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Heinrich Barth (February 16, 1821 – November 25, 1865) was a German explorer and scholar of Africa. Events 1249 - Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols Year 1821 ( MDCCCXXI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year Events 1034 - Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Scots dies Donnchad, the Year 1865 ( MDCCCLXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Scholarly method &mdash or as it is more commonly called scholarship &mdash is the body of principles and practices used by scholars to make their claims about the world as

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Biography

Barth was born in Hamburg and educated at Berlin University, where he graduated in 1844. Hamburg (English, German: ˈhambʊɐk local pronunciation Low German / Low Saxon: Hamborg) is the second-largest city in Germany For other universities in Berlin see List of Universities in Berlin. Year 1844 ( MDCCCXLIV) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year He had already visited Italy and Sicily and had formed a plan to journey through the Mediterranean countries. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Sicily ( Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy. After studying Arabic in London he set out on his travels in 1845. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Year 1845 ( MDCCCXLV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common He acted for the British Foreign Office in 1850, is one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa - not necessarily because of the length of his travels (1850-1855) or the time he spent alone without European company in Africa, but because of his singular character.

Heinrich Barth
Heinrich Barth

From Tangier Barth made his way overland throughout the length of North Africa. Tangier or Tangiers ]] ( Tanja طنجة in Berber and Arabic, Tánger in Spanish North Africa or Northern Africa is the Northernmost Region of the African Continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan He also travelled through Egypt, ascending the Nile to Wadi Halfa and crossing the desert to Berenice; While in Egypt he was attacked and wounded by robbers. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. The Nile (النيل, Ancient Egyptian iteru or Ḥ'pī, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing River Wadi Halfa ( Arabic: وادي حلفا is a town in the northern Sudanese state of Northern on the shores of Lake Nubia (the Sudanese section Berenice or Berenice Troglodytica ( Greek:) now known as Medinet-el Haras, is an ancient seaport of Egypt on the west coast of the Crossing the Sinai peninsula he traversed Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Turkey and Greece, everywhere examining the remains of antiquity; and returned to Berlin in 1847. The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai ( Coptic: sina; Egyptian Arabic: sina سينا Arabic, sina'a سيناء Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. Year 1847 ( MDCCCXLVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common For a time he was engaged there as Privatdozent, and in preparing for publication the narrative of his Wanderungen durch die Küstenländer des Mittelmeeres, which appeared in 1849. Private docent (abbreviates PD or Priv-Doz) is a title conferred in some European university systems especially in German -speaking countries Year 1849 ( MDCCCXLIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

At the instance of Bunsen, the Prussian ambassador to Westminster, and other scientists like Alexander von Humboldt, Barth, and Adolf Overweg, a Prussian astronomer, were appointed colleagues of James Richardson, an explorer of the Sahara who had been selected by the British government to open up commercial relations with the states of the central and western Sudan. Prussia ( Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Prūsija Prūsija Prusy Old Prussian: Prūsa) was most recently a historic state (September 14 1769 &ndash May 6 1859 was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister philosopher and linguist Adolf Overweg ( July 24, 1822 &ndash September 27, 1852) was a German geologist, astronomer, and traveler from There have been a number of notable people named James Richardson: James Richardson (Cisco, Canadian businessman who is the Chief Marketing Officer of Cisco The Sahara (الصحراء الكبرى aṣ-ṣaḥrā´ al-kubra, "The Great Desert" is the world's largest hot Desert and the world's second largest For the country in north-east Africa see Sudan. The Sudan, from the Arabic bilâd as-sûdân or "land of the The party left Tripoli early in 1850, but the deaths of Richardson (March 1851) and Overweg (September 1852) left Barth to carry on the mission alone. Tripolis ( Arabic: طرابلس Ṭarābulus - also طرابلس الغرب Ṭarā-bu-lus al-Gharb Libyan vernacular: For the game see 1850 (board game. 1850 ( MDCCCL) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link 1851 ( MDCCCLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year Year 1852 ( MDCCCLII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Dr. Barth was the first European to visit Adamawa in 1851. 1851 ( MDCCCLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year He returned to Europe in September 1855. Year 1855 ( MDCCCLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common year

