Mabel Bent facts for kids
Mabel Virginia Anna Bent (born Hall-Dare) (1847–1929) was an amazing Anglo-Irish explorer, archaeologist, writer, and photographer. For twenty years (1877–1897), she traveled with her husband, J. Theodore Bent. They explored, collected, and studied in faraway places like the Eastern Mediterranean, Asia Minor, Africa, and Arabia.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Mabel Hall-Dare was born on January 28, 1847. She was the second daughter of Robert Westley Hall-Dare and Frances Anna Catherine. Her birthplace was Beauparc, her grandfather's estate in County Meath, Ireland.
Her family later moved to Temple House in County Sligo. In the early 1860s, they moved again to Newtownbarry (now Bunclody) in County Wexford. While Mabel was a teenager, she sadly lost both her parents and her two brothers. Mabel and her sisters were taught at home by private teachers.
Married Life and Adventures
Mabel Hall-Dare married J. Theodore Bent on August 2, 1877. They were distant cousins and had met in Norway. Both families were wealthy. The Bents first lived in London at 43 Great Cumberland Place. Later, they moved to number 13. Mabel stayed in this same house for 30 years after Theodore's death.
Their first trips in the late 1870s were to Italy. Theodore, who studied history, was interested in Italian history.
Exploring Greece and Beyond
In the winter of 1882–1883, the Bents took a short trip to Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean. They visited the islands of Tinos and Amorgos to see Easter celebrations. They returned to the Greek Cyclades islands later that year. Theodore wrote about these trips in his book The Cyclades, or Life Among the Insular Greeks (1885).
During this time, Mabel Bent started her "Chronicles." These were her travel notes and diaries. Her husband used them to write his articles and papers. Her notebooks are now kept in the Hellenic and Roman Library in London. Some of her letters from Africa and Arabia are at the Royal Geographical Society.
Mabel and Theodore usually traveled in the winter and spring. They spent summers and autumns writing about what they found and planning new trips. Their main areas of interest were:
- Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean (1880s)
- Africa (early 1890s)
- Southern Arabia (mid-1890s)
Many items they collected are now in the British Museum and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. Some Greek island costumes Mabel brought home are in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Benaki Museum in Athens.
Mabel kept many of her collected items until her later years. In 1926, she gave a large amount to the British Museum. She also often opened her home for charity events to show her collection. People said it was "more interesting than many museums."
Mabel as Expedition Photographer
For their trip to the Greek Dodecanese islands in 1885, Mabel brought her camera. From then on, she became the expedition photographer. Not many of her original photos still exist. However, many were used to create the pictures in her husband's books and articles. They also made lantern slides for his talks at the Royal Geographical Society.
In early 1884, on the island of Antiparos, local mining engineers showed the Bents some ancient graves. Theodore Bent did some amateur archaeology there. He brought back bones, which are now in the Natural History Museum. He also found many pottery, stone, and obsidian items. These are now an important part of the British Museum's Cycladic collection. Within months, he published his findings. This launched his career as an archaeologist and ethnographer, with Mabel playing a key role.
In January 1884, in the village of Komiaki on Naxos, Mabel Bent met Matthew Simos. He was from Anafi and became the Bents' dragoman (a guide and interpreter) for most of their future trips.
Bent's Journeys with Her Husband (1880s–1890s)
- 1883: Parts of Turkey and Greece
- 1884: The Greek Cyclades islands
- 1885: The Greek Dodecanese islands
- 1886–1888: The northern Aegean Sea and along the Turkish coast
- 1889: Bahrain, to dig at the Dilmun Burial Mounds, traveling through India and across Iran on horseback
- 1890: Along the Turkish coast and into Armenia
- 1891: Mashonaland (modern Zimbabwe) for Cecil Rhodes to explore Great Zimbabwe
- 1893: Ethiopia (Axum)
- 1894: Yemen (Wadi Hadramaut)
- 1895: Muscat, Oman, and Dhofar, where they found remains at Khor Rori
- 1896: Sudan and the west coast of the Red Sea
- 1897: Socotra and Yemen
When the Bents traveled to remote places, they had to carry enough medical supplies. Mabel Bent tried to help people they met who were sick. For example, in January 1894, in the Wadi Khonab (Yemen), she wrote in her diary about a very sick baby. She noted that they had no cure and felt it was too risky to give medicine to the poor child.
Later Life and Challenges
Theodore Bent died in May 1897. He became sick with malaria after a quick return to London from Aden. Both he and Mabel had been in the hospital at the end of their last trip together.
The year after her husband's death, Mabel Bent visited Egypt alone to see the sites along the Nile River. She tried to keep a last diary, which she called "A lonely useless journey." This is the last of her travel notebooks in the Hellenic and Roman Library.
Until 1914, Mabel Bent often visited the Holy Land. In Jerusalem, she joined the "Garden Tomb Association." This group worked to protect a tomb site outside the Damascus Gate, which they believed was Christ's tomb. Mabel became the London secretary. She later helped edit an updated guidebook with Charlotte Hussey.
The Bethel Seal Mystery
Some writers believe Mabel Bent might have been involved in an archaeological mystery called the "Bethel Seal" controversy. In 1957, a small clay stamp or seal was found in the village of Bethel, north of Jerusalem. It looked exactly like one Theodore Bent had found in Yemen in 1894.
Some people have suggested that Mabel might have placed the seal in the ruins at Bethel. This could have been a way to support her husband's ideas about early trade links in the region. At the time, Theodore Bent's findings were being questioned, especially his ideas about the Great Zimbabwe monuments.
Seeking Recognition
Mabel Bent was suggested as a possible member of the Royal Geographical Society. This idea came from an article in the Observer in April 1893. The article discussed whether more women should be allowed to join the Society. It said that women like Mrs. Bishop and Mabel Bent, who shared their husbands' travels, deserved to be members. However, by July 1893, the president of the Society resigned because a vote to keep admitting women failed. No more women were admitted at that time.
Death
Mabel Bent passed away in her London home on July 3, 1929. Her death certificate listed "myocardial failure" (heart failure) and "rheumatoid arthritis."
She is buried with her husband in the Hall-Dare family plot at St Mary’s Church, Theydon Bois, Essex.
See also
In Spanish: Mabel Bent para niños
