Born at Ludingworth, Lauenborg, Niebuhr worked as a peasant farmer in his early years, but managed to learn surveying. In 1760 he was invited as engineer-lieutenant to join the expedition being sent out by Frederick V of Denmark (at the suggestion of the Hebrew scholar Johann David Michaelis of Göttingen) for the scientific exploration of Egypt, Syria and Arabia, the first of its kind. The team, which had no appointed leader, included Friedrich Christian von Haven (Danish linguist and orientalist), Pehr (or Peter) Forrskal (Swedish botanist), Christian Carl Kramer (Danish physician and zoologist), Georg Baurenfeind (artist, from southern Germany) and a Swedish ex-soldier named Berggren.
The expedition sailed from Copenhagen in January 1761 and landed at Alexandria, relationships between many of the team already having broken down. They spent a year in Egypt, ascending the Nile and visiting Suez and Mount Sinai. Disguised as pilgrims (although never required to prove they were Moslems) they left Suez (in October 1762) for Jiddah, from where they continued down the coast in a tarrad (open boat), making frequent landings as far as Al Luhayyah in northern Yemen. Moslem fanaticism at that time was at a low ebb, and the expedition continued unmolested. They then travelled along the coastal plains on donkeys as far as Bayt al Faqih, during which section of the journey Niebuhr and Von Haven contracted malaria. Forrskal diverted into the hills to collect herbs. Via Zabid they reached Mocha (= Al Mukha), where the authorities destroyed Forrskal's specimens and von Haven died (May 1763).
Leaving Mocha they continued inland to Ta'izz, Yarim (where Forrskal died of malaria), Dhamar and San'a, where, after a two day's house arrest, they were received graciously by the Imam with gifts of money. From San'a, all of them by that time in poor health, they reached Mocha (5 August 1763). All four of the survivors collapsed with fever and, after being carried on board a vessel, sailed for Bombay. On the voyage Baurenfiend and Berggren died, to be followed by Kramer in February 1764, leaving Niebuhr (who had adopted native dress and diet) as the only survivor.
He remained in India until the autumn of 1764, before sailing from Bombay to Muscat, and then to Bushire (= Bushehr in Iran) in a small English warship. From there he continued overland through Shiraz, Persepolis, Babylon, Baghdad, Mosul and Aleppo. Having regained the Mediterranean he sailed to Cyprus and, after diverting back to the mainland, explored Palestine (1766). Continuing north along the coast, he crossed the Taurus Mountains of Turkey to Brusa and Istanbul. He returned to Copenhagen on 20 November 1767, after an absence of seven years.
Niebuhr immediately set to work to make an official report on the expedition (published in 1772), and his maps remained in use for over a hundred years. Niebuhr married in 1773, lived in Copenhagen and held a post in the Danish military service. In 1778 he accepted a position in the civil service of Holstein, and went to reside at Meldorf, where he died on 26 april 1815.
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The material on this page was created by Ray Howgego, and publication was allowed by him to Discoverers Web. This page is an excerpt from a large amount of material that Ray has written, concerning voyages of discovery before 1800. He would like to have this work published, any publisher who is interested can contact him through email.