ARMENIA - KURDISTAN - PERSIA AND MEZOPOTAMIA

1840

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NARRATIVE
OF
A
TOUR
THROUGH
ARMENIA, KURDISTAN, PERSIA
AND
MESOPOTAMIA
(2 Volumes)

by

Horatio Southgate

Tilt and Bogue, London. 1840

About the Book

“Narrative of a Tour through Armenia, Kurdistan, Persia and Mesopotamia” is an early account of travel in these countries by and an American.

The book is subtitled:  “With an Introduction, and Occasional Observations upon the Condition of Mohammedanism and Christianity in those Countries”.

There was a strong American missionary interest in the Nestorian Christians living in Kurdish territory to the west of Lake Urmiah. Several ministers and their families lived there during the 19th century. Others visited; one of these was Horatio Southgate, on tour for several months during 1838 and 1839. His trip account provides textile manufacture, trade, and use information at a time well in advance of the late 19th century carpet export boom. Southgate is a good observer, for he spoke not only Persian, but also Turkish and its Azeri variant.

Southgate’s book represents a significant impressions of that area where Kurdistan, Persia, Ottoman Turkey, and Transcaucasia converge. He visits most of the urban places, and through his descriptions one acquires a sense of their commerce.


About the Author

Horatio Southgate (1812- 1894)

Horatio Southgate was born in Portland, Maine and studied for the ordained ministry at Andover Theological Seminary as a Congregationalist. In 1834 he became a member of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and was subsequently ordained to the diaconate in 1835. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1839 after an unusually long diaconate for this period in Anglican history.

Southgate was consecrated as a missionary bishop "for the dominions and dependencies of the Sultan" (i.e., the Ottoman Empire on October 26, 1844, following on several years of travels in what are now Turkey, Iran, Iraq and other parts of the Middle East.