Rediscovered in Syria in the late 19th century, this account relates the experiences of Reverend Elias al-Musili, a priest of the Chaldean Church and the first known visitor to the Americas from the Middle East. Supported by Spain and the pope, he offers a unique perspective on the New World.
In 1905, the Jesuit scholar Antûn Rabbât discovered the writings of Elias al-Mûsili in a Jacobite diocese in Aleppo, Syria. Al-Mûsili, a seventeenth-century Arab and a priest of the Chaldean Church, traveled widely across colonial Spanish America, becoming the first person to visit the Americas from Baghdad. Rabbât transcribed into Arabic and published those portions relating to al-Mûsili’s travels. Acclaimed Middle Eastern historian Farah is the first to make these writings available in English translation.
