Abraham ben Jacob, better known under his Arabic name of Ibrâhîm
ibn Ya`qûb (al-Tartushi [often like this instead of 'al-
Ṭurṭûshî']) was a 10th century Hispano-Arabic, Sephardi Jewish
written and oral history, as well as his writings indicate his
Jewish background, traveller, probably a merchant, whose brief
may have included diplomacy and espionage. His family hailed
from Moorish-ruled Ṭurṭūšah close to the mouth of the Ebro: he
himself may also have lived in Cordova. In 961–62 he travelled
in Western and Central Europe and in Italy at least as far as
Rome, where he was received in audience by the Holy Roman
Emperor Otto I during the first week of February; nothing is
known about his return to 'al-Andalus' (the Muslim-ruled part of
the Iberian Peninsula), nor of any other travel. The memoirs and
commentaries of his journey, possibly first presented to the
Cordovan caliph Al-Hakam II (961–76), have been lost; only
excerpts by later authors have been preserved, i.e., in Abu
Abdullah al-Bakri's Book of Highways