“His Majesty…has dispatched a few days ago by the vessel Greenland a group of scholars, who will travel by way of the Mediterranean to Constantinople, and thence through Egypt to Arabia Felix, and subsequently return by way of Syria to Europe; they will on all occasions seek to make new discoveries and observations for the benefit of scholarship…” – Copenhagen Post, 12th January, 1761
Carsten Niebuhr survived malaria, earthquakes, civil wars, bandits, plagues and the deaths of all his colleagues to successfully complete the first modern scientific expedition to the Near East.
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This Danish expedition is fascinating, and Carsten Niebuhr is an amazing character. I just got hold of and am reading Arabia Felix by Thorkild Hansen. Thanks for including this in the podcast.
Glad you enjoyed it! He's one of my favorite characters – and almost totally unknown! There's much more to his story than I was able to include in the episode, so I'm sure you'll enjoy the book. Take care! – Scott C.