Travels In Arabia: Comprehending An Account Of Those Territories In Hedjaz Which The Mohammedans Regard As Sacred (islam And The Muslim World)

Swiss explorer and scholar John Lewis Burckhardt (1784–1817) devoted himself to the study of Arabic language and culture, and between 1809 and 1817 he explored Syria, the Hedjaz, the Levant, and Egypt under the assumed name Sheikh Ibrahim ibn Abdallah. His journeys began with a commission from the London-based African Association to seek the source of the Niger River. Disguised as an Arab and in constant danger of discovery and betrayal, he traveled to sites forbidden to Westerners and kept a diary rich in ethnographic, cultural, geographic, and political observations. Traveling by camel and donkey as well as on foot, Burckhardt endured profound hardships, including robbery and abandonment by unscrupulous guides and periodic bouts of dysentery, which ultimately killed him at the age of 32. He was buried as a Muslim, and the tombstone bears his assumed name. His enduring achievements include being the first modern European to lay eyes on the ancient Nabataean city of Petra and among the first to describe the customs of the Hadj pilgrimage. Burckhardt's accounts assisted Sir Richard Burton in his subsequent explorations, and they retain their fascinating historic value.​ Cover TRAVELS IN ARABIA Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Arrival at Djidda Route from Djidda to Tayf Residence at Tayf Journey to Mekka Arrival at Mekka Description of Mekka Quarters of Mekka Description of the Beitullah (or" House of God"), the great Mosque at Mekka Some Historical Notices concerning the Kaaba and the Temple of Mekka Description of several other holy places visited by pilgrims at Mekka and in its neighbourhood Remarks on the inhabitants of Mekka and Djidda Government of Mekka Climate and diseases of Mekka and Djidda The Hadj or Pilgrimage Journey from Mekka to Medina Medina Description of Medina Account of some places of Zyara, or objects of pious visitation, in the neighbourhood of Medina On the Inhabitants of Medina On the Government of Medina Climate and Diseases of Medina Journey from Medina to Yembo Yembo From Yembo to Cairo Appendix, (comprising ten articles) INDEX OF ARABIC WORDS This volume contains an account of those territories in Hedjaz which the Mohammedans regard as sacred and forms the second of a selection of works under the Islam and the Muslim World series. The first edition was in 1829 after the authors works on his travels in Nubia and Syria. First published in 1968. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company MY arrival in the Hedjaz was attended with some unfavourable circumstances.