Melville had visited the Holy Land in the winter of 1856 and traveled along the route he describes in Clarel. The visit immediately followed an October trip to England, where he had met his friend Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was U.S. consul in Liverpool.
In winter 1856, Melville toured the Holy Land, which is reflected in his work Clarel. This visit came after a trip to England in October, during which he met Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was serving as U.S. consul in Liverpool at that time.