The young Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt made one of the great archaeological discoveries of all time when he happened, almost by accident, on the colossal statues that Pharaoh Ramses II had erected in his own honor during the thirteenth century
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt was born into a prominent Swiss family in Berne. However, his family fell into political disfavor after the French Revolution (1789), and his father was unfairly discredited while Burckhardt was still in his teens. This change caused a precipitous decline in the family’s fortunes. Burckhardt left Switzerland for England in 1806, shortly after completing his studies at the German universities of Leipzig and Göttingen. While his money was running low in London, he met the intellectual Sir John Banks, who introduced him to the writings of William George Browne, a noted English explorer of Africa.
Abu Simbel during the early twentieth century. The man standing on the lap of one of the statues makes it possible to appreciate the colossal scale of the sculptures.
Through Banks
Burckhardt had been attending public gatherings that focused on Arabic culture, and he applied for the grant, for which there was only one other contender. In early 1808, he learned that he had won the award and requested the committee’s permission to attend Cambridge University in preparation for his travels. During the spring, he began his work at Cambridge, where he concentrated on Arabic and other languages and on Arab history. He was already fluent in five European languages.
In January, 1809, Burckhardt left for Syria
Abu Simbel in Modern Egypt
In 1812, the association sponsoring Burckhardt suggested that he travel to the regions south of the Sahara Desert
Burckhardt continued to Cairo, hoping to join a caravan going to Fezzan. Finally, when hope of joining such a caravan faded, he sailed south on the Nile River toward Sudan. After reaching Aswan, he continued his journey south to a point about twenty-five miles north of Egypt’s modern border with Sudan, where he made an amazing find. Protruding from sands that had drifted around them for centuries were four colossal stone heads. Below them, unseen by Burckhardt, was a temple that had been built to honor Egypt’s Pharaoh Ramses II
Also unseen by Burckhardt on the same site was another smaller temple honoring the memory of Ramses’ queen, Nefertari,
The slow and arduous process of excavating the site was begun in 1816 by the Italian Egyptologist Giovanni Battista Belzoni.
Meanwhile, in 1813, Burckhardt became the first European who is known to have visited the holy city of Mecca,
Working in a solitary situation without direct supervision, Burckhardt was supported decently by his grant. He used this money conscientiously and to full advantage, becoming a virtual citizen of the Middle East, blending into its culture as few Europeans could have done, and learning about it as an insider.
Burckhardt bequeathed his papers, including many Arab manuscripts, to Cambridge University, where this valuable collection is available to scholars. His writings, all published posthumously, include Travels in Nubia (1819), Travels in Syria and the Holy Land (1822), Travels in Arabia (1829), Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys (1831), and Arabic Proverbs (1972). Few nineteenth century European explorers made Johann Ludwig Burckhardt’s broad range of discoveries and contributions, but the English explorer and Arabist Richard Francis Burton matched some of his achievements.
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Burckhardt, John Lewis. Arabic Proverbs: Or, the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians. Piscataway, N.J.: Georgias Press, 2002. Collection of proverbs collected and translated by Burckhardt. Valuable for Burckhardt’s preface and a penetrating introduction by Egyptologist C. E. Bosworth. -
_______. Notes on the Bedouins and Wahabys. 2 vols. New York: Johnson Reprint, 1967. This reprinting of Burckhardt’s 1831 book contains a modern preface by Egyptologist William Ouesley and presents information about a world little known to nineteenth century Europeans. Its chapters on Bedouin attire, robbery and theft, government, blood revenge, and burial of the dead present detailed insights into nineteenth century Muslim life. -
Hallett, Robin. The Penetrating of Africa: European Exploration in North and West Africa to 1815. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1965. Chapter three of this detailed book begins with a lengthy and illuminating section on Burckhardt. The accompanying maps of Burckhardt’s travels are especially useful. -
Jones, Charles H. Africa: The History of Exploration and Adventure as Given in the Leading Authorities from Herodotus to Livingstone. Reprint. Westport, Conn.: Negro University Press, 1970. Jones presents a brief biographical sketch of Burckhardt in a useful discussion of North African exploration. -
Sim, Katharine. Desert Traveller: The Life of Jean Louis Burckhardt. London: Phoenix Press, 2000. This new edition of the only full biography of Burckhardt is comprehensive, readable, and well presented. An essential resource.
Elgin Ships Parthenon Marbles to England
Exploration of Arabia
Exploration of North Africa
Layard Explores and Excavates Assyrian Ruins
Stephens Begins Uncovering Mayan Antiquities
Burton Enters Mecca in Disguise
Schliemann Excavates Ancient Troy
Evans Discovers Crete’s Minoan Civilization
Sir Arthur Evans; Sir Richard Francis Burton.