Burckhardt, Johann Ludwig

▪ Swiss author

also called  Ibrāhīm Ibn ʿabd Allāh  

born Nov. 24, 1784, Lausanne, Switz.

died Oct. 15, 1817, Cairo

      the first European in modern times to visit the ancient city of Petra and to arrive at the great Egyptian temple at Abu Simbel (or Abū Sunbul).

      Burckhardt went to England in 1806 and studied in London and at Cambridge University. In 1809, under the auspices of the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa, he visited Syria to learn Arabic and to accustom himself to Muslim life. According to instructions from the London association, he was then to journey to the regions south of the Sahara, via Fezzan, now the southwestern sector of Libya. In 1812, en route from Syria to Cairo, he discovered the important archaeological site at Petra, in modern Jordan. Upon his arrival in Cairo he found no immediate prospect for a reliable caravan to Fezzan; hence he decided to travel up the Nile. In so doing he discovered the temple at Abu Simbel, generally thought to be among the most imposing of all rock temples. Next he traveled through Arabia, visiting Mecca. He then returned to Cairo where he died, still waiting for a chance to cross the Sahara.

      Burckhardt, who took a Muslim name and often wore Muslim dress, left his large collection of Arabic manuscripts to Cambridge University. His writings include Travels in Nubia (1819), Travels in Syria and the Holy Land (1822), and Travels in Arabia (1829).

Additional Reading

Katharine Sim, Desert Traveller: The Life of Jean Louis Burckhardt (1969).

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