Travelers’ Discourses on Diseases in Mesopotamia Between the Sixteenth and Nineteenth Centuries: The Aleppo Boil

This study examines the social and environmental transformation of cities in Ottoman Mesopotamia between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries through European travelers’ accounts of the Aleppo boil (oriental sore). While early modern travelers under Ottoman rule often praised the region’s inhabitants for their physical appearance and apparent health, narratives from the late eighteenth century onward increasingly emphasized bodily degeneration, urban decay, and unsanitary living conditions. This shift is analyzed through a human-environment perspective. The encroachment of Bedouin tribes onto fertile agricultural lands displaced rural populations, driving migration toward urban centers. Rapid urban growth, particularly in peripheral and suburban areas, led to overcrowding and deteriorating sanitary conditions. The Ottoman State failed to manage these changes, contributing to the spread of disease and urban decline. By the nineteenth century, travelers frequently depicted Mesopotamian cities as “hotbeds of disease” and described their inhabitants as “wild-looking.” This study contributes to the environmental history of the Ottoman State by showing how changing travel narratives reflect broader socio-environmental dynamics and shifting perceptions of urban life.