Carsten Niebuhr: Mare Rubrum seu Sinus Arabicus
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Cartographer:
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Carsten Niebuhr
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Title:
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Mare Rubrum seu Sinus Arabicus
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Date:
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1772
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Published:
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Paris
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Width:
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8 inches / 21 cm
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Height:
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31 inches / 79 cm
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Map ref:
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MEAST4360
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Description:
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Chart of the Red Sea from Niebuhr's account of the Royal Danish Expedition to Arabia, with particular emphasis on the western coast of the Arabian Peninsula.
This chart was drawn by Niebuhr during the early part of the Expedition; the cartouche states the surveying dates as 1762-3. Due to its first-hand knowledge, even when published ten years later, it was the most accurate rendition of the western Arabian coast up to that point. The detail on the coast is astonishing, showing the position of modern Saudi cities such as Mecca, Jeddah and Medina as well as Mocha, Aden and Sana in the Yemen. Even more unusual is the presence of small villages dotted all along the coast, many of which do not exist any more or have been amalgamated into larger settlements.
Thankfully Carsten Niebuhr is not one of those explorers who did something extraordinary and then sank into oblivion; a great deal has been written about his achievements and they have been enormously admired by Arabists throughout history. In fact, William Gifford Palgrave, another extraordinary traveller and explorer who was active a hundred years after Niebuhr, stated that “Niebuhr opened Arabia to Europeans” and dedicated his own book to him.[MEAST4360] |