Giovanni belzoni discoveries

Italian explorer (–)

Giovanni Battista Belzoni (Italian pronunciation:[dʒoˈvannibatˈtistabelˈtsoːni]; 5 November – 3 December ), sometimes known as The Great Belzoni, was a prolific Italian explorer and pioneer archaeologist of Egyptian antiquities. He is known for his removal to England of the seven-tonne bust of Ramesses II, the clearing of sand from the entrance of the great temple at Abu Simbel, the discovery and documentation of the tomb of Seti I (still sometimes known as "Belzoni's Tomb"), including the sarcophagus of Seti I, and the first to penetrate into the Pyramid of Khafre, the second pyramid of the Giza complex.

Early life

Belzoni was born in Padua. His father was a barber who sired fourteen children.

Giovanni belzoni discoveries and inventions Unfortunately, the most precious piece was missing: the alabaster sarcophagus, which was still in Egypt. Here he had the good fortune to find, in the space of a few days, four extremely important tombs including the ones of prince Montuherkepshef and the pharaoh Ramesses I, and on October he discovered another, intact tomb that proved to be one of the largest and most beautiful ever found in Egypt. Belzoni was often seen as a tomb robber. Houston read the prayers, after which the riflemen bid the last farewell to his tomb with three salvoes.

His family was from Rome and when Belzoni was 16 he went to work there, saying that he studied hydraulics. He intended on taking monastic vows, but in the occupation of the city by French troops drove him from Rome and changed his proposed career. In he moved to the Batavian Republic (now Netherlands) where he earned a living as a barber.

In he fled to England to avoid being sent to jail.^[2] There he married an Englishwoman, Sarah Banne.

Belzoni was a tall man at 6&#;feet 7&#;inches (&#;m) tall (one source says that his wife was of equally generous build, but all other accounts of her describe her as being of normal build) and they both joined a travelling circus.^[3] They were for some time compelled to subsist by performing exhibitions of feats of strength and agility as a strongman at fairs and on the streets of London.

Giovanni belzoni books With its collection of more than one million volumes, extensive digital collections, and online resources, Watson Library is one of the world's most comprehensive art libraries. It seems that around the middle of December Belzoni was able to see his family again' and pay homage to his home town, to which he had previously donated two splendid diorite statues of the goddess Sekhmet he had found at Karnak, which had been put in the Sala della Ragione, as he had requested. He was buried under a large tree, six feet under the ground. It only seems to be a matter of time before he fell out with his sponsors and acquaintances.

In he appears engaged at the circus at Astley's Amphitheatre at a variety of performances.^[4] Belzoni had an interest in phantasmagoria and experimented with the use of magic lanterns in his shows.

Egyptian antiquities

In he left England and after a tour of performances in Spain, Portugal and Sicily, he went to Malta in where he met Ismael Gibraltar, an emissary of Muhammad Ali, the Pasha of Egypt, who at the time was undertaking a programme of agrarian land reclamation and important irrigation works.^[5] Belzoni wanted to show Muhammad Ali a hydraulic machine of his own invention for raising the waters of the Nile.

Though the experiment with this engine was successful, the project was not approved by the pasha. Belzoni, now without a job, was resolved to continue his travels.

On the recommendation of the orientalist J. L. Burckhardt he was sent by Henry Salt, the British consul to Egypt, to the Ramesseum at Thebes, from where he removed with great skill the colossal bust of Ramesses II, commonly called the "Younger Memnon".

Shipped by Belzoni to England, this piece is still on prominent display at the British Museum in London.

Giovanni belzoni death

Giovanni belzoni documentary

Belzoni, mississippi map

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This weighed over 7 tons. It took him 17 days and men to tow it to the river. He used levers to lift it onto rollers. Then he had his men distributed equally with four ropes drag it on the rollers. On the first day (27 July) he covered only a few yards, but on the second he covered 50 yards, deliberately breaking the bases of two columns to clear the way for his burden.

After yards, it sank into the sand, and a detour of yards on firmer ground was necessary. From there, it got a little easier, and, on 12 August he finally reached the river, where he was able to load it onto a boat for shipment to England.^[6] His excavation and removal of the Younger Memnon and other stones during this expedition was explicitly authorized by a firman from Muhammad Ali himself.

He also expanded his investigations to the great temple of Edfu, visited Elephantine island and Philae, cleared the entrance of the great temple at Abu Simbel of sand (), made excavations at Karnak, and opened up the sepulchre of Seti I (still sometimes known as "Belzoni's Tomb") in the Valley of the Kings.

