Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell was born into a wealthy family at Washington New Hall in County Durham, as it was then. From the beginning of the 19th century, Gertrude developed an interest of the Arab peoples and cultures. She strove to learn their languages, investigated their archaeological sites and travelled deep into their lands and desert. She became an expert of the part of the world, spending a substantial amount of time there before, during and after the First World War. This made her the ideal candidate to be working for British Intelligence during the War.
Gertrude left a huge archive of books, photographs, diaries and personal letters that are now part of Gertrude Bell’s Collection at Newcastle University.
This gallery shares only a fraction of the photographs that are available for close inspection on the archives website.
We share some here in the hope that this will inspire you to respond to the photographs creatively, through writings and artworks.
Here we showcase a small thumbnail image which once clicked on will take you to the archives where a much bigger and clearer image can be studied.
We hope through using these resources you will respond creatively, submit your creations to be featured on this project website within our Creative Responses.
Please submit all creations to : beyondthewesternfront(at)gmail(dot)com.
This material will be used for our research project Beyond Destruction and will be made available online via the project website. Contributors can give their consent to be identified as the author or may prefer to remain anonymous. Copyright of any material submitted will be retained by the author unless they wish to remain anonymous. Any material submitted will be used for our research and if contributors are willing may be displayed by the project and made available on the project website. We plan that the website will be archived online digitally as a record of the project in the future.
The Gallery
Album X 1913-1914 – Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq
Photograph X_001 ( Click on image or caption to enlarge )
Date taken: December 1913
Photographer: Gertrude Bell
Location: Between Jebel Sais and Burqu – Syria / Jordan
Modern location: Qasr el Burqu
Size: 21/13
Condition: Good
Subject date:
Description: [Gertrude Bell’s camp on volcanic plain. Fattuh standing outside tent]
Photograph X_006 ( Click on image or caption to enlarge )
Date taken: January 1914
Photographer: Gertrude Bell
Location: Khar¢nah – Jordan
Modern location: Qasr el Kharana
Size: 16.4/10.7
Condition: Good
Subject date:
Description: [Exterior view of fort]
Photograph X_010 ( Click on image or caption to enlarge )
Date taken: January 1914
Photographer: Gertrude Bell
Location: Khar¢nah – Jordan
Modern location: Qasr el Kharana
Size: 16.4/10.7
Condition: Good
Subject date:
Description: [Exterior view of fort]
Photograph X_013 ( Click on image or caption to enlarge )
Date taken: January 1914
Photographer: Gertrude Bell
Location: Thlaithuwat – Jordan
Modern location:
Size: 19.5/13.3
Condition: Good
Subject date:
Description: [Camels and man from Gertrude Bell’s caravan. Thlaithuwat in distance. “Our landmark half yesterday and most of today has been a strange group of 3 abrupt sandstone tells, rising sharply out of the flint covered plain; the Thlaithuwat – I wonder what caprice of Nature called them into being. We met some of the Sukhur, rahila, moving camp.”]
Photograph X_018 ( Click on image or caption to enlarge )
Date taken: January 1914
Photographer: Gertrude Bell
Location: Tor al Tubaiq – Saudi Arabia
Modern location: Tubayq, At
Size: 19.7/13
Condition: Good
Subject date:
Description: [Gertrude Bell’s caravan – men and camels at watering place]
Photograph X_043 ( Click on image or caption to enlarge )
Date taken: February 1914
Photographer: Gertrude Bell
Location: Haizan in the Nefud – Saudi Arabia
Modern location: Bir Hayzan, Nafud, An
Size: 20/13
Condition: Good
Subject date:
Description: [Men and camels at well at Haizan. “Haizan is a profound depression surrounded by steep sandhills and the well itself is very deep and our well rope was 48 paces long….We found a number of Arabs watering their camels, The Anazeh clan of the Aw¢ji who were camped near us….I watched and photographed and they left me unmolested, though none had seen a European of any kind before.”]
Photograph X_049 ( Click on image or caption to enlarge )
Date taken: February 1914
Photographer: Gertrude Bell
Location: Between Jebel Misma and Habran – Saudi Arabia
Modern location: Misma, Jibal
Size: 20/13
Condition: Good
Subject date:
Description: [View of sandstone pinnacles. “Misma drops to the east in precipices of sandstone, weathered to a rusty black: at its feet are gathered endless companies of sandstone pinnacles black too, shouldering one over the other.”]
Photograph X_054 ( Click on image or caption to enlarge )
Date taken: March 1914
Photographer: Gertrude Bell
Location: Ha’il – Saudi Arabia
Modern location: Hail
Size: 16.5/10.7
Condition: Good
Subject date:
Description: [Interior showing corridor off courtyard – probably the Summer Palace of Muhammad al Rashid in which Gertrude Bell was held during her visit]
Photograph X_058 ( Click on image or caption to enlarge )
Date taken: March 1914
Photographer: Gertrude Bell
Location: Ha’il – Saudi Arabia
Modern location: Hail
Size: 13/20
Condition: Good
Subject date:
Description: [Turkiyyeh. “The other was a Circassian who was sent to Muhammad al Rashid by the Sultan as a gift. Her name is Turkiyyeh. Under her dark purple cloak – all the women are closely veiled here – she was dressed in brilliant red and purple cotton robes and she wore ropes of rough pearls round her neck. And she is worth her weight in gold, as I have come to know. She is a chatterbox of the first order and I passed an exceedingly amusing hour in her company.”]
Photograph X_087 ( Click on image or caption to enlarge )
Date taken: April 1914
Photographer: Gertrude Bell
Location: Near the Ga’rah, Wadi Helgum – Iraq
Modern location:
Size: 20/13
Condition: Good
Subject date:
Description: [Tribesmen and child at encampment of Fahd Beg – Ibn Hadhdhal – ruler- of part of the Northern ‘Anazeh]
Photograph X_089 ( Click on image or caption to enlarge )
Date taken: April 1914
Photographer: Gertrude Bell
Location: Helgum – Syria
Modern location:
Size: 20/13
Condition: Good
Subject date:
Description: Helgum [View over ruins. “It was a town – imagine! A town in the heart of the Syrian Desert. But a town of a very primitive kind. It lay up on top of the cliff, on a kind of peninsular formed by the winding Wadi Helgum and the only road to it from the upper level was a narrow neck which was fortified by a towered wall. Again all most primitive and terribly ruined, but there it was, a wall and towers guarding the approach to an irregular area which must be a good half mile squared and is completely covered with shapeless ruin heaps….I planned and photographed the gate wall.”]
Photograph X_093 ( Click on image or caption to enlarge )
Date taken: April 1914
Photographer: Gertrude Bell
Location: Wadi al Jiffeh – Syria
Modern location:
Size: 13/20
Condition: Good
Subject date:
Description: [Slubba tribesman at camp, in robe made from gazelle skins]
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