Biography

James Theodore Bent (1852-l897) was the Oxford-educated son of a wealthy Yorkshire family. His affluent background enabled him to turn full time free-lance traveller, archaeologist and writer in turn.

Bent visited the Cyclades islands with his young Irish wife - Mabel Hall-Dare - between November 1883 and April 1884. On their return to London he published an account of Easter celebrations on Amorgos, and the success of this led him to publish his full description of the Cycladic islands in 1885 in The Cyclades or Life Among the Insular Greeks.

He also contributed articles to the Journal of Hellenic Studies. After the success of this venture, Bent and his wife - an inseparable couple from first to last - ventured into ever more remote parts of the late 19 c. world.

Between 1885-1888 the couple traveled through southern Turkey in search of the ruined Hellenic cities, contributing further articles for the Journal of Hellenic Studies. In 1889 they went on to Bahrein and undertook excavations in a (failed) attempt to prove the theory that the island was the original home of the Phoenicians. Between 1890-1891 they explored the Great Zimbabwe ruins in southern Africa (publishing an account - The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland - in 1892). In 1893 they traveled to Eritrea in search of the sacred city of Aksum, studying Abyssinian cultures as they went (described in The Sacred City of the Ethiopians in 1893).

Bent's final years were spent exploring Arabia and the Red Sea coast. He was the first person to map the Hadramut region of Arabia (in 1893) and the east coast Dhofar area. As usual his explorations were accompanied with excavations - the most successful of these resulted in the identification of Abyssapolis - the famed port city noted as the home of the frankincense and myrrh trade. Between 1895-1896 Bent explored the Sudan coast, returning to Arabia in 1897. Shortly after, he contracted malaria and was sent back to England. He died a few days after his arrival - he was 45. In 1900 Mabel Bent published their account of these last expeditions in Southern Arabia, Soudan and Sakotra.

 

 

The Idol Man

Along with his more famous contemporaries Henrich Schliemann and Sir Arthur Evans, James Theodore Bent played an important role in developing the understanding of Aegean archaeology.

However, unlike Schiliemann and Evens, Bent didn't discover another Troy or Knossos - though in many respects his work was just as important. His main claim to fame lies with his identification of the early Cycladic Culture (now known mainly through the small marble figurines found in graves) as a distinct and noteworthy area of study in its own right.

Bent was the first to take an interest in this prehistoric period when his contemporaries were more interested in digging up 'history', and drew up the basic prehistoric Cycladic culture phase framework and the scheme of idol types that - with minor changes - are still in use today (see p. 143 of Greek Island Hopping 2002). While hopping around the Cyclades, Bent took extended periods off to either identify or dig prehistoric Cycladic culture sites. Most of his activity was on Antiparos and neighbouring Despotiko. Almost all his finds are now in the British Museum, making up the core of their impressive collection of Cycladic culture material.