In addition to journeys across the Sahara, Barth traversed the country from Lake Chad and Bagirmi on the east to Timbuktu on the west and Cameroon on the south. Lake Chad (in French Lac Tchad) is a historically large shallow lake in Africa, whose size has varied greatly over the centuries Timbuktu ( Timbuctoo; Koyra Chiini: Tumbutu; French: Tombouctou) is a city in Tombouctou Region, in the West African The Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. He studied minutely the topography, history, civilizations, languages and resources of the countries he visited. Topography ( topo-, "place" and graphia, "writing" is the study of Earth 's Surface features or those of Planets History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology

Heinrich Barth approaching Timbuktu, Sept. 7th 1853
Heinrich Barth approaching Timbuktu, Sept. 7th 1853

Barth entered Timbuktu in September 1853. Timbuktu ( Timbuctoo; Koyra Chiini: Tumbutu; French: Tombouctou) is a city in Tombouctou Region, in the West African His success as an explorer and historian of Africa was based both on his patient character and his scholarly education. He studied in the early 1840s at the University of Berlin under the guidance of scholars such as Alexander von Humboldt, Leopold von Ranke, Friedrich von Schelling and Jakob Grimm, who all laid the foundations of the human geography and historical research in the modern sense. (September 14 1769 &ndash May 6 1859 was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister philosopher and linguist Leopold von Ranke ( December 21, 1795 – May 23, 1886) was a German Historian of the 19th century and frequently considered Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling ( January 27, 1775 – August 20, 1854) later von Schelling, was a German Philosopher Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm ( Hanau, January 4, 1785 &ndash September 20, 1863 in Berlin) German Philologist

Barth was different from the explorers of the colonial age, because he was interested in the history and culture of the Africans peoples, rather than the possibilities to exploit them. He meticulously documented his observations and his own journal has becomes as much as an invaluable source for the circumstances of the 19th century Sudanic Africa. Although Barth was not the first European visitor who paid attention to the local oral traditions, he was the first who seriously considered its methodology and usability for historical research. Barth was the first truly scholarly traveler in West Africa. Earlier ones such as Caillié, Denham and Clapperton had no academic knowledge. Barth could read Arabic, and was able to investigate history of some regions, particularly the Songhay empire. He also seems to have learned some African languages. There are an estimated 2000 Languages spoken in Africa. About a hundred of these are widely used for inter-ethnic communication He established close relations with a number of African scholars and rulers, from Muhammad al-Amin al-Kanemi in Bornu, through the Katsina and Sokoto regions to Timbuktu, where his friendship with Ahmad al-Bakkay al-Kunti led to his staying in his house and being protection from an attempt to seize him. Katsina is also an alternative spelling the Pueblo religious practices of Kachina. Sokoto is a city located in the extreme northwest of Nigeria, near to where the Sokoto River and Rima River meet

Heinrich Barth's house in Timbuktu (in summer 1908 before its collapse)
Heinrich Barth's house in Timbuktu (in summer 1908 before its collapse)

The story of Barth's travels was written and published simultaneously in English and German, under the title Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa (1857-1858, 5 vols. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. , aprr. 3,500 pages), which was considered one of the finest works of its kind at the time, appearing in Bibliographies by Darwin and still cited by African historians, as it remains the most scientific work on African cultures of the age and a source for historians of West Africa. Charles Robert Darwin (February 12 1809 &ndash April 19 1882 was an English naturalist, who realised and demonstrated that all Species of life

Except a title "CB" (Companion) from the Order of the Bath, Barth himself received no formal recognition of his services from the British government. The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (formerly The Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath) is a British Order of chivalry founded by George He returned to Germany, where he prepared a collection of Central African vocabularies (Gotha, 1862-1866). Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. In 1858 he undertook another journey in Asia Minor, and in 1862 visited the Turkish provinces in Europe. Year 1858 ( MDCCCLVIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Year 1862 was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting on Monday In the following year he was granted a professorship of geography (without chair or regular pay) at Berlin University and president of the Geographical Society. For other universities in Berlin see List of Universities in Berlin. History Founding members of the Society include Sir John Barrow, Sir John Franklin and Francis Beaufort. His admission to the Berlin Academy of Science was denied, as it was claimed that he had achieved nothing for historiography and linguistics. Barth died in Berlin.

References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone

Literature

External links

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