James Theodore Bent

James Theodore Bent

James Theodore Bent (born March 30, 1852 in Bradford , West Yorkshire , United Kingdom , † May 5, 1897 in London ) was a British traveler and archaeologist .

Life

James Theodore Bent was born in Baildon House near Bradford in 1852 to James Bent and his wife Margaret Eleanor, the eldest daughter of James Lambert. He received his education at the Repton School and at Wadham College , Oxford , where he graduated with a BA in 1875 . On August 2, 1877, he married Mabel (1846–1929), the daughter of Robert Westley Hall-Dare, who from then on accompanied him on all his travels. He made trips to southern Europe, the Middle East and Africa every year. On May 5, 1897, he died of pneumonia after a malaria infection .

research

Travel routes of JT Bent in Arabia

From 1877 to 1885 Bent toured Italy, San Marino and Greece, and finally the Aegean Islands. It was there that he became interested in archeology. He has published articles in the Archaeological Journal , the Journal of Hellenic Studies, and the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. In 1888/89 he stayed in Asia Minor , where he copied numerous inscriptions and published them in the Journal of Hellenic Studies . In 1889 he undertook excavations in Bahrain , where he believed to have found the origin of the Phoenicians . The next year he visited the rough Cilicia . In 1891 he devoted himself to the research and documentation of the ruins in Mashonaland in Zimbabwe , especially the city of Greater Zimbabwe . After his return to England in 1892 he published the successful book The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland about it . In 1893 he traveled to Ethiopia , where among other things he explored the ancient city of Aksum .

In the years that followed, up to his death, Bent made seven trips to the Arabian Peninsula, where his research included the ancient Hadramaut , the island of Socotra and the coast of the Red Sea . There he became infected with malaria and died shortly after his return to London in 1897. His work Southern Arabia, Soudan and Sakotra was published by his wife in 1900.

Fonts (selection)

• A Freak of Freedom: Or The Republic of San Marino, Longmans, Green and Company, London 1879
• Genoa. How the Republic Rose and Fell, CK Paul & Company, 1881
• The Cyclades: Or Life among the Insular Greeks Longmans, Green and Company, London 1885
• The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland: Being a Record of Excavation and Exploration in 1891, Longmans, Green and Company, London 1982
• The sacred city of the Ethiopians: being a record of travel and research in Abyssinia in 1893 Longmans, Green and Company, London 1898
• Southern Arabia, Soudan and Sakotra Smith, Elder & Co. 1900

literature

• Bent, James Theodore In: Dictionary of National Biography , 1901 supplement
• Bent, James Theodore In: Encyclopædia Britannica 1911

Web links

Commons : James Theodore Bent  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Works by James Theodore Bent in the Internet Archive