The Elephant, the Jew, and the Muslim Sovereign: A Secret Mission Across the Alps

The Saint Bernard Pass serves as an international route across the Alps, a natural divider between Italy, France, and the countries of Western Europe. Around 800 AD, some 1,200 years ago, the Saint Bernard Pass was shrouded in mist during the early morning hours, as it often is, particularly in the mornings. An ancient inn lay in the pass. Strange sounds rose from the nearby Dora Valley: a gigantic figure slowly ascended the path. Unrecognizable, it made strange, unfamiliar noises. Could it be a monster approaching?

The guards stood alert, swords in hand. The inn's inhabitants rubbed their eyes and peered out the windows, while even the small forest creatures scampered across the path in a hurry.

Within minutes, the creature reached the heart of the Alps. It was an enormous elephant. In Europe, elephants are nonexistent, and the local village inhabitants had never seen one before. The last time an elephant had crossed this frontier was a thousand years before when the Carthaginian commander Hannibal fought with Rome and crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants from Africa (Carthage was in North Africa). This time, a lone elephant arrived, led by a man who appeared to be Jewish.

The Jew approached the border guards, speaking fluent German, and explained that he was an emissary from the great Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid to Emperor Charlemagne. Harun al-Rashid was the last of the enlightened Muslim rulers. He supported the pursuit of wisdom and education, founding "Bayt al-Hikma," an early form of university, meaning "House of Wisdom," where advanced sciences were developed far beyond what Europe could offer. The scientific terms "algorithm," "algebra," "alchemy," and even "alcohol" originate from there. Harun al-Rashid was also featured in "The Tales of the Arabian Nights" and constructed the "Pool of the Arches" in Ramla, which still stands today.

Al-Rashid had established relations with Charlemagne, the first emperor of the "Holy Roman Empire," ruler of much of Western Europe. Al-Rashid resided in Baghdad, and delegations would leave from Baghdad to Aachen in Germany, where Charlemagne's palace was located. In this particular delegation, an elephant was sent. The elephant's name was Abu Al-Abbas, and it carried sophisticated devices developed at Al-Rashid's Islamic university: a water clock, an astrolabic analog navigation calculator, and more. These were Harun al-Rashid's gifts, representing the era's science and progress, to the European Emperor.

The head of this delegation was a Jew, Isaac ben Jacob. The other members of the mission did not survive the journey, so Isaac ben Jacob led the elephant alone. The Jew and the elephant traversed the then-inhabited world from Baghdad to Germany's Rhine Valley. Why did these great kings entrust their important and dangerous missions to Jews? Jews were considered neutral and trustworthy, particularly for international mediation and missions, since Jews lived everywhere in the world, making them adept at managing in any locale. They could always find local Jews to assist with economics, protection, lodging, and food, and communicate in Hebrew for a shared understanding. A contemporary German emissary wouldn't manage beyond Germany's borders due to the language barrier. As such, Jews were highly influential in commerce during these times, supported by their natural network of allies worldwide.