The Great Belzoni: The Circus Strongman Who Discovered Egypt's Ancient Treasures

by Stanley Mayes

The truly extraordinary life story of Giovanni Belzoni – engineer, barber, monk, actor and circus strongman (where he earned his title, ‘The Great Belzoni'), who became one of the giants of 19th century Egyptian archaeology. Sometimes maligned as a tomb robber, Giovanni Battista Belzoni is perhaps the most important and yet least remembered explorer and archaeologist of the last two hundred years. Giovanni Belzoni was the first person to penetrate the heart of the second pyramid at Giza and the first European to visit the oasis of Siwah and discover the ruined city of Berenice on the Red Sea. In 1823, at the age of forty-five, Belzoni died of fever trying to reach the mysterious city of Timbuktu. There has never been a character quite like him in the history of exploration.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Egypt, Biography, Archaeology, Egyptology

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

The attitudes toward particular ethic groups and women are sometimes a little dated (the book was first published in 1959), but the story he has to tell of Belzoni's life is very interesting.

[Eule Luftschloss · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the edition from 1959.

Giovanni Battista Belzoni was a giant of a man, and in fear of being conscripted to Napoleon's army he went from his home in Padua to England, where he became famous at fairs with different feats of strength. Interested in hydraulics, he built water games for the theater, and as he travelled he became aware that the pasha in Egypt was in search for engineers who could drag the country in the modern world. Always restless, he travelled down the Nile and was able to lift with his technical knowledge colossal pieces of statues and architecture nobody else could move.

Mostly by his side was Sarah, his wife who was a great help to him, without which he wouldn't have been able to do what he did, and who collected chameleons which isn't important but I can't get the picture of a pet on her shoulder out of my head.

Everywhere difficulties, applying for permittances or puzzling out to be paid. Intrigues in different cities, places that were war-torn and where the people suffered from illnesses like Bubonic Plague.

I liked this book and will surely read more aber Belzoni and Sarah. Who needs Indiana Jones when there are real accounts of travels to be had?

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story, well written and highly enjoyable

[Carol Flux · Rating 4 out of 5]

Present from Mark

[James F · Rating 3 out of 5]

A biography of Belzoni, mostly based on his own Travels in Egypt and Nubia but with a few chapters on his earlier life in the theater (not circus) and his final expedition to discover the course of the Niger, and some background information on some of the people he came in contact with, such as Burckhart, Salt, etc.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating insight into this great historical figure, although it is dated and skips over controversial issues.