In search of kings and conquerors - gertrude bell and the archaeology of th

338 Pages·2016·14.59 MB·English

by  Cooper, Lisa

Lisa Cooper is Associate Professor of Near Eastern Art & Archaeology at
the University of British Columbia. She is the author of Early Urbanism on the
SyrianEuphrates.
‘AlthoughGertrudeBellhasbeenafavouritesubjectforbiographers,theirfocuson
hertravels,romancesandpoliticalrolehasoftenovershadowedthesignificanceof
her archaeological work. Lisa Cooper’s lively, authoritative and very welcome
accountrevealsBellasascholarratherthanadilettante.Astheauthormakesvery
evident, it was Bell’s interest and involvement in the archaeology of the Middle
East that shaped her approach not merely to the understanding of its vanished
civilizations, but also to the peoples and societies that she encountered in her
travels. This work situates Bell within a network of pioneering individuals that
were transforming archaeology into a serious, scholarly discipline but this is far
fromadry,academicsurveyofarchaeologicalactivity.Ratheritbringsuscloserto
understanding Gertrude Bell’s appreciation of Iraq’s past, a vision that would
informherlateractivitiesinshapingtheregion’sfuture.’
PaulCollins,JalehHearnCuratorforAncientNearEast,
AshmoleanMuseum
IN SEARCH OF KINGS
AND CONQUERORS
Gertrude Bell and the Archaeology of the
Middle East
L C
ISA OOPER
Publishedin2016by
I.B.Tauris&Co.Ltd
London•NewYork
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ForRichardandJulianne:
‘Lightofmineeyesandharvestofmyheart’

CONTENTS
ListofIllustrations ix
PrefaceandAcknowledgements xix
Introduction 1
1. EarlyLifeandFirstStepsinArchaeology 9
2. EuphratesJourney 26
3. Ukhaidir – DesertSplendour 76
4. EncountersintheHeartofMesopotamia 117
5. FurtherTravelsandArchaeologicalResearch,1910–14 169
6. MesopotamiaandIraq – PastandPresentEntwined 218
Notes 241
Bibliography 292
Index 307

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Fig.1.1:GertrudeBell,takenaround1895,whenshewas
about26yearsold.(PERS_A_005,courtesyofthe
GertrudeBellArchive,NewcastleUniversity.) 11
Fig.1.2:Bell’s1905photographoftheArabcastleofShayzar
(tenthtothirteenthcenturiesCE). (AlbumB_190,courtesy
oftheGertrudeBellArchive,NewcastleUniversity.) 15
Fig.1.3:Bell’sphotographoftherock-cuttombofSextius
FlorentinusatPetra.(AlbumA_428,courtesyoftheGertrude
BellArchive,NewcastleUniversity.) 17
Fig.1.4:ColonnadeinsidetheprecinctoftheTemple
ofBel,Palmyra(Syria).(AlbumA_300,courtesyofthe
GertrudeBellArchive,NewcastleUniversity.) 18
Fig.1.5:GertrudeBellandherservant,Fattuh,standing
infrontofhertentatRamsayandBell’scampatBinbirkilise
(southcentralTurkey),in1907.(AlbumH_239,courtesy
oftheGertrudeBellArchive,NewcastleUniversity.) 22
Fig.1.6:Bell’sphotographofseveralruinedByzantine
churchesatBinbirkilise(southcentralTurkey).
(AlbumH_128,courtesyoftheGertrudeBellArchive,
NewcastleUniversity.) 24
Fig.1.7:TheruinedinteriorofChurchNo.1at
Binbirkilise(fifthcenturyCE). (AlbumD_205,courtesy
oftheGertrudeBellArchive,NewcastleUniversity.) 24
Fig.2.1:MapofBell’s1909NearEasternjourney.
(MappreparedbyStephenBatiuk.) 27