Record Number: 30835
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'This valley led us up onto a little Col from whence we looked down into the beautiful Wady Sir [Wadi es Sir] with Arak [Iraq]el Emir lying in the bottom of it and heights thinly covered with oak behind. Now this place is very interesting. It was a palace built by an enterprising gentleman called Hyrcanus about 200 years before Christ and Josephus describes it so accurately that one can to this day trace the lines of the moats and tanks and gardens.'
Century:1900-1945
Date:Between 1 Jan 1900 and 25 Apr 1900
Country:Palestine and Jordan
Timen/a
Place:near Amman
other location: camp at site of Iraq el Amir
(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Female
Date of Birth:16 Jul 1868
Socio-Economic Group:Gentry
Occupation:Oxford graduate, language and (by now) student archaeologist, occupation as political advisor
Religion:originally Christian (Anglican) by now declared atheist
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:Palestine and Jordan
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:?Complete Works
Genre:Classics, History, archaeology
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication DetailsProbably William Whiston's translation which appeared in numerous editions thrgh the second half of the 19th Century
Provenanceowned
probably owned
Source Information:
Record ID:30835
Source - Manuscript:Other
Information:
Gertrude Bell Archive, Newcastle University Library http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk
Additional Information:
Letter from Gertrude Bell to unspecified recipent, probably Florence Bell or Hugh Bell, 25 April 1900 from camp. hhttp://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk/letter_details.php?letter_id=1169
Citation:
Gertrude Bell Archive, Newcastle University Library http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=30835, accessed: 12 October 2024
Additional Comments:
It is not clear from the evidence whether Gertrude Bell read and re-read Josephus, either "The Jewish War" or "Antiquities of the Jews" or the "Complete Works" in Jerusalem and again on site in Jordan, (hence the speculative date rage submitted). Her known reading habits to date point to at least a preparatory reading before important journeys, and this was her first archaeological expedition.