Before we explore the cities, monuments, and area explored by out traveler we must first know the traveler. Knowing the biography of the author is instrumental in the interpretation of any given work. In the particular care of Amurath to Amurath the author is Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell. Ms. Bell was no regular traveler or author, her career encompassed a number of critical professions and positions. Ms. Bell held position both private and subject to the British crown (government.) These positions were a direct result of extensive knowledge of the Middles East and particularly the area commonly referred to as Asia Minor.

Born in England in 1868, Bell undertook the profession of archaeologist, as profession that was accompanied by constant traveling and writing. The granddaughter of Sir Isaac Lowthian, Bell hailed from a prestigious family. She became acquainted with politics through her grandfather, a Member of Parliament and contemporary of Benjamin Disraeli. Her professional began upon the completion of her undergraduate degree in history from Oxford University, traveling to Tehran where her uncle was stationed as a British minister. Her travels continued and professionally began when she visited Palestine and Syria in 1899. At this point she began writing as well, her audience being British subjects learning of the empire’s distant lands. She wrote her most prolific works in the 2 decades prior to WWI, penning Amurath to Amurath in 1911.

Hew professional live shifted focus upon the of the First World War At this time she worked in Cairo with fellow British traveler and soldier T.E. Lawrence, having the task of forging alliances with Arab tribes. Her thorough knowledge of the area and fluency in both Persian and Arabic made her an indispensable asset for the British government. Upon the capture of Baghdad by the British in 1917 Bell became heavily involved in the reshaping of the Mesopotamia regions, beginning with the installation of Faisal I as colonial puppet monarch in Iraq. Subsequently she assisted British diplomats in installing effective governments throughout the region and was the only women present at a 1921 conference in Cairoconvened by Winston Churchill.

Bell would remain in Baghdad for the rest of her life, spending much of her time trying to fund and construct and archaeological museum, resulting in the National Museum of Baghdad. She died on July 12, 1926 in Baghdad, perhaps appropriately due to her affinity for the region. Her death was a result of a fatal dosage of sleeping pills, believed to be a suicide attributed to her constant health problems and the death of her brother. (Biography written by Francisco Guzman, December 2013).

 

Gertrude Lowthian Bell’s book, Amurath to Amurath, is available through Google books. Click here to read.

 

 

Access Bell’s itinerary here.

 

 

To read more about Gertrude Lowthian Bell, please read Francisco Guzman’s essay, which can be found here.