Women in Anthropology: GERTRUDE MARGARET LOWTHIAN BELL
As all fellow anthropologists are aware, humans are incredibly complex and oftentimes imperfect beings. Though Gertrude Bell had a complicated role in politics, she is an unquestionably important and a truly captivating female figure in academica and in anthropology.Â
Gertrude Bell was born to a wealthy English family in Washington, England in 1868. During her education she specialized in history and was one of the first 2 women, alongside fellow historian Alice Greenwood, to graduate from the University of Oxford. It is important to note that while both women graduated with honors, Oxford did not award them with degrees and they were not recorded alongside their 9 male classmates.Â
Following University, she began her travels in Persia. She picked up extensive language skills and spoke German, Persian, French, Arabic, Italian, and several Ottomon languages. It was during this time of traveling throughout regions in the Middle East that she developed an interest in archaeology.
In 1907 she began work with archaeologists Sir William M. Ramsay within the Ottoman Empire (the modern-day region of South-central Turkey), on the site Binbirkilise (pictured below) (translated from Turkish as âthousand and one churchesâ). Through 1909 Bell also participated in archaeological recording and mapping of ruins in Syria, near the Upper East bank of the Euphrates, as well as the ruins of Ukhaidir in the city of Carchemish. In 1924 she completed her final archaeological field work with Edward Chiera in ancient Nuzi, Iraq where they excavated Assyrian clay tablets.
Bell also had an extensive political career, and her fluency in multiple languages allowed her to become an incredible asset to international British relations in regions such as Cairo, Egypt and in Iraq. She is also a notable witness to the Armenian genocide of 1915-1916 and contributed testimony that aided in spreading information about the atrocities committed. In 1921 she was apart of a British-led conference determining the future boundaries of Iraq (pictured below); this was only one chapter in a larger narrative of British imperialism in the Middle East
****CW/TW: Themes of suicide and substance abuse****
In the year of her death, Bell helped to establish the The Baghdad Archaeological Museum (now the Iraq Museum) in 1926. Her death came after a series of financial and health issues and the passing of her brother. She was determined to have taken an overdose of sleeping pills, and while it is officially unclear whether or not she intended to end her life, her mental health issues are still an important part of her story.
While Gertrude Bellâs success should be contextualized within her privileged position as a wealthy white woman, this should not diminish any of her accomplishments. She made significant contributions to archaeological research, and held her own in a political stage surrounded only by men. At the same time, she was of the late 19th and early 20th century era and likely did not think to check or understand her privilege and positions of power. Ultimately, her legacy, though complex, is that of a brilliant woman and a crucial figure within the discipline of archaeology.
Refs:
"Gertrude Bell". Biography, 2021, https://www.biography.com/writer/gertrude-bell.
"Gertrude Bell - Wikipedia". En.Wikipedia.Org, 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Bell.
Howell, Georgina. Gertrude Bell: Queen of the desert, shaper of nations. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010.
"About The Museum | The Iraq Museum". Theiraqmuseum.Com, 2021, https://www.theiraqmuseum.com/pages/about-the-museum.html.
"British Colonialism, Middle East | Encyclopedia.Com". Encyclopedia.Com, 2021, https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/british-colonialism-middle-east
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