Product Code Database
Mabel Virginia Anna Bent (née Hall-Dare, a.k.a. Mrs J. Theodore Bent) (28 January 1847 – 3 July 1929), was an Anglo-Irish explorer, excavator, writer and photographer. With her husband, J. Theodore Bent, she spent two decades (1877–1897) travelling, collecting and researching in remote regions of the Eastern Mediterranean, Asia Minor, Africa, and Arabia.Much of the biographical material herein is from two obituaries of Mabel Bent: 'Mrs. Theodore Bent', Nature
and The Times, 4 July 1929.
Hall-Dare and her sisters received education at home with private governesses and tutors.Obituary, 'Mrs J. Theodore Bent', The Times, 4 July 1929.
Distant cousins (via the Lambarts), and having met in Norway,Mabel V.A. Bent, 'In the Days of My Youth: Chapters of Autobiography', M.A.P., 10, Issue 240 (17 January 1903), pp. 72-3 ( M.A.P. Mainly: A Popular Penny Weekly of Pleasant Gossip, Personal Portraits, and Social News . Hall-Dare married J. Theodore Bent on 2 August 1877 in the church of Staplestown, County Carlow, not far from Mabel's Irish home. There was wealth on both sides, and the Bents set up home first at 43 Great Cumberland Place, near Marble Arch, in London, later moving closer to the Arch at number 13; Mabel remained in that same rented townhouse for 30 years after Theodore's death in 1897, until her own death in 1929.'Few who see Mrs. Theodore Bent for the first time would dream that a woman so apparently fragile and so essentially feminine could be one of the most daring of travellers and adventure-lovers. It is almost more easy to say where Mrs. Bent has not been than where she has travelled. She has explored Asia Minor in its wildest recesses, and is familiar with the remotest by-ways of Persia. She knows Arabia better than West London; and in fact has roamed almost everywhere from the Cyclades to Central Africa, while she has faced death in a hundred forms. And yet so adaptable is this charming lady that when you see her in her home in Great Cumberland Place you might pardonably think that she had never wandered more than a hundred miles from her drawing-room, so naturally does she fit her environment.' (Bromyard News'' – Thursday 8 October 1903).
The Bents chose to spend the winter and spring months of every year traveling, using summers and autumns to write up their findings and prepare for their next campaigns. Their main geographical fields of interest can be roughly grouped into three primary areas: Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean (the 1880s); Africa (the early 1890s); and Southern Arabia (the mid 1890s).Expanded details of all the Bents' journeys are available at http://tambent.com/.
Mabel documented her travels with a series of diaries or ‘Chronicles’. The Travel Chronicles of Mrs J. Theodore Bent (3 vols), 2006, 2010, 2012. Oxford, Archaeopress. These contained her travel notes, findings, and observations. Her husband used her notebooks as aides memoires in his own writings. Her collection of notebooks is now in the archives of the Hellenic and Roman Library, Senate House, London.London University: Institute of Classical Studies: NRA 35451 (Bent). Several of her letters home from Africa and Arabia are held in the Royal Geographical Society in London.
Starting in 1885, Bent travelled with her photographic equipment and, from then on, became expedition photographer.The Travel Chronicles of Mrs. J. Theodore Bent, Vol. 1, 2006, Oxford, page 80. She often travelled with a large quantity of equipment, including two to three cameras, chemicals, glass plates, film, and a portable darkroom. Few of her original photographs have survived, but many were used to produce the illustrations that feature in her husband's books and articles, and the lantern slides that enhanced his lectures at the Royal Geographical Society in London and elsewhere.For Mabel Bent's photographs, see, in particular, Southern Arabia (Theodore and Mabel Bent), 1900. London, Smith, Elder and Co.
It was during this trip that Mabel Bent began her 'Chronicles'.
It is within this chronicle that Mabel first references her role as expedition photographer, which she continued to hold throughout all the Bents’ expeditions. Mabel was particularly interested in the traditions and customs of the Dodecanese, which she captured with her photography and writings.
