ABSTRACT
The reports of Arab writers about the Byzantine empire and about Constantinople consist of two main groups. On the one hand, we have the primary texts, where travellers give an account of what they have seen and experienced themselves. On the other hand, we have short passages in chronicles or in geographical treatises which were compiled from older sources without personal knowledge. This chapter looks at the writings of those authors who had actually been to Constantinople, namely Harun b. Yahya who visited the city before 912, and Ibn Battuta who was there in 1332. Yahya describes in great detail the centre of Constantinople around the hippodrome, and gives an account of a Christmas banquet which was held in the emperor's palace, and of a solemn imperial procession from the palace through the hippodrome to Hagia Sophia. Ibn Battuta's report about his stay in Constantinople begins with the arrival and entry there which are described with the following words.
