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Gertrude Bell (1868-1926) was a key figure in the setting up of the Iraqi state and monarchy after the First World War. Arabist, Persian speaker, scholar, and traveller, she was an imperial administrator with a deep concern for the archaeological heritage of Iraq. Her legacy endures both in the shape of the Iraqi state and also in the Iraq Museum.
List of contents
- List of Illustrations
- Notes on Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- 1: Paul Collins and Charles Tripp: Introduction
- Part I: Gertrude Bell and the Ottoman Empire
- 2: Peter Sluglett: Gertrude Bell and the Ottoman Empire
- Part II: Gertrude Bell and Archaeology
- 3: Mark P. C. Jackson: A Critical Examination of Gertrude Bell's Contribution to Archaeological Research in Central Asia Minor
- 4: Lisa Cooper: 'Better than any ruined site in the world' - Gertrude Bell and the Ancient City of Assur
- 5: Rosalind Wade Haddon: What Gertrude Bell did for Islamic Archaeology
- Part III: Gertrude Bell - A Woman in a Man's World
- 6: Helen Berry: Gertrude Bell - Pioneer, Anti-Suffragist, Feminist Icon?
- 7: Tamara Chalabi: Fragments of a Mirror: The Writing of Gertrude Bell
- Part IV: Gertrude Bell and the Making of the Iraqi State
- 8: Myriam Yakoubi: Gertrude Bell's Perception of Faisal I of Iraq and the Anglo-Arab Romance
- 9: Saad B. Eskander: Gertrude Bell and the Formation of the Iraqi State: The Kurdish Dimension
- Part V: Gertrude Bell and Iraqi Heritage
- 10: Magnus T. Bernhardsson: Gertrude Bell and the Antiquities Law of Iraq
- 11: Ian Johnson: Gertrude Bell and the Evolution of the Library Tradition in Iraq
- 12: Lamia Al-Gailani Werr: Gertrude Bell in the Archive of the Iraq Museum
- Appendix
- 13: Janet E Courtney (née Hogarth) introduced by Moayad Hanoush: In Memoriam: Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell (July 14, 1868 - July 12, 1926)
- Index
About the author
Charles Tripp is Professor of Middle East Politics at University of London.
Paul Collins is Curator for Ancient Near East at the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology at University of Oxford.
Summary
This is a major re-evaluation of the life and legacy of Gertrude Lowthian Bell (1868-1926), the renowned scholar, explorer, writer, archaeologist, and British civil servant. The book examines Gertrude Bell's role in shaping British policy in the Middle East in the first part of the 20th century, her views of the cultures and peoples of the region, and her unusual position as a woman occupying a senior position in the British imperial administration. It focuses particularly on her involvement in Iraq and the part she played in the establishment of the Iraqi monarchy and the Iraqi state.
In addition, the book examines her interests in Iraq's ancient past. She was instrumental in drawing up Iraq's first Antiquities Law in 1922 and in the foundation of the Iraq Museum in 1923.
Gertrude Bell refused to be constrained by the expectations of the day, and was able to succeed in a man's world of high politics and diplomacy. She remains a controversial figure, however, especially in the context of the founding of the modern state of Iraq. Does she represent a more innocent age when the country was born out of the remnants of the Ottoman Empire, or does she personify the attitudes and decisions that have created today's divided Middle East? The volume's authors bring new insights to these questions.
Additional text
this is a fascinating and significant collection of papers.