The marble items from Thásos were taken to an archaeological museum in Istanbul, despite the Bents’ efforts. The couple in turn spent much of the summer and autumn of 1887 trying to build support to “rescue” the artifacts from the Ottoman authorities and bring them to London. In 1888, the Director of Antiquities in Turkey, Hamdi Bey, restricted the Bents from further expedition on Turkish lands.
Despite Ottoman restrictions, in 1888, the Bents led an expedition along the Asia Minor littoral, going as far as Kastellórizo. Mabel wrote in her diary, “Everyone says it is better to dig first and let them say Kismet after, than to ask leave of the Turks and have them spying there”. The Hellenic society funded the Bents evacuations of sites in ancient Loryma, Lydae, and Myra. Thedore entitled his article on this journey, ‘A Piratical F.S.A.”.
Theodore supported the theories of Cecil Rhodes, claiming “that the ruins and the things in them are not in any way connected with any known African race”.Theodore Bent, “On the Finds at the Great Zimbabwe Ruins: With a View to Elucidating the Origin of the Race that Built Them,” Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 22 (1892-93): 132. Theodore originally concluded that the ruins were of Persian origin, but later changed his theory claiming that the former civilization was in fact related to the Phoenicians. Bent theorized that the builders of the ruins came from the Arabian Peninsula. He further theorized this prehistoric race was then absorbed into the Phoenician and Egyptian races.
Theodores’s resulting book, “The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland,” was one of his most popular. The book included many illustrations derived from Mabel’s photography.
The Bents’ observations of gold-mining activity in the Sudanese interior of Wadi Gabeit attracted much media attention. Theodore presented his findings to the Royal Geography Society in June of 1896, but the archeological items he collected were the leanest from any of his travels. Mabel incorporated her Chronicles on Sudan into her book, Southern Arabia (1900) in a popular chapter entitled “African Interlude, "The Eastern Soudan”.
The extended journeys made by the Bents in remote places called for them to carry with them adequate medical supplies. Mabel Bent tried to alleviate where possible ailments presented by the people they travelled among, for example in the Wadi Khonab (Hadramaut, Yemen) in January 1894, as recorded in her diary: 'Among the patients was brought a baby… such an awful object of thinness and sores… No cure had we, and though we did consult over ¼ drop of chlorodine, in much water, we felt it was really dangerous to meddle with the poor thing… Theodore told them it could not live long and it died that evening or next day.'
The Bethel Seal: Some writers think that Bent may have been involved in an archaeological puzzle known as the 'Bethel Seal' controversy. Some 15 km north of Jerusalem, in the village of Bethel (modern Beytin/Baytin/Beitin), a small clay stamp/seal was found in 1957 that looked identical to one obtained by Theodore Bent on their trip into the Wadi Hadramaut (Yemen) in 1894. Some researchers have suggested that Bent had deposited the artefact in archaeological remains in Bethel as a token to her husband, to bolster his theories about early trade links in the wider region, at a time when Theodore Bent's findings were being criticized and his academic reputation questioned, especially his interpretation of the Great Zimbabwe monuments.Van Beek, G. W. and Jamme, A., 1958. 'An Inscribed South Arabian Clay Stamp from Bethel', Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 151: 9-16; Jamme, A. and Van Beek, G. W., 1961. 'The South-Arabian Clay Stamp from Bethel Again', Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 163: 15-18; Yadin, Y., 1969. 'An Inscribed South-Arabian Clay Stamp from Bethel', Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 196: 37-45; Van Beek, G. W. and Jamme, A., 1970. 'The Authenticity of the Bethel Stamp Seal', Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 199: 59-65; Kelso, J. L., 1970. 'A Reply to Yadin's Article on the Finding of the Bethel Seal', Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 199: 65; Cleveland, R. L., 1973. 'More on the South Arabian Clay Stamp Found at Beitîn', Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 209: 33-6; Blake, I., 1973. 'The Bethel Stamp Seal: A Mystery Revealed?', The Irish Times, 16 August 1973; Jamme, A., 1990. 'The Bethel Inscribed Stamp Again: A Vindication of Mrs. Theodore Bent', Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 280: 89-91; Brisch, G.E., 2012 'A grieving widow's token to her archaeologist husband? Where is the 'Bethel Seal' now? Oxford: Archaeopress Blog.
