Bertram Thomas (13 June 1892 – 27 December 1950) was an English civil servant who is the first documented Westerner to cross the Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter). He was also a scientist who practiced craniofacial anthropometry, He was born in Pill near Bristol and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. After working for the Civil Service, he served in Belgium during World War I before being posted to the Somerset Light Infantry in Mesopotamia between 1916 and 1918.

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  • Bertram Thomas (13 June 1892 – 27 December 1950) was an English civil servant who is the first documented Westerner to cross the Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter). He was also a scientist who practiced craniofacial anthropometry, He was born in Pill near Bristol and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. After working for the Civil Service, he served in Belgium during World War I before being posted to the Somerset Light Infantry in Mesopotamia between 1916 and 1918. He worked as an Assistant Political Officer in this country from 1918 to 1922, and Assistant British Representative in Transjordan, from 1922 to 1924. He was appointed as Finance Minister and Wazir to the Sultan of Muscat and Oman, a post he held from 1925 to 1932. In this capacity, he undertook a number of expeditions into the desert, and became the first European to cross the Rub' Al Khali from 1930 and 1931, a journey he described in Arabia Felix (1932), in which he described this desert’s animals, inhabitants, and culture. He was awarded the OBE in 1920 and CMG in 1949. Besides Arabia Felix, he wrote several other books, including The Arabs: The Epic Life Story of a People Who Have Left Their Deep Impress on the World . A recent film called 'Crossing the Empty Quarter' was created by the Anglo-Oman Society's Chairman, Richard Muir - the ex-Ambassador to Oman - from footage taken by Thomas on his journey, and photographs from the Library of the Oriental Institute in Cambridge. He returned to England and died in the house in which he was born, in 1950.
  • Bertram Thomas oli brittiläinen virkamies ja ensimmäinen länsimaalainen, joka ylitti Rub’ al-Khalin autiomaan Arabian niemimaalla. Thomas opiskeli Trinity Collegessa ja työskenteli virkamiehenä vuodet 1908–1914. Ensimmäisessä maailmansodassa Thomas taisteli Belgiassa ja Irakissa. Tämän jälkeen hän toimi Britannian hallinnossa Mesopotamian mandaattialueella ja Transjordaniassa. Vuonna 1925 Thomas nimitettiin Muscat ja Omanin sulttaanin talousministeriksi ja visiiriksi. Omanissa Thomas työskenteli vuoteen 1932. Hän teki tuona aikana monia matkoja aavikkoalueille. Helmikuun viidentenä päivänä 1931 Thomas saapui beduiiniryhmän kanssa Dohaan Persianlahden rannalle. Hän oli lähtenyt Dhofarista Intian valtameren rannalta 58 päivää aikaisemmin. Thomasista tuli matkansa ansiosta ensimmäinen eurooppalainen, joka ylitti karun Rub’ al-Khalin. Tämän jälkeen hän ei tehnyt enää uusia tutkimusmatkoja Thomas julkaisi vuonna 1932 matkoistaan kirjan Arabia Felix, jossa hän kuvaa aavikon eläimiä, asukkaita ja kulttuuria.
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  • Bertram Thomas (13 June 1892 – 27 December 1950) was an English civil servant who is the first documented Westerner to cross the Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter). He was also a scientist who practiced craniofacial anthropometry, He was born in Pill near Bristol and educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. After working for the Civil Service, he served in Belgium during World War I before being posted to the Somerset Light Infantry in Mesopotamia between 1916 and 1918.
  • Bertram Thomas oli brittiläinen virkamies ja ensimmäinen länsimaalainen, joka ylitti Rub’ al-Khalin autiomaan Arabian niemimaalla. Thomas opiskeli Trinity Collegessa ja työskenteli virkamiehenä vuodet 1908–1914. Ensimmäisessä maailmansodassa Thomas taisteli Belgiassa ja Irakissa. Tämän jälkeen hän toimi Britannian hallinnossa Mesopotamian mandaattialueella ja Transjordaniassa. Vuonna 1925 Thomas nimitettiin Muscat ja Omanin sulttaanin talousministeriksi ja visiiriksi.
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  • Bertram Thomas
  • Bertram Thomas
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