‘Did I tell you I was writing a travel book?,” Gertrude Bell wrote to Valentine Chirol in 1905. “Well I am. It’s the greatest fun… It’s Syria from underneath, what they think of it, the talk I hear round my camp fires, the tales they tell me as they ride with me, the gossip of the bazaar.”
Bell was the 36-year-old daughter of a northern British industrialist, Sir Hugh Bell, who had recently inherited £750,000, the equivalent of $120m today. Chirol was the head of the foreign department at The Times, London. Published in 1907, The Desert and the Sown proved to be rather more than "the greatest fun" Enid Blyton romp suggested in her high-spirited correspondence. It was an instant classic of travel writing, a book that remains loved and enduringly relevant more than a century later.
The book takes its title from that “delectable region” referred to by the 11th century Persian poet, philosopher and mathematician Omar Khayyam, “the strip of herbage strown / That just divides the desert from the sown”. The opening lines set the tone for a remarkable book of personal discovery, political history and highly-charged adventure in Syria and Palestine.
“To those bred under an elaborate social order few such moments of exhilaration can come as that which stands at the threshold of wild travel. The gates of the enclosed garden are thrown open, the chain at the entrance of the sanctuary is lowered, with a wary glance to right and left you step forth and behold! the immeasurable world.”
Bell’s wanderings begin in Jerusalem and take her to Jericho and Amman before heading north around the Jebel Druze to the Syrian capital of Damascus. Then it is onwards to Homs, one-time cradle of today’s revolution against the Assad regime, Hama, ancient Aleppo and Antioch, finishing at Alexandretta, the Turkish port of Iskenderun. Evocative scenes come thick and fast. Here is the Dome of the Rock, the stretching shores of the Dead Sea, the Castle of Salkhad and the “magnificent monuments” of Kanawat; these images and many more recorded in Bell’s handsome black and white photographs.
Like all good travellers she is highly perceptive, an acute observer and listener to those she meets. A snob in her British official life, Bell had a penchant for the aristocrats of the Arab world, be they political grandees or desert sheikhs. Yet one of the many strengths of The Desert and the Sown is her writing about the "conditions of unimportant persons" who justify their place in her prose because "they do not appear so unimportant to one who is in their midst".
She gets out of Syria’s salons, into the desert and under the skin of its people. Talking of the desert, to wake in it at dawn is to “awake in the heart of an opal”.
Reading her more than a century later, there are so many irresistible parallels – by turns tragic, political, whimsical and amusing – it is difficult to know where to begin. Writing in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire, a decade before the Sykes-Picot Agreement redrew the Middle East, a century before the ill-fated Arab Spring, she observes that “Islam is the bond that unites the western and central parts of the continent, as it is the electric current by which the transmission of sentiment is effected, and its potency is increased by the fact that there is little or no sense of territorial nationality to counterbalance it.”
She finds the British guilty of “perfidious” dealings with Constantinople. A faithful imperial servant to the core, she believes the English were the best placed to have “taken Syria in hand”.
Bell’s voice is always unmistakable. She writes con brio, her literary force and vigour a fascinating counterpoint to her physical toughness. This was a woman determined to succeed in what was then almost an exclusively male public life.
At one level she was a trailblazing feminist: the first woman to achieve a first degree in modern history at Oxford, the first to be awarded a prize by the Royal Geographical Society and the first female officer in British military intelligence. As a mountaineer she made a dangerous and important first ascent in the Alps. As a multilingual government official she became co-architect and kingmaker of modern Iraq. Yet paradoxically she was also a fierce opponent of the Suffragettes movement and the extension of the vote to women.
In its 1926 obituary The Times hailed Bell as "a great Englishwoman". The late Arabian explorer Wilfred Thesiger, who was something of a misogynist, agreed in an unequivocal verdict: "If any one woman was to be thought of as a serious traveller, it had to be Gertrude Bell."
Justin Marozzi is a freelance journalist and the author of Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood, winner of the 2015 Ondaatje Prize.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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How it works
Booklava works on a subscription model. On signing up you receive a free book as part of a 30-day-trial period, after which you pay US$9.99 (Dh36.70) per month to gain access to a library of books and discounts of up to 30 per cent on selected titles. You can cancel your subscription at any time. For more details go to www.booklava.com
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Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
Penguin Press
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
MATCH INFO
Chelsea 0
Liverpool 2 (Mane 50', 54')
Red card: Andreas Christensen (Chelsea)
Man of the match: Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
The%20specs
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The specs
Engine: 0.8-litre four cylinder
Power: 70bhp
Torque: 66Nm
Transmission: four-speed manual
Price: $1,075 new in 1967, now valued at $40,000
On sale: Models from 1966 to 1970
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The specs
Engine: 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 715bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh1,289,376
On sale: now