The year after her husband's death, Bent made a ‘Cook’s’ Tour’ visit to Egypt and the Nile. She attempted a last diary, which she headed 'A lonely useless journey'. It is the last of her travel notebooks in the archives of the Hellenic and Roman Library, Senate House, London.The heading of Bent's final Chronicle in 1898 reads 'A lonely useless journey'. Her diary peters out in Athens after four days. Her last chronicled words being: 'Of course I have not neglected the antiquities either…' ( The Travel Chronicles of Mrs J. Theodore Bent, Vol. 1, page 331, Oxford, 2006).
Until 1914, Mabel Bent was a regular visitor to the Holy Land. Belfast Telegraph, Saturday 17 October 1908. In Jerusalem, Bent joined the 'Garden Tomb Association', whose members were dedicated to preserving the Garden Tomb, a tomb-site just outside the Damascus Gate, which they believed to be Jesus' tomb. Bent was made London secretary and later co-edited an update of the guidebook, The Garden Tomb, Golgotha and the Garden of Resurrection (with Arthur William Crawley-Boevey and Miss Hussey), c. 1920. Jerusalem: Committee of the Garden Tomb Maintenance Fund. with Charlotte Hussey, a fellow Irishwoman, who was the official custodian of the tomb in Jerusalem. Bent and Hussey fell out with the local consular official, John Dickson, which resulted ultimately in questions to the House of Commons Hansard, HC Deb., 11 November 1902, Vol. 114 cc593-4 ('British Residents at Jerusalem'). and an enquiry. Documents in Bent's Foreign Office files contain comments such as: 'A most tiresome and persistent woman'; 'Could not the F.O. cause these women to be ejected from the place?'; 'It would be an excellent thing if Mrs. Bent could be prosecuted for libel'; 'She is a very vindictive and obnoxious person, and has given the unfortunate Consul for a long time past a great deal of trouble by her vicious proceedings'.Consul Dickson's papers: Middle East Centre, St Antony's College, Oxford (GB165-0086); for the FO references: FO 78/5418 1905; FO 78/5099; FO 78/5470; FO 78/4781; FO 369/43 (Turkey) nos. 2533, 5380, 10120.
In 1900 Mabel met with Moses B. Cotsworth and George Frederick Wright and travelled with them. Unfortunately, she decided to ride with the caravan while the rest of the party hurried to Bethlehem.Cook, Anna J (2024). A Man Beyond Time: Moses Cotsworth's fight for the 13-month calendar. Independent Publishing Network. ISBN 9781805177203 At some point around Jebel Usdum, south of Jerusalem, her horse rolled on her, breaking her leg. She sent a guide to find the gentlemen who returned and, with the help of the guides, carried her to the hospital in Jerusalem.Wright, G. F. (1916) Story of my life and work Oberlin: Bibliotheca Sacra Company Her sister Ethel was required to travel from Ireland to nurse her.Mabel Bent's letter to Kew Director, Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer: 'Dear Sir William… Thank you for sending me the flower pictures. I like them very much… This winter I only got to Jebel Usdum and arrived in Jerusalem with a broken leg, my horse having fallen on me in the wilderness of Judea. My sister Mrs. Bagenal came from Ireland and fetched me from the hospital where I was for 7 weeks. I cannot walk yet but am getting on well and my leg is quite straight and long I am thankful to say… Yours truly Mabel V.A. Bent.' Letter,.
