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 Gertrude Bell, was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, archaeologist and spy. She played a major role in establishing and helping administer the modern state of Iraq. St John Philby 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 Hans Wehr (1909–1981) was a German Arabist, professor at the University of Münster from 1957–1974. Wehr published the Arabisches Wörterbuch (1952), which was later published in an English edition as A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, edited by J. Milton Cowan. As part of this dictionary, Wehr created a transliteration scheme to represent the Arabic alphabet. Arabists in the Middle East Some notable Arabists from the Middle East worth mentioning are Haim Zafrani in Morocco, Ahmad Zaki Pasha in Egypt, Tarif Khalidi in Lebanon, Zvi Elpeleg in Israel, Mehmet Hakkı Suçin in Turkey and William Duff. See also Islam Islamic studies by author (non-Muslim or academic) Orientalism Middle Eastern studies References Bibliography Teresa Fava Thomas. American Arabists in the Cold War Middle East, 1946–75: From Orientalism to Professionalism. NY-London: Anthem Press, 2016. External links Alfonso X 1252-1277, translator, University of Washington website US Diplomat Arabists Non-Islamic Islam studies literature Islam and other religions