The International Prester John Project: How A Global Legend Was Created Across Six CenturiesMain MenuOrientation to ProjectPath One: 1122-1235Path Two: 1236-1310 ADPath Three : 1311-1460 ADPath Four : 1461-1520 ADPath Five: 1521-1699 ADPath Six: 1700-1800 ADChristopher Taylor // christopher.eric.taylor@gmail.com946e2cf6115688379f338b70e5b6f6c039f8ba6f Global Middle Ages
John Livingston Lowes
12016-03-30T10:21:59-07:00Christopher Taylor // christopher.eric.taylor@gmail.com946e2cf6115688379f338b70e5b6f6c039f8ba6f52811plain2016-03-30T10:21:59-07:00Christopher Taylor // christopher.eric.taylor@gmail.com946e2cf6115688379f338b70e5b6f6c039f8ba6fJohn Livingstone Lowes, "The Dry Sea and the Carrenare." Modern Philology 3.1 (1905): 1-46.
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12016-03-27T11:03:53-07:00Sandy Sea6plain2022-08-20T16:57:57-07:00Versions of the Letter nearly all reference a "sandy sea" (also called the "dry" or "gravelly" sea), a conventional marvel mentioned in a number of classical (Pliny's Historia Naturalis and Josephus' JudeanWar, notably) and medieval texts. Silverberg (p. 51) avers that the Letter's version of the "sandy sea" motif can be traced to Eldad the Danite.
Although it is unclear exactly where this desert is supposed to exist (though Josephus places it in Lebanon), later travelers (including Marco Polo) identified it as the Lop Nur Desert in China.
Several texts influenced by the Letter include this detail about the sandy sea. Mandeville keeps to the language of the Letter almost exactly. Odoric of Pordenone, a Franciscan traveler who undermines the veracity of the Prester John Letter, also mentions traveling through a desert that resembles a swirling sea.
