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