Wilhelm Friedrich Hemprich (24 June 1796 – 30 June 1825) was a German naturalist and explorer. Hemprich was born in Glatz (Kłodzko),

Prussian Silesia The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official p ...

, and studied medicine at Breslau and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. It was in Berlin that he became friends with

Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (19 April 1795 – 27 June 1876) was a German Natural history, naturalist, zoologist, comparative anatomist, geologist, and microscopy, microscopist. Ehrenberg was an Evangelicalism, evangelist and was considered to ...

, the two men sharing an interest in natural history. Hemprich lectured at

Berlin University Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

on comparative physiology, and wrote ''Grundriss der Naturgeschichte'' (Compendium of Natural History) (1820). In his spare time he studied reptiles and amphibians at the zoological museum under

Hinrich Lichtenstein Martin Hinrich Carl Lichtenstein (10 January 1780 – 2 September 1857) was a German physician, explorer, botanist and zoologist. Biography Born in Hamburg, Lichtenstein was the son of Anton August Heinrich Lichtenstein. He studied medicine ...

. In 1820 Hemprich and Ehrenberg were invited to serve as naturalists on a primarily archeological expedition to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, led by Prussian General

von Minutoli The von Minutoli family originally came from Lucca or Naples and hiked over into Switzerland during the 17th century. They included: *Heinrich Menu von Minutoli (1772–1846), Prussian Generalmajor, explorer and archaeologist *Julius Rudolph Ottoma ...

. The two naturalists were sponsored by the Berlin Academy. In March 1821 they separated from the main party and travelled up the river

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ...

to Dongola, the capital of

Nubia Nubia () (Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), or ...

. They spent the next two years studying the natural history of that part of Egypt. In 1823 Hemprich and Ehrenberg sailed across the

Gulf of Suez The Gulf of Suez ( ar, خليج السويس, khalīǧ as-suwais; formerly , ', "Sea of Calm") is a gulf at the northern end of the Red Sea, to the west of the Sinai Peninsula. Situated to the east of the Sinai Peninsula is the smaller Gulf of ...

to El Tur on the south-west coast of the

Sinai peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is ...

, remaining there for nine months. During this time they visited

Mount Sinai Mount Sinai ( he , הר סיני ''Har Sinai''; Aramaic: ܛܘܪܐ ܕܣܝܢܝ ''Ṭūrāʾ Dsyny''), traditionally known as Jabal Musa ( ar, جَبَل مُوسَىٰ, translation: Mount Moses), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is ...

, and Ehrenberg became one of the first naturalists to study the marine life of the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

. In 1824 they visited the

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

, travelling inland from

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

to the summit of the Jebel Liban and making their base at Bcharre. In August they returned to Egypt. In November they set off again along the coasts of the Red Sea, calling at various ports including

Jidda Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's promi ...

. They eventually arrived in the Eritrean port of Massawa, their intention being to visit the highlands of

Abyssinia The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...

. Unfortunately Hemprich died in Massawa of fever, and Ehrenberg buried him on the island of Toalul. Ehrenberg travelled back to Europe, and in 1828 published an account of their discoveries, under both their names, entitled ''Symbolae Physicae''. The specimens collected by the expedition were deposited at the

Museum für Naturkunde The Natural History Museum (german: Museum für Naturkunde) is a natural history museum located in Berlin, Germany. It exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history and in such domain it is one of three major muse ...

Berlin: they included 46,000 botanical specimens of 3000 species and 34,000 animal specimens of 4000 species. These included many new species. Hemprich is commemorated in the names of the

sooty gull The sooty gull (''Ichthyaetus hemprichii'') is a species of gull in the family Laridae, also known as the Aden gull or Hemprich's gull. It is found in Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Maldives, Moza ...

(''Larus hemprichii'' ),

Hemprich's hornbill Hemprich's hornbill (''Lophoceros hemprichii'') is a species of hornbill in the family Bucerotidae. It is found in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, and Uganda. Habitat As observed in the Degua Tembien district of north ...

(''Tockus hemprichii''), and the fossil amber pseudoscorpion ('' Pseudogarypus hemprichii''). He is also commemorated in the names of two reptiles: Hemprich's skink (''

Scincus hemprichii ''Scincus hemprichii'' is a species of lizard which is endemic to Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Penins ...

'') and Hemprich's coral snake (''

Micrurus hemprichii ''Micrurus hemprichii'', commonly known as Hemprichi's coral snake, is a species of Venomous snake, venomous coral snake in the Family (biology), family Elapidae from South America. Etymology The Specific name (zoology), specific name, ''hempri ...

'').Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Hemprich", pp. 120-121).

References

Further reading