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Born in Lausanne
- Switzerland, 1784, lived in Germany and England. He was preparing
himself for a trip to explore and study Africa, when he was instructed
to go to the Middle East first, he began to study some Arabic and
started a tough diet to get used to the expected lack of food in
the area, in six weeks he moved to Malta for seven weeks more, continued
Arabic lessons and trained on his new look as a Muslim Indian merchant,
this disguise was for his protection and to help him get deeper
into the Arab community. He went to Aleppo in 1809 and after three
years of traveling he got to Cairo, on his way he spent one day
in Petra, got in with a Bedouin guide from Elgee
(Wadi Musa) through the Siq,
to Qasr Al Bint,
then got all the way to an area between the Snake
Monument and Aaron's Tomb, and sacrificed the goat they had
for the Prophet Aaron then got back to Elgee to continued his trip
to Cairo.
At the time
Petra was inhabited by the Bdouls,
and was the pass way for Arabs from Maan or Wadi Musa going to Gaza,
Burckhardt's description of Petra made the city carved in rocks,
Described by the ancient travelers, no longer lost for the modern
Europeans.
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