In the course of a few days of copious reading, I have unearthed a new personal Heroine: Gertrude Bell. I have been reading two separate biographies of this wonderfully modern women of the 19th century; one entitled DESERT QUEEN: The Extraordinary Life Of Gertrude Bell; Adventure, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia written by Janet Wallach, and the second entitled GERTRUDE BELL: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations by Georgina Howell.
Bell was noted as an exceedingly able Archaeologist, Activist, Author, Adviser and Adventurer. In later years she would also be heralded as “A Famine Lawrence of Arabia” to the people of modern day Iraq. Upon reading these two works about Bell, I learned much about her life and work; however, I also learned much about myself and whom I wish to emulate as an Archaeologist, Lover of Arabic Culture, and as a human being.
While at times her professional actions would not reflect my own, for her time she was exceedingly liberal and free thinking. She was not, after all a trained Anthropologist and at her time the “softer science” in question was not yet holistically formed. Early anthropology and archaeology was riddled with human error and bias; however, her heart was indeed in the right place.
When paired together, the titles in question allowed me to really unearth the core of who she was in all aspects of her life; both professional and private. These masterfully written biographies prevented me from doing much else then read them for hours on end. Using Wallach and Howell as my guide, I was able to see behind a wonderful women of such accomplishment. Gertrude was a lover of men; she was famous for flirting and passionate love affairs which ended poorly. Gertrude was a lover of adventure; even as a young child she climbed trees and houses, although that doesn’t quite compare to removing all but her underclothes and proceeding to clime the Alps.
Despite all of her complexity, her perfection and her imperfection, this much can been said of Bell; she played a vital role in the shaping of modern history, and that her life was that of epic heartache only to be eclipsed by grand adventure.