pillage and to capture booty in the land of Shinar and El-Yemen.  All the neighbours of these Jews go in fear of them.  Among them are husbandmen and owners of cattle; their land is extensive, and they have in their midst learned and wise men.  They give the tithe of all they possess unto the scholars who sit in the house of learning, also to poor Israelites and to the recluses, who are the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem, and who do not eat meat nor taste wine, and sit clad in garments of black.

[p.71]

They dwell in caves or underground houses, and fast each day with the exception of the Sabbaths and Festivals, and implore mercy of the Holy One, blessed be He, on account of the exile of Israel, praying that He may take pity upon them, and upon all the Jews, the men of Teima, for the sake of His great Name, also upon Tilmas the great city, in which there are about 100,000 Jews[147].  At this place lives Salmon the Nasi, the brother of Hanan the Nasi; and the land belongs to the two brothers, who are of the seed of David, for they have their pedigree in writing.  They address many questions unto the Head of the Captivity—­their kinsman in Bagdad—­and they fast forty days in the year for the Jews that dwell in exile.

There are here about forty large towns and 200 hamlets and villages.  The principal city is Tanai, and in all the districts together there are about 300,000 Jews.  The city of Tanai is well fortified, and in the midst thereof the people sow and reap.  It is fifteen miles in extent.  Here is the palace of the Nasi called Salmon.  And in Teima dwells Hanan the Nasi, his brother.  It is a beautiful city, and contains gardens and plantations.

[p.72]

And Tilmas is likewise a great city; it contains about 100,000 Jews.  It is well fortified, and is situated between two high mountains.  There are wise, discreet, and rich men amongst the inhabitants.  From Tilmas to Kheibar it is three days’ journey.  People say that the men of Kheibar belong to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, whom Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, led hither into captivity.  They have built strongly-fortified cities, and make war upon all other kingdoms.  No man can readily reach their territory, because it is a march of eighteen days’ journey through the desert, which is altogether uninhabited, so that no one can enter the land.

Kheibar is a very large city with 50,000 Jews[148].  In it are learned men, and great warriors, who wage war with the men of Shinar and of the land of the north, as well as with the bordering tribes of the land of El-Yemen near them, which latter country is on the confines of India[149].  Returning from their land, it is a journey of twenty-five days to the river Virae, which is in the land of El-Yemen, where about 3,000 Jews dwell[150], and amongst them are many a Rabbi and Dayan.

[p.73]