Bent was suggested as a possible inclusion among the first women Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society. The suggestion began from an article in the Observer (April 1893), on the eve of the debate as to whether more women Fellows should be appointed in the future, after the first group the previous year. This article concludes: '... the battle of the ladies promises to become historic in the annals of the Society… On the original question of the eligibility of women as Fellows of the Society it is scarcely possible that there can be two opinions. Isabella Bird and Miss Gordon Cumming are ladies who are surely as much entitled to membership of the Royal Geographical Society as are the great majority of the gentlemen who write F.R.G.S. after their names, and Mrs. Theodore Bent, Mrs. St. George Littledale, Mrs. Archibald Little, and a host of others might be named who have shared their husbands' travels in little known lands, and may fairly claim such privileges as Fellowship of the Royal Geographical Society confers.''The Royal Geographical Society and Lady Members', The Observer, 23 April 1893. However, by the end of July 1893, the then RGS president, Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff, had resigned over the failed vote to continue admitting women Fellows and no more women were admitted again until 1913.'The Admission of Women Fellows to the Royal Geographical Society, 1892-1914; the Controversy and the Outcome', Morag Bell and Cheryl McEwan, The Geographical Journal, 1996, Vol. 162 (3): 295-312. See also, B. Melman, Women's Orients: English Women and the Middle East, 1718–1918: Sexuality, Religion and Work
.
Southern Arabia (1900): a travel book she prepared from her notebooks and those of her husband covering all their journeys in the region. Southern Arabia (Theodore and Mabel Bent), 1900. London, Smith, Elder and Co.
A Patience Pocket Book (1903): a small anthology of card games for travellers. A patience pocket book: plainly printed, 1903/4. Bristol: J.W. Arrowsmith & London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. Ltd. The pocket-sized book was just three by two inches.
Anglo-Saxons from Palestine; or, The imperial mystery of the lost tribes (1908): based on her interests in British Israelism. Based on Biblical genealogies, folklore, and British accomplishments, she argued that the English descended from the Hebrews and that the British fulfilled Biblical prophecies about Israel. Anglo-Saxons from Palestine; or, The imperial mystery of the lost tribes, 1908. London: Sherratt & Hughes.
Garden Tomb, Golgotha and the Garden of Resurrection (1920): Her final publication was a revised edition of a guide to the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem.
All of Bent's original diaries held in the archive of the Hellenic Society, London, except for those covering the couple's trip to Ethiopia in 1893, have now been digitized and are available on open access.
Many of the finds and acquisitions the couple collected on their travels are in the British MuseumFor the Bents'
Theodore and Mabel Bent share a grave and memorial (right) in the churchyard of St Mary’s, Theydon Bois, Essex, UK. The inscription reads: ‘Here, after his many long journeys rests J. Theodore Bent, FRGS, FSA, husband of Mabel Virginia Anna Hall-Dare, son of James and Margaret Eleanor Bent of Baildon House, Yorks. “To be with Christ which is far better.”’ The red granite memorial has been moved from its original location within the Hall Dare section of the cemetery.
/ref> and the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford. Some examples of Greek island costumes Mabel Bent brought home from Greece are now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Benaki Museum, Athens. Many of Bent'
/ref> She was also in the habit of opening her home for charitable events to display her collection The Times, 28 November 1899: 'Exhibition of South African, Arabian and other curiosities at the house of Mrs. Theodore Bent, 13 Great Cumberland-place, in aid of the Imperial War Fund, 12-7 (three days).' – described as 'more interesting than many museums'. The Belfast Telegraph, Saturday 27 June 1908
Death
Mabel Bent died in her London home on 3 July 1929, her death certificate citing 'myocardial failure' and 'rheumatoid arthritis (chronic)'. The Travel Chronicles of Mrs J. Theodore Bent, Vol. 3, 2010: xxv. Oxford: Archaeopress.'Mrs. Theodore Bent'. Nature
/ref>
Categories: 1847 Births, 1929 Deaths, 19th-century Anglo-irish People, 20th-century Anglo-irish People, 19th-century English Explorers, 19th-century English Photographers, 19th-century English Diarists, 19th-century English Women Writers, 20th-century English Diarists, 20th-century English Women Writers, 19th-century Irish Photographers, 19th-century Irish Non-fiction Writers, 19th-century Irish Women Writers, 20th-century Irish Non-fiction Writers, 20th-century Irish Women Writers, Explorers Of Arabia, English Travel Writers, 19th-century Irish Travel Writers, Travel Photographers, British Women Travel Writers, English Women Photographers, British Women Explorers, Writers From County Meath, Great Zimbabwe, Deaths From Arthritis, 19th-century Irish Explorers, Irish Women Explorers, 19th-century British Women Photographers
|
|
