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50-628: After graduation, Twitchell worked at mines in Idaho, California, Colorado and Arizona, in positions ranging from sampler to surveyor to manager. In 1914, Twitchell began working for Colonel Steeley W. Mudd, and was sent to Cyprus to work at the Skouriatissa copper mine. When the mine closed in 1917, Twitchell worked briefly for the Cyprus Forest Department before returning to the United States at

100-409: A 700-pound clapper. The smallest weighs just 22 pounds. Crane donated the bells to Harvard University and they were installed in the main tower of Harvard's Lowell House and at Harvard Business School 's Baker Library , where they safely remained for over 70 years. Beginning in the 1980s, with openness under Gorbachev, there were calls to return the bells, and after numerous meetings over the years,

150-607: A Jewish state in the Middle East. He was a passionate spokesman for the independence of the Arab states. From May and June 1918 he helped Tomas Masaryk meet with President Wilson to negotiate support for Czechoslovak legions in Russia and for the founding of a new independent Czechoslovak state. Crane was appointed United States Ambassador to China by President Wilson and served from March 22, 1920, to July 2, 1921. In 1925 Crane founded

200-754: A book simply titled "Saudi Arabia", published by Princeton University Press; it went through three editions and was considered a definitive description of the country for several decades. In 1955, his novel, "Keith Arnold in Mining Engineering", co-authored with Robert Wyndham, was published by Dodd, Mead and Company. Twitchell was also a long-time member of the Explorers Club and the Mining Club. Twitchell and his wife moved to Byram, Connecticut in 1949. He passed away at his home on January 7, 1968. Many of his papers, photographs and collected items were donated to

250-506: A concession. The exploration rights covered an area of approximately 360,000 square miles (930.000 square kilometers), and the agreement was for sixty years. An initial advance on royalties, in the form 35,000 gold sovereigns, was shipped by SOCAL to the Saudi government in July 1933, at which point Twitchell terminated his contract with the oil company and went back working on the gold mines. Twitchell

300-593: A major role in establishing and helping administer the modern state of Iraq. St John Philby was a British colonial office intelligence officer and King Ibn Sa'ud of Saudi Arabia's chief adviser in dealing with the British Empire and Western oil powers. Hans Wehr (1909–1981) was a German Arabist, professor at the University of Münster from 1957–1974. Wehr published the Arabisches Wörterbuch (1952), which

350-417: A previous portrait of Josephine Crane Bradley as Slavia for the 100 koruna bill. President William Howard Taft appointed Crane minister to China on July 16, 1909, but on the eve of his departure to his post on October 4, 1909, he was recalled to Washington and forced to resign under pressure by US Secretary of State Philander C. Knox , who held him responsible for the publication in a Chicago newspaper of

400-565: The Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule gaining fame as Lawrence of Arabia . He worked closely with the Hashemite dynasty that established independent Arab states in Hejaz , Iraq , Syria , and Jordan after ending Ottoman rule. Lawrence's heroic reputation was built from his own lively writing skills, sensational reporting by American journalist Lowell Thomas , and later the dramatization of his life in

450-598: The Arab world , who specialises in the study of the Arabic language and culture (usually including Arabic literature ). Arabists began in medieval Muslim Spain , which lay on the frontier between the Muslim world and Christendom . At various times, either a Christian or a Muslim kingdom might be the most hospitable toward scholars. Translation of Arabic texts into Latin (mostly of works on mathematics and astronomy ) began as early as

500-538: The Escala de Mahomá ( The Ascension of Mohammed ) and Los juegos del ajedrez ( The Games of Chess ). The works of Alfonso X in history and astronomy drew on numerous elements of Muslim knowledge. Also, the Tales of Count Lucanor , by Juan Manuel and El Libro de buen amor ( The Book of Good Love ) by Arcipreste de Hita from this period both show an interpenetration and symbiosis of Oriental and Spanish cultures . With

