Karl Moritz von Beurmann (born on 28 July 1835 in
Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
– February 1863) was a German explorer. His father, also named Carl Moritz von Beurmann (1802–1870), was a Prussian government official.
He was trained in the Prussian military, becoming an officer in 1856. However, he soon became dissatisfied with military life, and within three years resigned his commission. In the meantime, he began learning
Semitic languages
The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic,
Amharic, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew language, Hebrew, Maltese language, Maltese, Modern South Arabian language ...
with designs of traveling to lesser known regions of Africa. In 1860 he journeyed to northeastern Africa, where he explored the
Nubian Desert
The Nubian Desert ( ) is in the eastern region of the Sahara, Sahara Desert, spanning approximately 400,000 km2 of northeastern Sudan and northern Eritrea, between the Nile and the Red Sea. The arid region is rugged and rocky and contains s ...
and visited
Kassala
Kassala (, ) is the capital of the state of Kassala (state), Kassala in eastern Sudan. In 2003 its population was recorded to be 530,950. Built on the banks of the Mareb River, Gash River, it is a market city and is famous for its fruit gardens. ...
,
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan.
Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...
and the lands of the
Bilen people
The Bilen (also variously transcribed as Blin, and also formerly known as the Bogos or Northern Agaw) are a Cushitic ethnic group in Eritrea. They are primarily concentrated in central Eritrea, in and around the city of Keren and further sout ...
.
[Vocabulary of the Tigré Language]
by Karl Moritz von Beurmann, Adalbert Merx[ADB:Beurmann, Moritz von]
in: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie
(ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language.
It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...
In 1861 he returned to Germany and published ''Reisen in Nubien und dem Sudan 1860 und 1861'' ("Travels to
Nubia
Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...
and the
Sudan
Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
in 1860/61") in ''
Petermann's Geographische Mitteilungen''.
Naturgeschichtlich-medicinische Skizze der Nilländer
/ref>
After his return to Germany, he made plans for an expedition into the interior of Africa in order to ascertain the fate of the "lost" explorer Eduard Vogel
Eduard Vogel (7 March 1829February 1856) was a German explorer in Central Africa.
Early career
Vogel was born in Krefeld. He studied mathematics, botany and astronomy at Leipzig and Berlin, studying with Encke at the latter institution. In ...
. In February 1862 he traveled southward from the Libyan coast, then crossed the Sahara Desert, eventually reaching Kuka
KUKA is a German manufacturer of industrial robots and factory automation systems. In 2016, the company was acquired by the Chinese appliance manufacturer Midea Group.
It has 25 subsidiaries in countries including the United States, the Eur ...
, the capital of the Bornu Empire Bornu may refer to:
* Bornu Empire, a historical state of West Africa
* Borno State, Nigeria
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