A woman named Gertrude Bell (short)

by TenorJoe Wed Aug 03, 2011 6:06 pm

Did you know that in the late 1800's and early 1900's a woman named Gertrude Bell played a major role in the Middle East. Having spent most of her life in the Middle East, became a British intelligence officer, due to the war in Europe. She knew the differing tribal cultures speaking all the languages so well, that these peoples would come to her to complain and was very well respected by the Tribal leaders, though in 1920 there was an uprising opposing the British occupation.

Ms. Bell created the map that defined the borders for the three tribes - the Kurds, Sunni and the Shiite, a treaty and helped draft the constitution for Mesopotamia, renamed at that time to Iraq. She was instrumental in choosing the next ruler King Feisal Hussein, who was reported to be very wise and brought peace to the country, but he died unexpectedly; his two sons inherited the throne but then were assassinated and Saddam Hussein took over causing unrest, much abuse and death to many, many people.

She archived thousands of historical pictures of the people, especially activities of the culture, buildings and the women. She wrote a set of “laws of antiquity” guaranteeing that the best pieces of her archeological digs would stay in the country and she built the first museum to house all of the antiquities. It was destroyed and plundered in the invasion of Iraq by the US.

During her life she accomplished more than 10 presidents could put together. She influenced others in the name of peace and individuality. She understood the Arabs better than anyone else and believed that they were a good people.

Wink

by **Ponee** Fri Jun 13, 2014 10:57 am

I pulled this from the archives. I found it interesting.

A woman named Gertrude Bell (short)

A woman named Gertrude Bell (short)

Re: A woman named Gertrude Bell (short)