550-520: The King-Crane Commission . While the commission was originally proposed by the US to develop an international consensus on the future make up and status of postwar Middle East nations, the commission quickly became a US-only sponsored effort. With the appointment of Crane as co-head of the commission, it set about to issue a report to inform US policy makers. In respect to the creation of a Jewish state in

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600-500: The Reconquista well under way, Arabist efforts in Spain were sometimes closely tied to the goal of the possibility of proselytizing Christianity in the Arab world. Spain was so dynamic a center of medieval Arabism as to draw scholars from throughout Christian Europe, notably Gerard of Cremona , Herman of Carinthia , Michael Scotus , and Robert of Ketton . In 1143, Robert of Ketton made

650-858: The Reformation , this was also the case in Spain for like reasons, and due in particular to Mediterranean politics and to the repressive atmosphere created by the Spanish Inquisition . Some Moriscos hesitated to show their knowledge of their mother tongue. In the mid-18th century a new phase of Arabism arose in Spain. Later, in the era of the Generación del 98 Spanish Arabism began to produce widely recognized studies, and thus regained its prominence, particularly regarding such Arabists as Miguel Asín Palacios (1871–1944), and Emilio García Gómez (1905–1995), as well as many others. In England , Robert of Chester translated many books from Arabic into Latin during

700-557: The epic film Lawrence of Arabia . Lady Hester Stanhope , after the death of British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger , to whom she acted as hostess, took up a life of travel. She spent most of her life in the Middle East and was accepted as Queen of the Bedouin . Gertrude Bell , was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, archaeologist and spy. She played

750-511: The 10th century, major works dates from the School of Toledo , which began during the reign of Alfonso VII of Castile , (1105–1157). Translations were made into medieval Latin or Church Latin , then Europe's lingua franca , or into medieval Spanish , which was the vernacular language of that time and place. Early translations included works by Avicenna , Al-Ghazali , Avicebron , etc.; books on astronomy, astrology , and medicine ; and

800-558: The 12th Century, including works from scholars such as Abu Musa Jabir Ibn Hayyan and Al-Khwarizmi . The Adams Professorship in the Arabic language was established at Cambridge University in England in July 1632. The Laudian Professorship in Arabic was established at Oxford University in 1636. Italy , France , Germany , and the Netherlands have enjoyed a long and fruitful involvement in

850-523: The 15th century, with Juan de Segovia 's trilingual Qur'an (Arabic, Spanish, and Latin), now lost, and Cardinal Cisneros 's multilingual Bible . In the 16th century, Pedro de Alcalá produced his Arabic primers for Spanish speakers, and several histories were written about the previous century's reconquest of the Emirate of Granada with its aftermath of Moorish uprisings. As Arabism was declining in Europe after

900-601: The Arab culture enjoyed the strong patronage of Alfonso X of Castile (1221–1284), who commissioned translations of major works into the Latin and the Castilian Spanish of the time. This led to the first Spanish translation of the Qur'an , and of such influential works as Kalilah and Dimnah , Libro de los Engannos e Asayamientos de las Mugeres ( Book of the Deceits and Lies of Women ),

950-651: The Harvard Semitic Museum; more of his legacy is in the possession of Princeton University and Middlebury College, from which he received an honorary Doctor of Science degree on June 12, 1950. Charles Richard Crane Charles Richard Crane (August 7, 1858 – February 15, 1939) was a wealthy American businessman, heir to a large industrial fortune and connoisseur of Arab culture, a noted Arabist . His widespread business interests gave him entree into domestic and international political affairs where he enjoyed privileged access to many influential power brokers at

1000-510: The Middle East, the report cautioned "Not only you as president but the American people as a whole should realize that if the American government decided to support the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, they are committing the American people to the use of force in that area, since only by force can a Jewish state in Palestine be established or maintained." Crane opposed the establishment of

