Reprint of the original, first published in 1859.

Discover the riveting true story of the 18th-century expedition that left only one survivor in this lost classic of adventure and travel writing—with 33 drawings and maps. Arabia Felix is the spellbinding true story of a scientific expedition gone disastrously awry. On a winter morning in 1761 6 men leave Copenhagen by sea—a botanist, a philologist, an astronomer, a doctor, an artist, and their manservant—an ill-assorted band of men who dislike and distrust one another from the start. These are the members of the Danish expedition to Arabia Felix, as Yemen was then known, the first organized foray into a corner of the world unknown to Europeans. The expedition made its way to Turkey and Egypt, by which time its members were already actively seeking to undercut and even kill one another, before disappearing into the harsh desert that was their destination. Nearly 7 years later a single survivor returned to Denmark to find himself forgotten and all the specimens that had been sent back ruined by neglect. Based on diaries, notebooks, and sketches that lay unread in Danish archives until the twentieth century, Arabia Felix is a tale of intellectual rivalry and a comedy of very bad manners, as well as an utterly absorbing adventure.

Since its publication in Italian in 1996, this has become the classic introduction to the history and archaeology of southern Arabia. Now in English, it make all the evidence available to a new audience. The first part of the book reviews what is known about the region from early visitors to the area from the 15th century onwards and from the resea

"In Arabia Felix from the Time of the Queen of Sheba, Jean-Francois Breton provides us with a detailed description of this remote civilization, the uniqueness of the region's geography and climate, and the major events that shaped its history. Calling on the resources of modern archeological discoveries, he offers insights into the Sabeans' daily life, their agriculture and skill in irrigation, their customs and religion, their modes of commerce, and their relations with neighboring civilizations."--BOOK JACKET.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1859.