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Book/Printed Material Travels in Arabia: Comprehending an Account of those Territories in Hedjaz which the Mohammedans Regard as Sacred.

[ Volume 1 ]

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[ Volume 2 ]

About this Item

Title

  • Travels in Arabia: Comprehending an Account of those Territories in Hedjaz which the Mohammedans Regard as Sacred.

Summary

  • John Lewis Burckhardt (1784-1817) was born Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in Lausanne, Switzerland. His accounts of his travels in the Middle East in the early 19th century are among the earliest modern European descriptions of Syria, Arabia, Egypt, and Sudan. Upon finishing university studies in Switzerland, he went to England to enroll in Cambridge University, where he studied Arabic and Islam in order to prepare himself for a career as an explorer-adventurer. As his acquaintance Muhammad 'Ali Basha, ruler of Egypt, said of his adventurism, he possessed the "travelling madness." Burckhardt spent his early twenties in Syria, where he perfected his Arabic and established himself as a scholar of Islam and a mendicant. In 1814-15 he travelled to the western Arabian Peninsula. Travels in Arabia is one of several anthropological and geographical works written by Burckhardt before his life was cut short at age 33 by an illness that he contracted in Cairo. The chapter entitled "Remarks on the inhabitants of Mekka and Djidda" is rich in detail and opinions regarding domestic customs, tribes, treatment of slaves, everyday commerce, feast days, relations with other nationalities, and intellectual life. At the time of Burckhardt's visit, Mecca and the whole of the Hejaz region was under the control of the governor-general of the Ottoman sultan, Muhammad 'Ali Basha. His defeat of the Wahhabi forces affected daily life in the region. Burckhardt's other works include descriptions of Syria, the Levant, Sinai, and the Nile Valley; Notes on Bedouins and Wahabys; and a collection of Arabic, primarily Egyptian, proverbs compiled posthumously from his field diaries. This book is in two volumes and contains several maps and diagrams. Appendices give details of pilgrimage and trade routes emanating from Mecca. Burckhardt personally traveled some of these routes; others he learned about from descriptions by travelers and Bedouin. The book was published under the auspices of the African Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa, which was founded in England in 1788 to foster the exploration of Africa and abolition of the African slave trade.

Names

  • Burckhardt, John Lewis, 1784-1817 Author.
  • Hall, S. R. Contributor.
  • Ouseley, William, Sir, 1767-1842 Editor.

Created / Published

  • London : African Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa, [1819 to 1829]

Headings

  • -  Egypt
  • -  Saudi Arabia
  • -  Saudi Arabia--Makkah--Mecca
  • -  Syrian Arab Republic
  • -  1814 to 1825
  • -  Arabian Peninsula
  • -  Description and travel
  • -  Islam
  • -  Pilgrims and pilgrimages

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: 2 volumes ; 22 centimeters.
  • -  Reference extracted from World Digital Library: Burckhardt, John Lewis, Travels in Nubia (London: John Murray, 1822).
  • -  Original resource at: Qatar National Library.
  • -  Content in English.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021666964

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Burckhardt, John Lewis, Author, S. R. Contributor Hall, and William Ouseley. Travels in Arabia: Comprehending an Account of those Territories in Hedjaz which the Mohammedans Regard as Sacred. [London: African Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa, to 1829, 1819] Pdf. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666964/.

APA citation style:

Burckhardt, J. L., Hall, S. R. C. & Ouseley, W. (1819) Travels in Arabia: Comprehending an Account of those Territories in Hedjaz which the Mohammedans Regard as Sacred. [London: African Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa, to 1829] [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021666964/.

MLA citation style:

Burckhardt, John Lewis, Author, S. R. Contributor Hall, and William Ouseley. Travels in Arabia: Comprehending an Account of those Territories in Hedjaz which the Mohammedans Regard as Sacred. [London: African Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa, to 1829, 1819] Pdf. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021666964/>.