1050-778: The Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission. In the wake of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, Crane was instrumental in rescuing from destruction some of the most important Russian bells , from the Danilov monastery. When the Communists closed the monastery in 1929, the Danilov bell set was saved from Communist melting by Crane's purchase of the bells. The largest of the bells, Bolshoi (or The Big One - called The Mother Earth Bell at Harvard), weighs 13 tons and has

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1100-593: The New York-based Institute of Current World Affairs . The institute employed field representatives in Mexico, Jerusalem, and occasionally Moscow. These representatives compiled regular reports on developments in their regions, and shared their expertise during ICWA-sponsored lecture tours of major US universities. The reports were also made available to the US State Department. In 1931, Crane helped finance

1150-606: The Pakistani province of Sindh prepared him well for the transgressive pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina that he undertook in 1853 (he was not a Muslim and non-Muslims are forbidden to enter these holy cities). Seven years in Pakistan had given Burton a familiarity with the customs and behaviour of Muslims. This journey made Burton famous. He had planned it whilst travelling disguised among the Muslims of Sindh, and had laboriously prepared for

1200-662: The US government's objections to two recent treaties between Japan and China. Crane contributed heavily to Woodrow Wilson 's 1912 election campaign. Wilson rewarded Crane with appointments to the 1917 Special Diplomatic Commission to Russia, known as the Root Commission , as a member of the American Section of the Paris Peace Conference , and to the 1919 Inter-Allied Commission on Mandates in Turkey that became known as

1250-602: The bells were returned to the Russian Orthodox Church and the Danilov monastery in 2008. When Franklin Roosevelt appointed William E. Dodd American ambassador to Germany in 1933, Crane wrote Dodd a letter of congratulation that told him: The Jews, after winning the war, galloping along at a swift pace, getting Russia, England and Palestine, being caught in the act of trying to seize Germany, too, and meeting their first real rebuff, have gone plumb crazy and are deluging

1300-509: The country. The expedition lasted six months,, and was followed by a second expedition of similar length in 1929, and a third trip in 1931, during which Twitchell oversaw construction of a major bridge. In 1932, Crane was invited by King Ibn Saud to come to Saudi Arabia. The King was aware of the work in Yemen, and interested in replicating it in his country, especially the efforts to locate water supplies. Crane then employed Twitchell to investigate

1350-545: The end of World War I. In late 1919, Twitchell was hired by the R.T. Wilson Company of New York City. Originally destined for a gold mine in Dutch Guiana, Twitchell was instead sent to Portugal to manage a tin mine. Having become engaged to Nora Gilhespie, he stopped in London to get married, in 1920, before continuing on Portugal. While working with the tin mine and subsequently two copper mines, his son Harry Gilhespie Twitchell

1400-459: The expedition was also intended to consider methods for improving agriculture in the country, and to search for water resources. Twitchell worked for Charles Richard Crane , investigating water potential of Yemen . While the expedition found little in the way of commercial mining opportunities, Twitchell did conduct agricultural experiments and convinced the King to begin construction of a road system in

1450-639: The first Latin translation of the Qur'an , at the request of Peter the Venerable , abbot of Cluny . Mark of Toledo produced another translation of the Qur'an in the 13th century under a mandate from archbishop Rodrigo Ximénez de Rada , who later edited the landmark Historia Arabum ("history of the Arabs"), drawing on the work of al-Razi for the knowledge of al-Andalus prior to the Almoravid conquest. This trend continued in

1500-686: The first U.S. Agricultural Mission to Saudi Arabia, at the request of King Ibn Saud. After World War II, Twitchell was involved in developing the "Seven Years Plan" in Iran and also in a diamond and gold mining operating in British Guiana. He joined the boards of directors of the Rock of Ages Corporation, a granite quarrying company based in Barre, Vermont, and also the American Eastern Corporation. He wrote

