Western travelers in the Near East were a relatively rare phenomenon in the seventeenth 
(less so in the eighteenth) century.  It was really Napoleon's invasion of Egypt 
in 1798 that re-perked interest in the Near East, especially since Napoleon's 
small army literally slaughtered mamluk (slave) horseman, armed with spears and 
medieval armor, in the Battle of the Pyramids (repeatedly depicted by later 
French painters in great detail).  Napoleon's expedition also discovered the Rosetta 
Stone which led to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics, further stimulating 
curiosity about the Near East.

Chardin's travel account of Persia is not only rare, but it is also lengthy. (He 
chose to record a lot of detail, which is bad for the casual reader but great for the 
historian.) As you read the book, it is important that you consider the issue of 
authorship, WHO wrote the book and why, and the accompanying preconceptions 
that this author brought to his task.

Your assignment for this week focuses on your reading of Sir John Chardin.  Please
remember that you are reading his lengthy travelogue as a historian and not 
as a literary critic. (It gets pretty boring at places.)  The essay question is:
Citing specific evidence from Travels in Persia, did these excerpts from
Chardin provide any useful information about Persian society? For example, what? 
You are searching his account for evidence that reveals Persian (political, economic, 
religious, social, etc.--Your choice depends on your collection of evidence.) 
practices and attitudes.  You are not necessarily going
to be writing about Chardin's personal jewelry transactions, although you might be.  
Please focus your paper on the assigned question, include
an introduction, use paragraphs (each of which deals with a specific point of your
introductory thesis), review the style rules for history papers in the course and include
short pieces of quoted evidence from the document to support your analysis.