Gertrude Lowthian Bell And T E Lawrence

[Peter Pedant]

Did anyone watch the arab evening last night ?
a good hour on Gertrude Bell - who invented Iraq ( and made up the name itself)
and then another good hour on T E Lawrence

history being busily rewritten - to fit the American occupation
Lawrence got on with the Arabs and the grunts should do so as well

Quite a lot around Wadi Rum and the seven pillars near Aqaba
The modern railway around the Kings Highway used instead of the narrow gauge which is only around 400 m away up the hill - in Jordan
Lawrence of Arabia used as a true fact it really happened like that - film
( any more eye shadow and they will have to call it Florence of Arabia)

altogether a surprising and enjoyable night

[Buenchico]

>>> and made up the name itself

She might well haver suggested that the name 'Iraq' be used by the modern country but she certainly didn't invent that name:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq#Name

[Peter Pedant]

yeah that was the 1970s view
I did wonder at the time why she bothered with making up a name like Zendia or You-bothia when mesopotamia would have done....

also in the prog I noticed they used Iraq in 1915 erm some years before she came up with it in 1919 but I thought it was an anachronism

tinted black and white film of Baghdad in astonishing detail
I couldnt work out if that was done 50y later

thx chris