Born in Friesland (1733-1815) into a poor farmer’s family, he studied at the University of Göttingen and, through his professor, came to be part of the Royal Danish Arab expedition funded by the Danish government. As only survivor of the team he ended up extensively studying the site, monuments and inscriptions of Persepolis. He published several books on his travels including Reisebeschreibung nach Arabien und andern umliegenden Ländern.