Ulrich Jasper Seetzen

Ulrich Jasper SEETZEN ( born January 30, 1767 in Sophie Groden in the lordship of Jever; † in October 1811 in the vicinity of Taiz in Yemen ) was a German physician, scientist, naturalist, traveler and orientalist.

Life

Ulrich Jasper SEETZEN was born in Sophie Groden in the dominion of Jever, the son of a wealthy farmer Ulrich Jasper SEETZEN and his wife Trienke, born Otten. He attended the Mariengymnasium Jever and went in the fall of 1785 at the Georg -August- University of Göttingen to study medicine. In addition, he devoted himself to the natural sciences, in which Blumenbach was his teacher, as well as the art.

In 1789 he completed his doctorate by the thesis Systematum de morbis plantarum brevis dijudicatio. He founded with several young people, among whom Alexander von Humboldt was the göttingsche physical society.

In 1790 he undertook a six-month journey through Westphalia and West Germany, while collecting plants and minerals and visited factories and mines. In 1791 he went to Vienna, then to Bohemia and Saxony in 1792 and returned to his home in Jever back.

In 1794 he bought a Windsägemühle and a limestone distillery in Jever, but published it on in zoological, botanical and technical journals. In 1795 he was appointed to the nature-searching company in Berlin and Jena. Later he worked on the estates of Count Munster - Meinhövel in East and West Prussia.

After he was taken in Jever on March 2, 1802 in the Masonic Lodge to silver key, he broke out on June 13, 1802 for a trip to the Middle East, which led him to Constantinople Opel, Syria and Palestine to Cairo, where he spent two lingered years and a rich collection of manuscripts, antiquities and natural history together was that he brought to Gotha.

In 1809 he visited Mecca and Medina, in March 1810 to Yemen, because of Aden and Mocha, and died in October 1811 on the way to Sanaa.

Services

Inspired by the news of his former classmates Travel Alexander von Humboldt to South America and Friedrich Conrad Hornemann to Africa SEETZEN decided to make 1802 their own research trips to the Middle East to Arabia and Africa. For continued SEETZEN own fortune, but also received grants from the sovereign princess of Anhalt -Zerbst and the Duke of Gotha. He came to Aleppo, where he learned Arabic.

Disguised as a pilgrim he came to Cairo and Mecca, and was able to make 1809 a detailed plan of the Kaaba. His medical knowledge, the mastery of the Arabic language and the observance of the commandments of the Qur'an gave him the entrance to the Arab world. He collected art objects such as sculptures and mummies, as well as numerous writings, which he sent to his patron, the Duke of Gotha. Much of it is still preserved in the Gotha Research Library.

SEETZEN died in October 1811 in Arabia in Yemen today under mysterious circumstances on the paths of Taiz mocha. Seetzens diaries and his vocabulary lists the Arabic language are still important source of Arabic. , Making it one of the most important German Orientalists. His diary gave Kruse and Fleischer ( Berlin 1854-59, 4 vols ) with out comment.

2011 prepared the National Library and the National Museum of Nature and Man, Oldenburg the publication of two more volumes before, including the diary of stay in Aleppo from 1803 to 1805.

SEETZEN renowned for his rediscovery of the city of Gadara on the Sea of ​​Galilee.

Publications

  • Friedrich Karl Hermann Kruse (eds.): Ulrich Jasper SEETZEN Travels through Syria, Palestine, Phoenicia, the Transjordan countries, Arabia Petraea and Lower Egypt. 4 volumes. G. Reimer, Berlin 1855-1859 ( digitized from Vol 4); Reprint: Hildesheim, Olms, 2004, ISBN 3-487-12630-3
  • Achim Lichtenberger (eds.): Ulrich Jasper SEETZEN. Under monks and Bedouins. Travelling in Palestine and neighboring countries 1805-1807. Edition Erdmann, Stuttgart and Vienna, 2002, ISBN 3-522-60044-4
  • Ulrich Jasper SEETZEN: Diary of stay in Aleppo 1803 - 1805 Hildesheim, Olms, 2011, ISBN 978-3-487-14611-9 ( Series of the National Museum of Nature and Man, H. 87; writings of the State Library of Oldenburg, 53 ).
  • Ulrich Jasper SEETZEN: Diary of stay in Constantinople Opel and the trip to Aleppo 1802 - 1803 edited by Volkmar Enderlein, Hildesheim, Olms, 2012, ISBN 978-3-487-14610-2.
  • Heinz Sölken: Seetzens Áffadéh - A contribution to Kotoko - language documentation, Berlin, Akademie-Verlag, 1967.
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