ts of which
are called Gurganim who dwell by the river Gihon[133], and these are
the Girgashites who follow the Christian religion. Further it extends
to the gates of Samarkand, the land of Tibet, and the land of India.
In respect of all these countries the Head of the Captivity gives the
communities power to appoint Rabbis and Ministers who come unto him to
be consecrated and to receive his authority.

[p.63]

They bring him offerings and gifts from the ends of the earth. He owns
hospices, gardens and plantations in Babylon, and much land inherited
from his fathers, and no one can take his possessions from him by
force. He has a fixed weekly revenue arising from the hospices of the
Jews, the markets and the merchants, apart from that which is brought
to him from far-off lands. The man is very rich, and wise in the
Scriptures as well as in the Talmud, and many Israelites dine at his
table every day.

At his installation, the Head of the Captivity gives much money to the
Caliph, to the Princes and the Ministers. On the day that the Caliph
performs the ceremony of investing him with authority, he rides in the
second of the royal equipages, and is escorted from the palace of the
Caliph to his own house with timbrels and fifes. The Exilarch appoints
the Chiefs of the Academies by placing his hand upon their heads, thus
installing them in their office[134]. The Jews of the city are learned
men and very rich.

[p.64]

In Bagdad there are twenty-eight Jewish Synagogues, situated either in
the city itself or in Al-Karkh on the other side of the Tigris; for
the river divides the metropolis into two parts. The great synagogue
of the Head of the Captivity has columns of marble of various colours
overlaid with silver and gold, and on these columns are sentences of
the Psalms in golden letters. And in front of the ark are about ten
steps of marble; on the topmost step are the seats of the Head of the
Captivity and of the Princes of the House of David. The city of Bagdad
is twenty miles in circumference, situated in a land of palms, gardens
and plantations, the like of which is not to be found in the whole
land of Shinar. People come thither with merchandise from all lands.
Wise men live there, philosophers who know all manner of wisdom, and
magicians expert in all manner of witchcraft.

Thence it is two days to Gazigan which is called Resen. It is a large
city containing about 5,000 Jews. In the midst of it is the Synagogue