Record Number: 30835

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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

Time

n/a

Place:

near Amman
other location: camp at site of Iraq el Amir

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Gertrude Bell

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

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Flavius Josephus

Title:

?Complete Works

Genre:

Classics, History, archaeology

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

Probably William Whiston's translation which appeared in numerous editions thrgh the second half of the 19th Century

Provenance

owned
probably owned

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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: 25 November 2024

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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.