He was the first to penetrate into the Pyramid of Khafre, the second pyramid of the Giza complex, and the first European in modern times to visit the Bahariya Oasis. He also identified the ruins of Berenice on the Red Sea.

In he returned to England and published an account of his travels and discoveries entitled Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries within the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs and Excavations in Egypt and Nubia, &c^[8] the following year.

During and he also exhibited facsimiles of the tomb of Seti I. The exhibition was held at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, London.^[9] In Belzoni showed his model in Paris.

In he set out for West Africa, intending to travel to Timbuktu. Having been refused permission to pass through Morocco, he chose the Gulf of Guinea coastal route.

He reached the Kingdom of Benin, but was seized with dysentery at a village called Gwato (now Ughoton), and died there. According to the celebrated traveller Richard Francis Burton he was murdered and robbed.^{[citation needed]} In his widow published his drawings of the royal tombs at Thebes.

Commemoration

A medal depicting a profile of Belzoni created by William Brockedon was cast in by Sir Edward Thomason.

Belzoni’s friend Sir Francis Ronalds had introduced the artist and subject. Years later, in in Padua, Ronalds advised sculptor Rinaldo Rinaldi on the large medallion he was creating to commemorate Belzoni in his hometown.^[10]

Belzoni was portrayed by Matthew Kelly in the BBC docudrama Egypt.

Alberto Siliotti completed a unique scholarly edition of his travel writing, and it was the subject of the Horus expedition in

Horace Smith, a poet in the circle of Percy Bysshe Shelley, wrote " Address to the Mummy in Belzoni's Exhibition."

• Entrance of the 2nd Pyramid of Geeza, Discovered and Opened by G.

  Belzoni, 2nd March , Musée d'Art classique de Mougins

• Colossal Head Discovered in the Ruins of Karnak by G. Belzoni, Musée d'Art classique de Mougins

• Plan of a ruined Nubian church

See also

Notes

References

• Lane-Poole, Stanley (). "Belzoni, Giovanni Baptista"&#;. In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol.&#;4. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
• &#;This article&#;incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:&#;Chisholm, Hugh, ed.
  Giovanni belzoni discoveries Regardless, Belzoni is regarded as one of the pioneers of Egyptology , whose work was the overture to the later explorations of Egypt. Mangles and Irby compiled an accurate inventory of all the finds'' and drew a plan of the temple with the following annotation: "Opened 1-August by desire of Mr. His family was from Rome and when Belzoni was 16 he went to work there, saying that he studied hydraulics. A few months later, in autumn, the exhibition was taken to Paris, where it opened - with less success than in England - just when Champollion's famous Lettre a M.

  (). "Belzoni, Giovanni Battista". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol.&#;3 (11th&#;ed.). Cambridge University Press. p.&#;

• Catholic Encyclopedia article
• , Belzoni’s Travels, by Alberto Siliotti, The British Museum Press, ISBN&#;

Further reading

• Mayes, Stanley. The Great Belzoni: The Circus Strongman Who Discovered Egypt`s Treasures.

  Tauris Parke Paperbacks (). ISBN&#;

• Noël Hume, Ivor. Belzoni: The Giant Archaeologists Love to Hate. University of Virginia Press (). ISBN&#;
• Siliotti, Alberto.
  Giovanni belzoni discoveries and accomplishments In April Belzoni left for Russia, where he was received in St. Belzoni arrived still dreaming of what had never occurred, and without any apparent reason, he told me in no uncertain terms and repeatedly that he had no intention whatever of depending upon me for the slightest thing. The Final Journey Egypt may have brought Belzoni glory and celebrity, but it certainly did not improve his precarious financial situation. The prestigious Quarterly Review wrote the following about Belzoni: "

  Belzoni’s Travels. () The British Museum Press, ISBN&#;

• Jasanoff, Maya. Edge of Empire: Lives, Culture, and Conquest in the East, () Random House, ISBN&#;
• Ronalds, B.F. Sir Francis Ronalds: Father of the Electric Telegraph, Imperial College Press (), ISBN&#; - describes the creation of Belzoni's likeness
• Disher, Maurice Willson.

  Pharoah's Fool. Heinemann ()

• Zatterin, Marco. "Il Gigante del Nilo" Mondadori (), Il Mulino (), Mondadori ()
• Gaia Servadio L'Italiano piu’ famoso del mondo Bompiani. ()

External links