The Burckhardt family alternatively also (de) Bourcard is a family of the Basel patriciate, descended from Christoph (Stoffel) Burckhardt (1490–1578), a merchant in cloth and silk originally from Münstertal, Black Forest, who received Basel citizenship in 1523, and became a member of the Grand Council of Basel-Stadt in 1553.
The orientalist Johann Ludwig Burckhardt
Christoph Burckhardt (1490–1578)
Gertrud Burckhardt née Brand (1516–1600), daughter of Burgomaster of Basel Theodor Brand (1488–1558) and wife of Christoph Burckhardt (1490–1578)
Theodor Burckhardt (1549–1623), son of Christoph Burckhardt (1490–1578) and Gertrud Brand (1516–1600)
Johann Ludwig Burckhardt was a Swiss traveller, geographer and Orientalist. Burckhardt assumed the alias Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah during his travels in Arabia. He wrote his letters in French and signed Louis. He is best known for rediscovering two of the world's most famous examples of rock-cut architecture – the ruins of the ancient Nabataean city of Petra in Jordan and the temples of Abu Simbel in Egypt.
The treasury building at Petra