The author of this wonderful travel description, Karl Theodor Rückert, was a Catholic theologian and classical philologist. He began his adventurous and enlightening journey in 1879. The trip took him from Freiburg via Marseille to Egypt, including Cairo, Suez, and Port Said. He then traveled to Bethlehem, the Mount of Olives, and visited various countries and regions up to Syria, from where he returned to Europe. This book is a well-written account of his travels. It is a reprint of the long-out-of-print original edition from 1881.