The Scroll of Ovadiah

Ovadiah the Proselyte

Early 12th Century

Illustration of a bearded man in a robe holding a staff over his shoulder with a bag hanging from it, reaching his hand out toward another hand extended from the left edge of the image.
Please login or register for free access to Posen Library
Register
Already have an account?
Engage with this Source

The partially surviving autobiographical account of Ovadiah ha-Ger’s life, known as The Scroll of Ovadiah (Megilat ‘Ovadyah), is written in the third person. Found in the Cairo Geniza, this text traces Ovadiah’s transformation and travels through various Middle Eastern cities before he finally reached Egypt. The text, however, cuts off with him in Tyre, Lebanon. Ovadiah recounts his youth as a Christian, meeting with Karaites, and encountering Crusaders. This excerpt covers his initial journey from Italy and his travels in Iraq and elsewhere.

Read more

Related Guide

Early Medieval History and Travel Writing

8th to 12th Century

Creator Bio

Ovadiah the Proselyte

b. ca. 1070

Ovadiah ha-Ger (“the Proselyte”) is one of the only medieval converts to Judaism to have left behind any record of his motives or life. Born as Johannes in Oppido Lucano, in Italy, Ovadiah became a priest as a young man. He explains that he was moved to convert to Judaism by factors that include the persecutions that Jews faced at the hands of the Crusaders. He moved to Constantinople and Baghdad before settling in Egypt. In addition, Ovadiah wrote the earliest surviving musical notation for a Hebrew song (see Visual and Material Culture), which follows the format of Gregorian chant.

You may also like

Illustration of a bearded, crying man in a robe and turban, his head surrounded by a gold halo, crouching beside a shrouded figure, also haloed, lying on a wooden bed.
Tooltip info icon

I uttered a vow to God

I uttered a vow to God [to write a Torah scroll], which I have repaid fairly and properly. My lips shall greatly rejoice when to You I sing praises and songs, for You have fashioned me with the…
View Source
Illustration of six bearded, turbaned men and a shirtless boy on a wooden sailboat in fish-filled water, below a line of Arabic script.
Tooltip info icon

Account of a Raid on Aden

This year, at the beginning of seafaring time, the son of al-‘Amīd, the ruler of Kīs, sent an expedition against Aden. He had demanded part of Aden, which was refused, whereupon he sent this…
View Source

Mainz Anonymous

It came to pass in the year one thousand twenty-eight after the destruction of the Temple that this evil befell Israel. There first arose the princes and nobles and common folk in France, who took…
View Source