Johann Ludwig Burckhardt 1784-1817

A Swiss traveller, orientalist, geographer, and linguist. After studying Arabic language at the University of Cambridge, he left to the Near East in 1809 to spend some time in Aleppo where he perfected his Arabic and studied Quran and Islamic Law. He subsequently disguised himself as s Muslim and adopted the name of Sheikh Ibrahim ibn Abdallah. He proceeded to travel throughout the Levant and Egypt all the way to Hijaz and Mecca. Like most Orientalists, he was mainly interested in pre-Islamic monuments: Pagan as well as Judeo-Christian (for example the supposed place where the Hebrews crossed the Red Sea, the Lord fed the Israelites "manna" etc). He was keenly interested in deserted villages and towns the location of which he described and the related monuments he measured with the utmost care, making full use of the simple tools at his disposal. He meticulously copied whatever inscriptions he was able to discern: Greek, Latin, Arabic that he jealously guarded in his journal. All this he had to do while taking care not to rouse the Arabs' suspicion. To the nomads his weird behavior was often interpreted as aiming at locating hidden treasures that he would steal later on or as sorcery and witchcraft. He managed nonetheless to describe erxtensive landscapes (mountains, valleys, rivers, torrents) , fauna, flora, He enumretated the Arab tribes of Syria nd its surroundings and desribed their habits. He had, however, very little to say about the large cities and main urban centers. He was a contemporary to the rising Egyptian power under Muhammad Ali Pasha and the early reign of Emir Bashir al-Shihabi of Mount Lebanon. He also was an eyewitness to the late expansion of the First Saudi-Wahabi State (1744-1818) shortly before its destruction at the hands of Ibrahim Pasha, Muhammad Ali's son and lieutenant. He died of dysentery at the young age of 32. His most important discovery was that of the City of Petra in Transjordan.