The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Niebuhr, Karsten

NIEBUHR, Karsten, German traveler, father of B. G. Niebuhr (q.v.): b. Lüdingworth, Hanover, 17 March 1733; d. Meldorf, Prussia, 26 April 1815. In 1760 he entered the Danish service as lieutenant of engineers, and in 1761 joined the expedition sent by Frederick V of Denmark to explore Arabia, Egypt and Syria. All his companions in this expedition died within a year after their departure, but in spite of these distressing discouragements, he pursued his work single-handed, and in 1766 returned to Copenhagen. The works in which he gave the world the result of his expedition are classics and remarkable for their accuracy,

They include &lsquo;Breschreibung von Arabien&rsquo; (1772); &lsquo;Reisebeschreibung von Arabien und anderen umliegenden Ländern&rsquo; (1774-78). Consult his son's &lsquo;Karsten Niebuhr's Leben&rsquo; (1817; Eng. trans., 1838).