Abu l'Abbas (elephant)

Journey from East to Europe

Abul Abbas was brought from Baghdad, which was then the capital of the Abbasid caliphate, through the mediation of a Frankish Jew named Isaac ^{[2] [6]} , who, along with two other emissaries, Lantfried and Sigmund ^[2] , was sent to the Caliph’s court on orders Charlemagne the Great. As the only surviving member of the embassy of the three listed, Isaac went on a return trip with an elephant, about which he tried to warn Karl in advance through two emissaries whom he met in 801: one was sent personally by caliph Harun ar-Rashid, the other by Ibrahim ibn al- Aglab , who was at that time the governor of Ifricia ^{[2] [7]} . Karl ordered a man from Liguria (a province near Genoa) to equip a fleet to transport an elephant and other goods ^[2] .

Researchers believe that Isaac and the elephant made their journey through Africa: they began the return journey, heading along the Egyptian coast to Ifricia, then managed by Ibrahim ibn al-Aglab, who bought this land from ar-Rashid for payments of 40,000 dinars per year. Perhaps, with the help of Ibrahim in his capital Kairouan (now in Tunisia), Isaac sailed from the port (possibly Carthage ^[8] , now Tunisia) together with Aboul Abbas and completed the remaining route to Europe via the Mediterranean Sea ^[9] .

In any case, the historical text of the “Annals of the Kingdom of the Francs” says that “Isaac the Jew returned from Africa with an elephant” ( Isaac Iudeus de Africa cum elefanto ) and landed in Portovenere (near Genoa) in October 801 ^{[2] [10 ] ]} . He spent the winter with the elephant in Vercelli, and in the spring they began crossing the Alps to the residence of the emperor in Aachen, arriving there on July 20, 802 ^{[2] [6] [11]} .

Death

In 810, Charlemagne left his palace and began a military campaign aimed at defeating the King of Denmark, Goodfred and his fleet, which invaded and plundered Friesland. Charlemagne crossed the Rhine River and stopped at a place called "Lippham", waiting for the arrival of troops for three days when his elephant suddenly died ^{[12] [13]} . Based on the assumption that Aboul-Abbas was with Charlemagne at the time of his death, some modern researchers conclude that the Franks planned to use the animal as a fighting elephant ^{[6] [14] [15]} .

Place of death

The location of the Lippeham site is a matter of discussion ^[16] , but it is assumed that the word means “the mouth of the Lippe River” ^[16] (the place where it flows into the Rhine), in other words, somewhere near the city of Wesel ^{[ 17] [18]} . Such an assumption is known at least from 1746 ^[19] (or even from 1735 ^[20] ), when Nunning (Nunningus) and his colleague published information that “Lippeham” should be identified with Wesel ^[21] and that there were huge bones were discovered that are now (at that time) owned by the museum associated with them, which, it seemed logical, can be considered parts of the skeleton of the elephant of Abul Abbas ^[22] . Another huge bone was found in the Lippe River among a fish catch in the Herrstadt of Hartrop at the beginning of 1750, and it was also declared part of the remains of Abul-Abbas ^[20] .

One of those disputing this point of view, Richard Hodges, identifies Lippeham with the Luneburg Heath, which is located not quite next to the Rhine ^[23] .

Presentation and Death Information

The “Annals of the Kingdom of the Francs” contain only brief references to the transportation of Aboul Abbas (801) ^[1] , his delivery to the emperor (802) ^[11] and the fact of his death (810). But modern authors often present false information in their works. Some write that when Abul al-Abbas arrived in Europe, he traveled through various cities of Germany, surprising the townspeople ^[15] that he was exhibited at Speyer, Strasbourg, Verdun, Augsburg and Paderborn as a demonstration of the emperor’s true power ^[14] and was eventually located in Augsburg, on the territory of modern southern Bavaria ^[15] .

Some add details about the death of an elephant, claiming that by the time of its onset he was forty years old and already suffered from rheumatism when he accompanied Karl on a campaign through the Rhine to Friesland ^[14] . According to these sources, because of the "cool rainy weather" Abu l-Abbas fell ill with pneumonia ^{[14] [15]} . People who took care of him transported him to the Münster district, where he fell and died ^[14] .

White Elephant

Some contemporary works indicate that Abul-Abbas was an albino - that is, a white elephant - but there is no basis for such allegations. One of the first works that claimed that Aboul Abbas was a "white elephant" was a book by Will Mason West (1902) ^[24] . In 1971, Pyotr Muntz wrote a book intended for a wide range of readers, in which he also spoke of the “white elephant”, but noted this fact as “inaccurate”, since “no evidence” is known to authoritatively substantiate it ^[25] . The mention of the “white elephant” also erroneously comes from the name of the printed catalog from the 2003 Aachen exhibition: Ex oriente: Isaak und der weisse Elefant , however, in this publication - an article written by Greve and Paul, there is a question mark in the sentence regarding the elephant: “ Among the famous gifts to Karl was a (white (?)) Elephant ” ^[26] .

Indian elephant

Some authors also claimed with unshakable confidence that Abul-Abbas was an Asian elephant ^[14] , while others left this question open, believing that it was possible that it was actually an African elephant ^[27] .

Notes