Evliya Çelebi (1611–ca. 1682, real name Mehmed Zilli) was a famed Turkish traveller who visited much of the Ottoman domain and ventured beyond. His Seyâhatnâme ('Travel Book') is a valuable historical resource despite its author's propensity to exaggeration.
One of Çelebi's trips took him to Syria and Palestine. Its importance lies in the fact that it came during a period in the middle of the 17th century for which few detailed accounts of Palestine are available. Moreover, the other sources are mostly Christian or Jewish while Çelebi provides an Islamic perspective.
The first and only translation of the Palestine portion of the Seyâhatnâme into English was published in The Quarterly of the Department of Antiquities in Palestine between 1935 and 1942. The translator was Stephan Hanna Stephan (1894–1949), a local Palestinian who attended high school in Jerusalem and later joined the Department of Antiquities of the Palestine Government. The first four of the six installments include annotations by Leo Aryeh Mayer, but for unknown reasons Mayer's involvement ended there and Stephan annoted the last two installments himself.
Although several editions of Stephan's translation have been published since, we bring a copy of the original journal articles.
Since many of the places visited by Çelebi no longer exist, and the spellings used by Stephan often differ from those in modern literature, it can be difficult at times to identify the locations. A great resource would be an index of place names using modern spellings. Any volunteers would be appreciated.