5 Facts on orientalist Burckhardt on 200th death anniversary

CAIRO-15 May 2017: The Ministry of Antiquities celebrated the 200th anniversary of Johan Burckard on Sunday. Despite his great contributions of historic discoveries, his name remains unfamiliar to most Egyptians.

That is why Egypt Today is listing five significant pieces of information to better know him.

1- Johann Burckhardt was born in 1784 in Lausanne, Switzerland to a rich Swiss family and died in Cairo as Sheikh Ibrahim bin Abdullah- a name he adopted after his conversion to Islam.

2- In 1809, Burckhardt started his journey to the East. He first went to Malta, and then to Aleppo where he learned Arabic and converted to Islam. He visited Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan before coming to Egypt.

3- His most famous discovery in Egypt was the Abu Simbel temples.

4- He is best known for rediscovering the remains of the Nabatean ancient city in Petra, Jordan.

5- Burckhardt carefully transferred his valuable journals to England. A large collection of Arabic manuscripts authored by him are currently held at Cambridge University. His writings include “Travels in Nubia” (1819), “Travels in Syria and the Holy Land” (1822), and “Travels in Arabia” (1829).