The Desert and the SownAthletic, intellectual and sensitive, even in her youth, Gertrude Bell was an ideal chronicler for a public fascinated by the Orient. Blending descriptions of customs, communities, archaeology, agriculture, The Desert and the Sown (1907) recounts a dramatic portion of her expedition across Syria. Enriched by over three hundred photographic illustrations, Bell's prose leads readers from the Mosque of 'Umar to the shores of the Dead Sea, the Castle of Salkhad and the dramatic landmarks of Kanawāt. Notwithstanding the inclusion of such picturesque sites, the author never allows the spectacular to overshadow the significant. As she herself professed, her narrative contains frequent references to the 'conditions of unimportant persons', arguing that 'they do not appear so unimportant to one who is in their midst'. As such, this volume reflects a compassionate and respectful attitude to other civilizations, the implications of which are as significant today as they were to Bell's contemporaries. |
Contents
Section 1 | 1 |
Section 2 | 13 |
Section 3 | 17 |
Section 4 | 24 |
Section 5 | 25 |
Section 6 | 47 |
Section 7 | 53 |
Section 8 | 154 |
Section 12 | 209 |
Section 13 | 245 |
Section 14 | 251 |
Section 15 | 253 |
Section 16 | 278 |
Section 17 | 279 |
Section 18 | 281 |
Section 19 | 291 |
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Common terms and phrases
Abd ul Agha Aleppo Alexandretta Antioch apse Arab archæologist Ba'albek bazaars beautiful Bedouin Beida Beni Sakhr camels camp capital castle Christian church Circassian coffee Da'ja Damascus desert door east eyes Fāris Gablān gate Hajj Hamah hand heard hills Homs horses hour inhabitants inscriptions Ismailis Jebel Druze Jerusalem journey Kāimakām Kala'at el Husn Kefr Kurd Kurdish live looked Mahmud mares Mikhail miles morning mosque mound Mountain Mshitta Muhammad mules muleteers Mūsa Najib Namrud Nasib night Nosairis Oh lady Orontes Pasha passed peace piastres plain rain reached replied ride road rock rode Roman round ruined Safa Salkhad Seleucid sent Serjilla Sheikh SIM'AN slopes soldiers stones Sultan Sweida Syria talk Tell temple tents tombs tower town tribe Turkish turned ul Isa Vāli valley vaults village walls zaptieh