Williamsburg Regional Library

Belzoni, the giant archaeologists love to hate, Ivor Noel Hume

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

individual biography

government publication of a state province territory dependency etc

mapsillustrations

index present

non fiction

Belzoni

bibliography

697979473

Ivor Noel Hume

the giant archaeologists love to hate

The Italian son of a barber. A failed hydraulic engineer. A giant who performed feats of strength and agility in the circus. Giovanni Belzoni (1778-1824) was all of these before going on to become one of the most controversial figures in the history of Egyptian archaeology. A man of exceptional size with an ego of comparable proportions, he procured for the British Museum some of its largest and still awe-inspiring treasures. Today, however, the typical museum visitor knows nothing of Belzoni, and many modern archaeologists dismiss him as an ignorant vandal. In this captivating new biography, Ivor Noël Hume re-creates an early nineteenth century in which there was no established archaeological profession, only enormous opportunity. Belzoni landed in Egypt, where he was unsuccessful in selling a hydraulic machine of his own invention, and came under the patronage of diplomat Henry Salt, who convinced him to travel to Thebes in search of artifacts. Among the many treasures Belzoni would bring back was the seven-ton stone head of Ramesses II, the "Young Memnon." The book includes gripping accounts of Belzoni's wildly productive, and physically brutal, expeditions, as well as an unforgettable portrait of his wife, Sarah, who suffered the hardships of the Egyptian deserts and later bore the brunt of the disillusionment that came with the declining popular perception of her husband

Prologue -- Sampson and Sarah -- Mohammed's man in Malta -- Enter the consul-general -- Moving Memnon -- The devil made them do it -- Staff problems at Abu Simbel -- A present from Philae -- Messing with mummies -- Return to Abu Simbel -- The great discovery -- Enduring achievements -- Confrontation in the consulate -- Over the mountains and through the passes -- Philae and the grand engagement -- Bingham Richards and the "Christie-sort of list" -- Hard times -- Saving Sarah -- Significant others -- Epilogue -- Glossary

adult