1550-459: The first explorations for oil in Saudi Arabia and Yemen . He was instrumental in gaining the American oil concession there. He was also a member of the famous Jekyll Island Club (aka The Millionaires Club) on Jekyll Island, Georgia . His son, Richard Teller Crane II , was a diplomat. In 1929 Charles R. Crane was appointed by President Coolidge on the recommendation of Gutzon Borglum to

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1600-515: The massive war equipment-building effort was extremely difficult, but Twitchell convinced the U.S. Department of State that closing the mine during the war would be viewed very negatively by the Saudi government, potentially even driving the Saudis to align with Germany, and the State Department continued authorizing the equipment until the last nine months of the war. Twitchell also served as chief of

1650-462: The minutiae of Eastern manners and etiquette. Burton's trek to Mecca was quite dangerous and his caravan was attacked by bandits (a common experience at the time). As he put it, although "...neither Koran or Sultan enjoin the death of Jew or Christian intruding within the columns that note the sanctuary limits, nothing could save a European detected by the populace, or one who after pilgrimage declared himself an unbeliever." The pilgrimage entitled him to

1700-590: The northern half of the country. Twitchell's determination was that mineral mining was not commercially viable at that time. En route back to London, Twitchell passed through Aden, in Yemen, where he learned of the recent visit of Charles Richard Crane . Crane had met with the Imam Yahiz, King of Yemen, and promised to find mining engineers to explore for minerals in the country. Twitchell went to New York to meet with Crane, which led to Twitchell being hired to lead an expedition in Yemen in 1928. In addition to minerals,

1750-548: The oil possibilities. This included a trip to Bahrain , where oil drilling was already in progress. Subsequently, Twitchell advised Ibn Saud to delay initiating any oil operations in Saudi Arabia until the venture in Bahrain, which was still in its early stages, produced significant results. In the meantime, Twitchell resumed exploration of the ancient gold mines. Ibn Saud preferred to work only with American investors, but Twitchell

1800-532: The ordeal by study and practice (including having himself circumcised to further lower the risk of being discovered). Although Burton was not the first non-Muslim European to make the Hajj (that distinction belonging to Ludovico di Barthema in 1503), his pilgrimage is the most famous and the best documented of the time. He adopted various disguises, including that of a Pathan , to account for any oddities in speech, but he still had to master intricate Islamic ritual, and

1850-569: The pair funded and played on the Hyannis town team in what is now the Cape Cod Baseball League . At Cory and Crane's expense, various well-known professional and amateur players were brought in to play alongside the Hyannis locals. When Cory lost his family's fortune in 1906, Crane purchased Cory's vast collection of bird specimens and donated it to Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History with

1900-509: The stipulation that the museum would employ Cory as permanent curator of the collection. In the 1900s, he brought Thomas Masaryk , Maksim Kovalevsky and Pavel Milyukov to lecture at the University of Chicago . After meeting Masaryk, he became interested in Slavic nationalism and sponsored The Slav Epic paintings by Alphonse Mucha When Mucha designed the Czechoslovak bills , he used

1950-619: The study of the Arabic language and Arab cultures, as well of Islam, with scholars like Levinus Warner and Joseph Scaliger . Many other European countries have also produced scholars who have made notable contributions to the study of the Arabs and Arabic cultures, including Sweden , Czech Republic , Poland , Scotland , Romania , Hungary , Belgium , and Russia . Richard Francis Burton entered Trinity College, Oxford in autumn 1840, after his family had travelled extensively in Europe (he spoke English, French and Italian). His studies at Oxford included falconry and Arabic. Burton's time in

2000-483: The syndicate had to build virtually the entire mining and processing infrastructure, building everything from mills to roads to a shipping pier in Jedda, the project was successful. By the time the tailings were worked out in 1954, approximately $ 32 million worth of gold, silver and copper had been produced. This time frame included the entirety of World War II, which complicated matters considerably. Replacing equipment during

