John Burckhardt

Johann Ludwig Burckhardt was a Swiss/English traveller and orientalist whose writings were conducted in French. He is primarily celebrated for rediscovering the ruins of Petra in Jordan. During his time in Syria, Burckhardt undertook numerous exploratory journeys, including visits to Palmyra and Damascus. Unwilling to rest on these significant discoveries, he pursued his original ambition to find the source of the River Niger. After extensive travels through Egypt, Nubia, and Arabia, including a pilgrimage to Mecca, he returned to Cairo in a state of extreme exhaustion. Burckhardt meticulously sent his journals and notes to England, ensuring that few details of his journeys were lost. He bequeathed his collection of 800 volumes of Oriental manuscripts to the University of Cambridge.