Gertrude Bell and Iraq: A life and legacy
Paul Collins and Charles Tripp
Abstract
This book seeks to re-evaluate the life and legacy of Gertrude Lowthian Bell (1868–1926), the renowned scholar, explorer, writer, archaeologist and British civil servant. In 12 chapters, written by a number of international scholars, Iraqi and British, it examines her 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 status 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 establ ... More
This book seeks to re-evaluate the life and legacy of Gertrude Lowthian Bell (1868–1926), the renowned scholar, explorer, writer, archaeologist and British civil servant. In 12 chapters, written by a number of international scholars, Iraqi and British, it examines her 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 status 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, it 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), and reflects on the various aspects of her legacy for modern Iraq.
Keywords:
Gertrude Bell,
Iraq,
First World War,
Middle East,
archaeology,
politics
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2017 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780197266076 |
| Published to British Academy Scholarship Online: September 2017 |
DOI:10.5871/bacad/9780197266076.001.0001 |
Authors
Affiliations are at time of print publication.
Paul Collins, editor
Curator for Ancient Near East, Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, University of Oxford
Charles Tripp, editor
Professor of Middle East Politics, University of London
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