Newcastle University

‌Gertrude Bell was an enthusiastic traveller throughout her life. She went on two round the world tours. Between 1899 and 1902 she climbed in the Alps and became one of the most respected female climbers of the time. 

Her desert travels are also noteworthy for their extent and the dangers she had to face.  Bell’s extensive travels in Turkey, Mesopotamia and Arabia, were crucial to her later role as a member the Arab Bureau in Cairo and then of the administration of British controlled Mesopotamia.  She knew most of the tribal groups and had personal ties with a great many of the tribal leaders. This knowledge informed many policy decisions by British administrators in the Middle East.

In the picture: women and children from the family of Mejid Khan (Haush Quru - Iran, 1911).

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