Niebuhr was the son of a Hanoverian farmer. He was self-educated. He travelled throughout the Middle East including Arabia, Persia (Iran), Syria and India. He was the only surviving member of a Danish/German team after the others died from illness and malaria. He wrote at least two books on his trips to the region which were later translated in to English and published in two volumes in the 1790s. Later editions were published around 1825.