Hanna Diyab · 1764 · mediterranean

Hanna Diyab's Book of Travels, written in 1764 but recounting a journey he made as a young man in 1707-10. A Maronite Christian from Aleppo, Diyab served the French antiquarian Paul Lucas as interpreter on a Mediterranean circuit to the court of Louis XIV. In Paris he met Antoine Galland and told him several stories, among them Aladdin and Ali Baba, that Galland wove into the Thousand and One Nights. Diyab himself went unnamed for centuries; his own account surfaced only in the 1990s.

1. 1
   Aleppo

   Diyab, a young Maronite from Aleppo, sets out with the French adventurer Paul Lucas as interpreter and servant.

2. 2
   Tripoli

   To the coast at Tripoli, and his first time at sea.

3. 3
   Cyprus

   Across to Cyprus.

4. 4
   Alexandria

   And Egypt: Alexandria, Cairo and the Fayoum.

5. 5
   Tunis

   West along the Barbary coast, by way of Tripoli and Djerba, to Tunis.

6. 6
   Livorno

   Across to Italy: Livorno and Genoa.

7. 7
   Marseille

   And into France at Marseille.

8. 8
   Paris

   Up through Lyon to Paris and Versailles, where he meets Galland and tells the tales that become Aladdin and Ali Baba.

9. 9
   Marseille

   Back down to Marseille to take ship for home.

10. 10
    Istanbul

    By sea across the Mediterranean to Istanbul, where he lingers in service to a Venetian consul.

11. 11
    Aleppo

    And across Anatolia by caravan, home to Aleppo at last.