Thietmar (pilgrim)

Thietmar or Dithmar was a German Christian pilgrim who visited the Holy Land in 1217–1218 and wrote an account of his travels, the Liber peregrinationis.

He landed in Acre in the early summer[2] or fall[1] of 1217, when the city was already host to armies from Europe preparing to battle the Muslims.

The truce was broken during his stay in the Holy Land and in several instances he was in a place just days or weeks before it saw serious fighting.

Starting from Acre, he went by way of Nazareth, Cana, Mount Tabor, Nein and Tabgha to Tiberias, from where he followed the south shore of the Sea of Galilee, crossed the river Jordan and went by way of Nawā, Maliḥa, Ṣanamayn and Damascus to Saidnaya.

He and his party were arrested anyway and detained in the Asnerie, the former donkey stables of the Knights Hospitaller by the Church of Saint Stephen just outside the Jerusalem.

Possibly he crossed the sea by boat, but more likely he was confused and in fact passed through Mount Nebo and Madaba before picking up the King's Highway.

[3] Guided by Bedouins,[4] he followed this south through Heshbon, Rabba, Kerak, Shoubak, Petra, Mount Hor and the Arabah to Aqaba on the Red Sea coast.