Arab trip (Carsten Niebuhr)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carsten Niebuhr in Arabia

The Arab journey (also: Journey to Arabia ) of the mathematician and cartographer Carsten Niebuhr and his colleagues in the years from 1761 to 1767 was the first scientifically based and conceived expedition to the countries of the Arab and Near East. It was based on an idea and a concept of the Göttingen professor of oriental studies, Johann David Michaelis , who also invited three of his former Arabic students to the group of participants. The trip was financed by the Danish king . The journey led from Copenhagen by ship to Constantinople and Cairo , from there to Yemen and as far as India . As the only survivor, Carsten Niebuhr returned to Copenhagen, who, on the basis of his own notes and those of his fellow travelers, increased Europe's knowledge of the Orient in several publications.

Idea and conception

Niebuhr: War exercises of the Arabs in Yemen
From Michaelis' catalog of questions, 1762

Johann David Michaelis taught and researched the Hebrew and Arabic languages as a professor at the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Göttingen . Although he did not belong to the theological faculty , he considered it an essential aim of his work to develop a deeper understanding of the biblical texts of the Old Testament. Following the spirit of his time, he tried to expand his knowledge through empirical research, i.e. through comparison with reality, and to break away from pure book wisdom.

When researching the Old Testament, there were various difficulties with the interpretation of vocabulary that related to the material culture and living conditions of the ancient Orient, such as tools of daily life, but also to architecture, botany and zoology. Regulations on the purity and uncleanliness of certain animal species (for example from Deuteronomy ) could only be understood if one knew the animal world of the Orient. It has been handed down that Michaelis Göttinger asked professors of the natural sciences in writing about the characteristics of certain animal species in order to better understand biblical passages in the text. This approach was downright revolutionary for the philology and theology of the time.

In addition, it was believed in the 18th century that the culture of the Orient was significantly less dynamic than the culture of Europe, which was then shaped by the Enlightenment , massive advances in the natural sciences and the beginning of industrialization . European science assumed that the culture of the Orient still represented the culture of the biblical patriarchs and the prophet Moses , so that one could explore the world of the Old Testament there simply by looking.

In 1753 Michaelis developed the idea of ​​sending an expedition of experts from various disciplines to the countries of the Near East so that they could clarify the questions that preoccupied science.

For this purpose, Michaelis put together a catalog of questions that covered as many of these problems as possible. To this end, he asked scientists across Europe to submit additional questions. It took so long that the complete catalog with a hundred questions about the expedition in several parts could only be sent during the trip. The questionnaire, together with the instructions given by the Danish King to the participants, appeared in print in 1762 and was translated into other European languages ​​over the next few years.

Michaelis was then a recognized scientist throughout Europe. In 1756 he succeeded in winning over the Danish Minister of State Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff , who came from Hanover, for the plan of a scientifically motivated expedition to the Orient. This ensured that the Danish-Norwegian King Frederick V took over the financing.

Attendees

The expedition members from Haven, Forsskål and Niebuhr had already studied Arabic with Michaelis in Göttingen, Cramer and Baurenfeind and the servant Berggren joined the group in Denmark shortly before the start of the journey.

  • Carsten Niebuhr, mathematician and cartographer

  • Peter Forsskål, zoologist and botanist

  • Georg Wilhelm Bauernfeind, draftsman and engraver

Course of the trip

The expedition began with a trip on the Danish warship "Grønland" from Copenhagen through the Baltic Sea, North Sea, Atlantic and Mediterranean to Constantinople. There there were first discrepancies in the group, which were resolved by correspondence with Copenhagen, as the group did not have a leader. All expedition participants had equal rights, so the Danish government had to send instructions by mail. Soon the group drove on to Cairo. There were further questions to be clarified with Copenhagen. However, this took around two years to complete, a period that the group used for research, records and measurements in Lower Egypt and on the Sinai , as well as for the purchase of valuable manuscripts in various languages ​​and scripts.

Then it went on by ship to Jeddah and al-Luhayya in Yemen. From there the group traveled overland to Bayt al-Faqīh , which was used as a starting point for research and surveying.

Here the first symptoms of illness made themselves felt among the travelers. They suffered from fever, stomach cramps, and vomiting. None of the travelers, not even the doctor Cramer, could diagnose malaria , Niebuhr speaks of "colds" in his memories.

Jacques-Nicolas Bellin : Map of the port city of Mocha, 1764
Carsten Niebuhr: House in Sanaa

On May 25, 1763, Friedrich Christian von Haven died of malaria in Mocha . Peter Forsskål died six weeks later on July 10th in Yarīm on the way to Sanaa . Four of the travelers arrived seriously ill in the capital. Here they were welcomed in a friendly and caring manner and given an audience with the Imam . They were allowed to stay as guests of the ruler for a full year, but preferred to leave the dangerous region as quickly as possible and travel to Mocha, where English ships stopped at regular intervals on their way to India. They actually reached the last ship that left for India that year.

