| Danish Arabia expedition | |
| Native Name: | Den Arabiske Rejse |
| Native Name Lang: | da |
| Location: | Middle East |
| Type: | Expedition |
| Patron: | Frederick V of Denmark |
| Organizers: | University of Copenhagen |
| Reported Deaths: | 5 |
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The Danish Arabia expedition (Danish: Den Arabiske Rejse) was a Danish scientific expedition to Egypt, Arabia, and Syria. Its principal goal was to elucidate the Old Testament with additional research goals concerned with natural history, geography, and cartography.[1] It had six members, of whom only Carsten Niebuhr survived, returning to Denmark in 1767. The journey has been chronicled by the 20th century novelist, Thorkild Hansen, in his novel Arabia Felix.
Six people went on the expedition, and five died. † denotes which members died on the expedition.
The expedition departed from Copenhagen on 4 January 1761, landing at Alexandria and ascending the Nile. Proceeding to Suez, Niebuhr visited Mount Sinai, and then in October 1762 the expedition sailed to Jeddah and then journeyed overland to Mocha. Here, in May 1763, von Haven died, and shortly afterwards Forsskål died. The remaining members of the expedition visited Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, but suffered from the climate and returned to Mocha. Niebuhr seems to have preserved his own life and restored his health by adopting native dress and eating native food.
From Mocha, the expedition continued to Bombay; both Baurenfeind and Berggren died en route, and Kramer died soon after landing. Niebuhr was the only surviving member. He stayed in Bombay for fourteen months and then returned home by way of Muscat, Bushire, Shiraz, and Persepolis. His copies of the cuneiform inscriptions at Persepolis proved to be a key turning point in the decipherment of cuneiform and the birth of Assyriology. He also visited the ruins of Babylon (making many important sketches), Baghdad, Basra (where he reported on the Mandaeans),[3] Mosul, and Aleppo. He likely visited the Behistun Inscription around 1764. After a visit to Cyprus, he made a tour through Palestine, crossed the Taurus Mountains to Bursa, reached Constantinople in February 1767, and finally arrived in Copenhagen the following November.[4]