A Missing Link in European Travel Literature: Burchard of Mount Sion's Description of Egypt

Abstract

This article offers a first study and edition of Burchard of Mount Sion’s ‘Egyptian section’. This text—hitherto almost completely neglected by scholars—provides a detailed account of Egypt, and is preserved in its entirety in two manuscripts, following Burchard’s Descriptio Terrae Sanctae. The present work provides an analysis of the contents and characteristics of this text, of the cultural context in which it was composed, and of its reception in medieval and early modern times. Appendix 1 includes a provisional edition of Burchard’s account of Egypt. Appendix 2 offers an edition of the final part of a shortened version of this text which is significant from the point of view of the history of its reception.

Keywords

• Burchard of Mount Sion
• Egypt
• Travel literature
• Nile
• pilgrimage