabia. From Mount Sinai to the city of Arabia which is called Aila there are seven stations. At Aila ships come down from India with various spices. It seemed good to us to return by way of Egypt. And we came to the city where Moses fought with Amalek. There is an oratory there, whose altar is set upon those stones which they placed under Moses while he prayed.
In that place is a fortified city of brick, a place very barren on account of the waters. There women with their infants met us, carrying palms in their hands and flasks with radish oil; prostrate at our feet they anointed the soles of our feet and our heads, chanting an antiphon in the Egyptian tongue: 'Blessed are you of the Lord, and blessed is your coming. Hosanna in the highest!' This is the land of Midian, and those dwelling in it have their city. And it is said that they descend from the family of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, eight hundred households serving publicly in arms with their wives, receiving grain and clothing from Egypt.
From those places we came to Migdol and Succoth, and to the seventy-two palm trees and the twelve springs, and we stayed there two days, weary after so much toil and the vastness of the desert. In that place there is a small fort called Surandala. There is also within that fort a church with a hospice for those passing through. From there we came to the place where the children of Israel, crossing the Red Sea, pitched their camp, and there likewise is a fort with a hospice. And at the place where they came out of the sea is the oratory of Elijah. And crossing over, we came to the place where they entered the sea, where there is the oratory of Moses. There too is a small city called Clysma, where ships come from India.
But in the place where they crossed over, a brightness comes out from the greater deep and extends inward for many miles, having an ebb and flow. When the sea recedes, the whole overthrow of Pharaoh appears, and all the weapons are seen turned to marble. There we received green nuts which came from India, which men believe to be from paradise, and whoever tastes of them is satisfied. Within that very deep is a small island, in which there is living rock, where soft things hang like flesh in the manner of dates, which pour out an ointment which they call rock-oil, which is taken as a very great blessing. The vessel in which it is carried, if it has been filled and you wish to repeat the gathering, will no longer hold it.
In that place, however great the sick may be, even the most gravely sick who are able to reach it, are healed. Those who take it for a blessing are not allowed to bring it again through Clysma until it is mixed with oil. For if it were not adulterated, I believe it would always work that same power. For its liquid keeps unceasingly for two thousand. Within that very city which is called Clysma, inside the basilica, we saw the wooden coffins of fourteen holy hermit fathers. And from there we came through the desert to the cave of blessed Paul the hermit, which is called Syracumba. That spring waters the place itself. From there, journeying on, we came to the cataracts of the Nile, where the water rises to a mark made by the hand of man, and it has twelve steps.
On either side of those cataracts are two cities, which they say the daughters of Lot built, and one of them is called Babylon. Then we came through the plains of Tanis, and to the city of Nymphis and Antinoë, in which Pharaoh resided, from which the children of Israel went out. In those very places are the twelve granaries of Joseph, full. At Nymphis there was a temple, which is now a church, one door of which shut itself before our Lord, when blessed Mary was with Him in Egypt, and it still cannot be opened. There we saw a linen cloth, on which they say He wiped Himself at that time, and therefore His marks remained there. That image is venerated at certain times. And we too venerated it, but on account of its splendour we could not gaze upon it.
For however much you gaze upon that very likeness, it is changed before your eyes. Descending through Egypt, we came to the city of Athlepi, to Saint Menas, who works many powers there. From there, sailing across the lake, we came to Alexandria. In that lake we saw a multitude of crocodiles. Alexandria, a beautiful city, with a gentle people, yet lovers of pilgrims, with many heresies; for there rests Athanasius, bishop of that city, who, contending for the faith of Christ against Arius, the heretical presbyter of that city, endured many dangers of death in the times of the emperor Constans, son of Constantine and Helena.
There also rest Saint Faustus and Saint Epimachus and Saint Antony, or Saint Maurus, and many other bodies of saints. Coming again to Jerusalem, where I lay sick for a long time, until I saw in a vision Saint Antony and blessed Euphemia, who together healed me. Having gone out from Jerusalem, I came to Joppa, where lies Saint Tabitha, who is called Dorcas. Then we came to Caesarea Philippi, which is the Tower of Straton, which is also called Caesarea of Palestine, in which rest Saint Pamphilus and Saint Procopius and Saint Cornelius, from whose bed we took a blessing.
From there we ascended through Galilee and came to Damascus, where there is a monastery, where Saint Paul was converted, in the street which is called Straight, in which many powers are wrought. Then to Heliopolis, and from there we came to Emesa, where the head of Saint John the Baptist is, in a glass cask, and we saw it within and venerated it. And from there, passing through cities, that is, through Arissa, Aristosa, and Epiphania, we came to the most splendid city of Apamea, in which is all the nobility of the Syrians.
Going out from there, we came to Antioch the Great, in which rests Saint Babylas the bishop, and three little ones, and Saint Justina, and Saint Julian, and the Maccabee brothers, that is, seven tombs, and over each one's tomb are written the accounts of their passions. From there we descended into Mesopotamia, to the city of Chalcis. From there we came to Carrhae, where Abraham was born; and from there we came to the city of Barbarissus; there rests Saint Bacchus, brother of Saint George. From there we came to the city of Sura, through the middle of which city runs the river Euphrates, which is crossed there by a bridge. In that city Saint Bacchus and Saint George suffered. But Saint George rests in the city of Tyre.
Then through so many and such places we saw set among marvels. Returning after these things through many fortresses, through streets, hamlets, country estates, and cities, weary from so long a journey, we began to make our way; and crossing the sea we came to Italy, our own region, with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, for love of whom we had gone out from these places to behold such marvels of His own, which He wrought while dwelling among men, and those of the blessed apostles, and those which, before the time of His incarnation from the Virgin, He had once wrought of old through His patriarchs and prophets — Jesus Christ our Lord. Living and rejoicing, we came to Piacenza, our own city, set upon the river which is called the Po, within the aforesaid Italy. HERE IT ENDS HAPPILY.
AMEN. Arculf, a holy bishop of the Gallic nation, an experienced, truthful, and quite competent informant concerning diverse and far-distant places, having lodged in the city of Jerusalem for nine months and traversing the holy places with daily visits, dictated to me, Adamnan, all these matters which are to be written down below, as I diligently inquired and first wrote them on tablets, in a faithful and indubitable narration, which are now written in a brief text upon parchment.