An oxcart laden with wooden planks rumbled past. Reaching a crossroads, Eric saw two women emerge from a house. They adjusted their veils. Here, it was hard to tell Christians from Saracens.
Leaving the residential district, they entered a more commercial area.
The streets teemed with people, forcing them to slow their pace. In addition to the Greek majority, there were also many Saracens of every complexion: dark brown, light brown, and the deepest black.
These dark-skinned Saracens were said to come from distant Ethiopia and Sudan, lands south of Egypt.
There were also Jews, wearing small round caps with curled sidelocks at their temples, and Armenians in strange, pointed hats.
Every building housed some sort of business.
A horse-drawn cart was being unloaded of its cotton bales, which workers carried into a shop.
Elsewhere, small birds chirped in a cage. A silver smith tapped away at a small table with a delicate hammer.
