Riksantikvarieämbetet

Bengt  Bengtsson Oxenstierna’s travels in the Near East have not earned him the same kind of regard as other 16th, 17th  and 18th  century travellers have been accorded, yet his story is unusually interesting in light of documentary evidence, collected by later writers, that allows us to identify, often with great precision, some of the places he visited. Beginning with his stay in the Holy Land in 1613, this study examines the evidence documenting the sacred sites he saw there, before turning to his second journey of 1617–1618, when he visited Iran and Iraq. His presence in Isfahan, Shiraz and Khoshkrud is documented by multiple, later witnesses, whereas his visits to the archaeological sites of Persepolis and Naqš-e Rustam are doubtful. In Iraq, his visit to the archaeological sites of ‘Aqar Qūf and Tell Ibrahim al-Khalil can be confirmed. Oxenstierna is a unique figure in the history of European travellers who visited the Near East during the 17th century, but a modern assessment of his travels is needed. The purpose of the present communication is to offer a critical appreciation of his achievement through a detailed analysis of places mentioned in his text, several of which are identified for the first time and several of which are exposed as fictitious.