Mon, 24 Mar 2003 23:42:49 GMT

Gertrude of Iraq. Have I ever told you what the river is like on a hot summer night? At dusk the mist hangs in long white bands over the water; the twilight fades and the lights of the town shine out on either bank, with the river, dark and smooth and full of mysterious reflections, like a road of triumph through the midst. – Gertrude Bell writing of the Euphrates near Baghdad.

Gertrude Bell – daughter of the desert, Uncrowned Queen of Iraq, Advisor to kings and Ally of Lawrence of Arabia.
Gertrude Bell was a Bell's influence on Middle Eastern politics made her the most powerful woman in the British Empire in the years after World War I. She was a archeologist, writer, translated the poetry of Hafiz and a photographer as well. 1909: Letters from Gertrude Bell, dated May 14 andMetaFilter]

ahh history, it serves us well, until well, we try to understand what is going on now or what might go on in the future, especially in human or national affairs. the system, as they say, is indeterminate.