But the illness did not let go of her. Georg Wilhelm Baurenfeind died on the ship on August 29th and Berggren, the servant, on August 30th. In September 1763 Niebuhr and Cramer disembarked in Bombay . They lived there in a comfortable house and were treated by an English doctor. Nevertheless, Christian Karl Cramer died on February 10, 1764.

In the fall of that year, Niebuhr felt healthy enough to continue his journey. Despite his bad experiences, he now wanted to carry out the research assignment alone and actually traveled overland to the west. But his experiences now moved him to make a fundamental change. He distanced himself from European ways of acting and attitudes and realized that he had to adapt to the realities of the countries through which he was traveling. He dressed like a local, accepted local customs and behaved discreetly. As a result, he no longer made contact with the official offices in the respective regions, as he used to, but traveled inconspicuously, which turned out to be much more pleasant and efficient.

He later wrote that the tour group’s refusal to adapt to local conditions was, in his view, the main reason for the group’s failure and health problems. Dealing with the local population and the local authorities was also much smoother, at least not more difficult than in Europe.

Among other things, Niebuhr managed to make extensive records of the then famous, but so far insufficiently described ruins of Persepolis , the Persian royal seat ("the most important monument of the Orient"). His copies of the Persian cuneiform monuments were so meaningful that 40 years later Georg Friedrich Grotefend was able to present a translation based on his notes, which was based on his attempt to decipher the Persian cuneiform script shortly before.

At Christmas 1765 Niebuhr came to Najaf , in January 1766 to Baghdad , in March to Mosul and in June to Aleppo . Here in Syria, Niebuhr released his incognito and made contact with the Danish king. Friedrich V had died in the meantime, his son Christian VII sat on the throne . Niebuhr offered the king to explore the St. Catherine's Monastery on Sinai and to travel up the Nile . But that was not allowed. Niebuhr returned to Constantinople via Cyprus , Jerusalem and Damascus .

From Constantinople he traveled by land across the Balkans to Göttingen and from there to Copenhagen.

Results

Niebuhr brought his notes and those of his traveling companions home with him.

In 1772 Niebuhr's first travelogue was published under the title “Description of Arabia”, which was to be followed two years later by a richly illustrated splendid edition “Travel description to Arabia and other surrounding countries” (Copenhagen 1774–1778) in three volumes, the last of which “Reise nach Syrien und Palestine” was published after his death in Hamburg in 1837.

These works contain extensive representations, maps and illustrations of the landscapes and their inhabitants as well as of machines, coins and inscriptions.

In addition, Niebuhr supplied the first reliable maps of the Red Sea and Yemen. The latter were an important tool for exploring the country for over 200 years. Niebuhr's copies of altarabic inscriptions , hieroglyphics and cuneiform were also extremely valuable to scientists in Europe.

In the years that followed, his works were translated into various languages, including English, French and Dutch.

In 1775 Niebuhr published the zoological and botanical records of his colleague Peter Forsskål, who also achieved well-deserved fame.

The initiator of the trip, the Göttingen orientalist Johann David Michaelis, was obviously not satisfied with the result of the expedition. There is no record of a positive reaction to the results from Niebuhr. From his autobiography it emerges that after the deaths of most of the expedition members he considered his idea to have failed.

Apart from the publications of his results, Niebuhr did not appear scientifically after his return. He made a career in Danish administration and died in Meldorf in Dithmarschen in 1815 . His measuring instruments can be viewed today in the Dithmarscher State Museum . His handwritten notes can be found in his estate in the Kiel University Library .

literature

Questions from Michaelis:

  • Johann David Michaelis: Questions for a society of learned men who are traveling to Arabia on the orders of Her Majesty the King of Denmark. Frankfurt am Main 1762 ( digitized version )

Publications by Niebuhr:

  • Description of Arabia. Written from own observations and from news collected in the country itself. Copenhagen 1772 ( digitized )
  • Travel description to Arabia and other surrounding countries. 2 volumes, Copenhagen 1774–1778; Volume 3: Travels through Syria and Palestine. Hamburg 1837

Niebuhr's publications of Forsskål's work:

  • Descriptiones Animalium - Avium, amphiborum, insectorum, vermium quæ in itinere orientali observavit Petrus Forskål. 1775 digitized in the Google book search
  • Flora Ægyptiaco-Arabica sive descriptiones plantarum quas per Ægyptum Inferiorem et Arabiam felicem detexit, illustravit Petrus Forskål. 1775

Web links

Commons : Arabian expedition (1761-1767)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Carsten Niebuhr  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ For example in the letter to Georg Christoph Lichtenberg from 1781 (see file: Michaelis - Brief 1781.jpg )
  2. ↑ Questions to a Society of Scholarly Men who travel to Arabia on the orders of Her Majesty the King of Denmark. Frankfurt / M .: Johann Gottlieb Garbe 1762; French edition on www.archive.org .