The Travel Chronicles of Mrs. J. Theodore Bent

Volume III: Southern Arabia and Persia

iii

DESERTS OF VAST ETERNITY

The Travel Chronicles of Mrs. J. Theodore Bent Volume III: Southern Arabia and Persia

Mabel Bent’s diaries of 1883-1898, from the archive of the Joint Library of the Hellenic and Roman Societies, London.

Published for the first time, with additional material by Gerald Brisch

The Travel Chronicles of Mrs. J. Theodore Bent:

Volume I World Enough, and Time: Greece and the Levantine Littoral Volume II Make our Sun stand still: Egypt and Africa (forthcoming) Volume III Deserts of Vast Eternity: Southern Arabia and Persia

Also available in the Archaeopress 3rdguides Series:

J. Theodore Bent: The Cyclades, or Life Among the Insular Greeks Cecil Torr: Rhodes in Ancient Times Cecil Torr: Rhodes in Modern Times Christopher Wordsworth: Athens and Attica

The Travel Chronicles of Mrs. J. Theodore Bent Volume lll: Southern Arabia and Persia

3rdguides is an imprint of Archaeopress Ltd Gordon House, 276 Banbury Road Oxford OX2 7ED, UK www.archaeopress.com [email protected]

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

ISBN: 9781905739134

3rdguides series editor: Gerald Brisch Cover photograph © Jane Taylor (Shibam, Wadi Hadramaut, Yemen)

Printed in Great Britain by Blenheim Colour Ltd vii

Contents

List of illustrations and maps viii Introduction xi Notes to this edition xxvii Acknowledgements xxix The Chronicles Bahrain and Persia, December 1888 to March 1889 1 The Hadramaut, December 1893 to March 1894 129 Dhofar, November 1894 to February 1895 237 Socotra and East of Aden, November 1896 to April 1897 273 Three unpublished letters 341 Bibliography and sources 350 Sidetrack 1 – Theodore, Mabel and the Mandarins 371 Sidetrack 2 – The Bents at Kew 389 Sidetrack 3 – Mabel Bent and the ‘Bethel’ Seal 403 Index of place names 415 Index of personal names 421 Glossary 425 Illustration and map credits 426 viii

List of illustrations∗

Facing half-title. Mabel Virginia Anna Bent. Page x. James Theodore Bent. Page 8. The American racing yacht the Coronet on its round the world voyage, 1889. Page 14. ‘The Mounds at Ali’. Page 15. ‘Sheikh Seid Ben Omar in Sheikh Esau’s Palace’. Page 26. ‘Mosque at Manameh’. Page 27. ‘He gave us a coffee pot [and] a most beautiful inlaid bowl from El Hasa.’ Page 31. ‘I must not forget to say that there is at Borazjan the finest caravanserai in Persia.’ Page 38. ‘[We] went to see the tomb of the poet Hafiz, in such a lovely spot.’ Page 43. Mabel Bent’s ‘rival’, the French archaeologist Jane Dieulafoy. Page 44. The cat merchant going to Bombay. Page 60. Bala khana at Yezd-i-Khast. Page 75. Mules and covered kajavahs. Page 82. Nasir-ed-din Shah. Page 89. Takht-i-Suleiman. Page 95. Mabel Bent’s collection of Persian sherbet spoons. Page 123. The ‘magnificent bill’ from the Hôtel de l’Europe, Vladikavkas. Page 138. Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer (1843–1928). Page 143. The Bents’ Greek friend and dragomános, Manthaios Símos, in old age. Page 144. Some of the Bents’ acquisitions from the Hadramaut. Page 147. View over Al-Mukalla Harbour. Page 151. The receipt for William Lunt’s return M.M. passage to Aden. Page 152. The Bents’ hotel in Aden (formerly the Hôtel de l’Univers). Page 158. The lizard named after Theodore Bent, classified as Uromastyx benti (Agamidae). Page 162. Aerial view of Al-Hajjarayn. Page 162. A selection of locks and keys acquired by the Bents in the Hadramaut. Page 164. Haura castle. Page 165. A ‘Luzo’ camera, the portable model favoured by Mabel Bent. Page 167. Scorpion Buthia bentii. Page 175. The souk of Shibām. Page 176. ‘Himyaritic’ inscriptions. Page 178. ‘The seal of King Yarsahal’. Page 251. Two of the Bents’ acquisitions from Dhofar. Page 256. Mabel Bent’s photograph of Abyssapolis, Dhofar. Page 284. Theodore and Mabel’s grave and memorial (right) at St Mary’s, Theydon Bois, Essex. Page 290. ‘Unnamed Grass’ (Andropogon bentii) collected by the Bents in Socotra. Page 295. At camp on Socotra: Theodore, Ammar, Manthaios, and Ernest Bennett. Page 296. Wooden cave-finds collected by the Bents on Socotra. Page 298. Mr Bennett and Theodore at the ‘breakwater’ at ‘Feréghe’, Socotra. Page 301. ‘From Yehàzahaz, looking over the pass toward Adahan, Sokotra.’ Page 307. The Bents’ agreement for their passage from Socotra to Aden, February 1897.

∗ For all acknowledgments and rights relating to illustrations and maps, see page 426f. ix

Page 315. ‘House and oven, Dirgheg, Behd Fadhli.’ Page 318. Two of Theodore’s sketch maps in the Wadi Yeramis region. Page 324. The Bents’ hospital bill from Aden. Page 342. The Hall-Dares. Page 413. The clay stamp acquired by the Bents in the Hadramaut in 1894. Page 414. The MM Natal and Melbourne.

List of maps

Page 6. The ‘Bahrein Islands’. Page 28. The Bents’ route through Persia, March–May 1889. Page 115. ‘Road over Caucasus’. Pages 148-49. Map of the Bents’ expedition to the Wadi Hadramaut, 1894. Page 244. Dhofar and the Gara Range. Page 257. Map of the area of Abyssapolis and Khor Rori, Dhofar. Page 286. Map of ‘Sokotra’. Pages 310-11. ‘The Fadhli Country, South Arabia.’