2050-526: The title of Hajji and to wear a green turban. Burton's own account of his journey is given in Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al Madinah and Meccah (1855). T.E. Lawrence started out as an archaeologist in what is now Syria and Lebanon where he studied Arabic and immersed himself in Arab culture. After joining the British Army with the outbreak of World War I, he became known for his role in

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2100-411: The top levels of government. His special arena of interest was Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Crane was the eldest son of plumbing parts mogul, Chicago manufacturer, Richard T. Crane . As a young man, Crane traveled extensively with his friend Charles B. Cory , a leading ornithologist whom Crane had met while visiting Boston . Crane and Cory shared an interest in baseball, and from 1888 to 1892,

2150-626: The water prospects in Ibn Saud 's Saudi Arabia. Twitchell arrived with his wife in Jedda in mid-1932. After a grand meeting and feast with Ibn Saud, Twitchell set out to explore the Hejaz area in search of water. Despite traveling some 1300 miles within this region, in April 1933, Twitchell determined no prospects for an artesian aquifer existed beneath the desert. However, he had noticed evidence of ancient Roman and Israelite mines, which suggested to him that there

2200-690: The works of some of the Ancient Greek philosophers, especially Aristotle , who unlike Plato had previously been relatively unknown and largely ignored in European Christendom . The philosophical translations were accompanied by the Islamic commentaries, e.g., on Al-Ghazali, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), and Ibn Rushd ( Averroës ), to the point of there being an identifiable Averroist school of philosophy in Christian Europe . This cultural borrowing from

2250-598: The world—particularly easy America—with anti-German propaganda. I strongly advise you to resist every social invitation. According to Larson, at a dinner, Ambassador Dodd heard Crane express admiration for Hitler and learned that Crane also had no objection to how the Nazis were treating Germany's Jews, telling Dodd: "Let Hitler have his way." In his biography of Crane, Norman E. Saul notes that he maintained relationships with prominent Jews such as Louis Brandeis and Lillian Wald and suggests that his “vague but open” anti-Semitism

2300-452: Was able to form a syndicate backed by English, American and Canadian investors, and Twitchell returned to Jedda in July 1934 to negotiate a concession. The process proved more complicated than he had anticipated, but an agreement was finally reached on Christmas Eve. The timing was fortuitous, as gold prices were soon raised to $ 35 per ounce. The area controlled by the syndicate proved to have approximately 450,000 tons of gold tailings. While

2350-594: Was born in Lisbon. However, none of these operations was particularly successful—Twitchell felt that at least one of the mines had been "seeded" to attract investment—so Twitchell returned to London. This led to a meeting with Robert Annan, Chair of the Board of Consolidated Gold Fields of South Africa, who sent Twitchell on expedition to Abyssinia (now Ethiopia). Twitchell arrived in Addis Ababa in 1926, and spent six months exploring

2400-419: Was not uncommon among Anglo-Saxons of his time. Saul notes that his admiration of Hitler left, in retrospect, the most damaging legacy to his reputation. On February 15, 1939, Crane died of influenza in his Winter home in Palm Springs, California . On April 24, 2006, Crane's art collection was sold at Christie's auction house . Arabist An Arabist is someone, often but not always from outside

2450-464: Was potential for mining gold and possibly even finding oil. Saudi Arabia's finance minister, Sheik Abdulla Suliman Al Hamdan, grasped the implications of the oil possibilities, and sent Twitchell back out to travel eastward towards the Persian Gulf. In the course of this exploration, Twitchell became the first American to cross Saudi Arabia. Returning to the Saudi capital of Riyadh, Twitchell again met with Ibn Saud, who asked him to continue investigating

2500-423: Was unable to interest any American companies in the gold mining. However, while in the United States trying to line up investors for the gold exploration, Twitchell met with representatives of The Texas Company (now Texaco) and Standard Oil Company. After reviewing Twitchell's geological notes, the Standard Oil Company of California (SOCAL) retained Twitchell as a negotiator, and on 29 May 1933, SOCAL received such

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