[DOWNLOAD] Syria, the Desert and the Sown (1907) by Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free

"Possesses remarkable powers of observation and description." - The World Court, 1918"Charmingly written, long and adventurous journeyings through and about Syria." - The Saturday Review, 1907"The most illuminating document upon the past and present of Syria which we have recently seen." - The Congregationalist, 1907Having the rare qualification of being fluent both in Persian and Arabic and a keen enjoyment of travel, Miss Gertrude Bell in 1900 visited Palestine and Syria and on a trip from Jerusalem to Damascus, she became acquainted with the Druze living in Jabal al-Druze. She published her observations of the Middle East in the book Syria: The Desert and the Sown (1907). In this book she described, photographed and detailed her trip to Greater Syria's towns and cities such as Damascus, Jerusalem, Beirut, Antioch and Alexandretta. Bell's vivid descriptions revealed the Arabian deserts to the western world.Crossing the Jordan, she journeyed first round the eastern slopes of the Jebel Hauran. In this region, on the edge of the desert, the ancient feud between Druse and Arab runs its perpetual course. Flocks and herds, as in the days of Job, are swept off by Arab marauders; the mountain villagers plan a foray of revenge. The author gives a most picturesque description of how at Salkhad, the old fortress that looks out east over the unbroken plain and the paved Roman highway to the Euphrates, she found herself joining in a moonlight dance of Druzes preliminary to one of these forays.From Damascus, where Miss Bell saw much of Eastern life, she went north past Baalbek to Horns, Aleppo, and Antioch, visiting on the way many of the wonderful ruins of Roman cities, Christian fifth and sixth century churches, and crusaders' castles, that are scattered over northern Syria, silent witnesses to the extent of the ancient civilization's destruction.One of the first things which will strike the reader is the author's power of friendliness, which won the confidence of Arab, Druze, Kurd and others of the strange sects of the land. They confide to her their views of the political situation. By desert fires, in Bedouin tents of hair, the victories of Japan over Russia are discussed. The example of English justice in Egypt is quoted and she is besought to ask her people to extend their government to the Syrian hills. She talks with descendants of the old sect of the Assassins that still pay tribute in secret to the successor of The Old Man of the Mountain—who is an Indian prince whom the author has often met in London society. Everywhere we feel the background of the great civilization, with its countless towns and churches, which the Muslim conquest wiped out. She camps night after night in their ruined, rockbuilt towns in the midst of deserts. The reader who loves the open and the study of strange types of unsophisticated humanity, will breathe congenial air and end by a delighted sense of acquaintance with a remarkable woman and the strangest of all contrasts between the old and the new. The reader, before he finishes her volume, will know more about Syrian character, the life of the desert and the mountain, than he might gather from half a dozen ordinary travellers' diaries.Gertrude Bell (1868 –1926) was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist who explored, mapped, and became highly influential to British imperial policy-making due to her knowledge and contacts, built up through extensive travels in Greater Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Arabia. Along with T. E. Lawrence, Bell helped support the Hashemite dynasties in what is today Jordan as well as in Iraq. She played a major role in establishing and helping administer the modern state of Iraq.