Giovanni Battista Belzoni
Egypt two hundred years ago was very different from today, but just as then, it is difficult to resist the magnetic charm that draws those who observe the perfect shape of the pyramids of Giza.
A local saying goes, "Man fears time, time fears the pyramids." At that time, only the head of the Sphinx emerged; in the last two centuries, it has been cleared of sand three times, and a few years ago, it underwent significant restoration.
Around mid-September, following the melting of snow on the mountains where the Blue Nile originates, the annual flood (first season of the year) occurred, lasting four months; the river waters reached near the pyramids. Following the construction of the Aswan Dam (completed in 1968), the enormous artificial reservoir submerged archaeological sites and historical places, and the flooding of the Nile, a fundamental natural phenomenon for life, is no longer observable. Today, those who wanted to sail up the Nile found the route blocked at Aswan by the first cataract, which was three miles long.
Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778-1823), a giant-sized man from Padua, toured for about ten years as a showman in almost all English theaters, traveled to Portugal, Spain, and Malta, where he met an Egyptian agent who advised him to go to his country to seek his fortune. Belzoni initial plan was to propose an irrigation machine to the pasha who ruled Egypt on behalf of the Ottoman Empire.
With his English wife Sarah and his servant, he arrived in Alexandria on June 9, 1815, during a plague epidemic that affected the entire region; quarantine at the French local fort (a kind of fortified structure with armed guards) was inevitable. That pestilence claimed the lives of 10% of Cairo's population, a city that then had only 350,000 inhabitants (today it has about 9 million).
Towards the end of the month, the epidemic ceased, and Belzoni began to seek proper friendships and relationships. At that time, the pasha was Mohammed Ali, considered the father of modern Egypt because of his vigorous efforts at economic development and significant reforms. The governor developed commercial relations with European powers, created a modern industrial apparatus, introduced silk manufacturing and new agricultural cultivation methods. The refining of sugar also spread, thanks to the English merchant and industrialist Charles Brine, whom Belzoni personally met.
Belzoni managed to gain the favor of the pasha, who admired Europeans, and had free access to his palaces. An amusing episode occurred when Belzoni assembled the components of a dynamo and, while testing it, accidentally shocked the viceroy, who jumped up from his divan. The Paduan had knowledge of hydraulics but was not an expert in history or archaeology and had not pursued serious studies.
The hydraulic machine was unsuccessful, partly because there was an accident during the demonstration, and large landowners feared it would go against their interests. Nevertheless, Belzoni decided to stay in Egypt. He met the Piedmontese Bernardino Drovetti (1776-1852), the French consul in Egypt, who soon became his rival in archaeological research. In 1824, the Piedmontese's collection of Egyptian artifacts was purchased by King Carlo Felice of Savoy for 400,000 lire, forming the nucleus of the Egyptian Museum in Turin.
After reaching an agreement with Henry Salt, the British Consul-General, Belzoni devoted himself to archaeological research. Despite his modest knowledge and very rudimentary methods of research and excavation, he managed to discover, in two phases, the entrance to the Great Temple of Abu Simbel, the tomb of Seti I (the father of Ramses II), and the entrance to the pyramid of Khafre at Giza, significantly enriching the Egyptian collections of the British Museum in London. Despite this, today there are few references to Belzoni in the British Museum, much less than his actual merits.
After the "rediscovery" of Egypt following the Napoleonic expedition, Egypt became fashionable in Europe. In some beautiful illustrated books, it is not difficult to see old photos of tourists bivouacking on top of the pyramids. Belzoni himself climbed a pyramid and, staying there for two hours, was able to admire the stunning panorama; today, this is no longer allowed.
The Giza plateau, where today there are large stages for concerts, Sound and Light shows, and operas such as Verdi's "Aida," which finds its ideal setting here, was not always like this. Towards the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, it was a dangerous area, so much so that travelers were escorted by armed guards. The French painter Denon and later Belzoni risked being killed by outlaws' gunfire. Today, there are no more bandits; the area is discreetly monitored by policemen on camelback in small white uniforms, descendants of the Meharists, who are also available for photographs. Baron Dominique Vivant Denon (1747-1825), a diplomat and tireless draftsman, participated in the Napoleonic expedition, and his lively sketches provided valuable material for research and comparisons to the scientists who compiled the "Description de l'Egypte."
Unfortunately, several Egyptian artifacts have been destroyed or dispersed: it seems that during excavations at Karnak, pieces of coffins and mummy bones were even used to fuel a kitchen stove! Many Egyptian tombs, when discovered, had already been looted by thieves. Despite the traps and tricks used by pharaohs, architects, and priests, it seems that robbers almost always managed to find entrances, perhaps with the help of spies. Denon, Belzoni, and David Roberts (1796-1864) found several temples and sites completely covered by sand, a factor that had preserved the colors from the ravages of time. Roberts was a brilliant English draughtsman of monuments, architecture, and daily life mostly in Egypt and Palestine. His beautiful and unforgettable plates can restore all the splendid colors of the Egyptian frescoes, now partly irretrievably faded.
The Europeans living in Egypt were called "Franks," and their most commonly used mounts were donkeys. I admire these characters born in the second half of the Enlightenment era, men of exceptional temperament who, for the love of knowledge and adventure, overcame enormous difficulties, even suffering from hunger, risking infectious diseases, and "ophthalmia militaris" blindness (a constant companion of the Napoleonic expedition).
The Roman journalist Marco Zatterin, in his book "The Giant of the Nile," defines the great Belzoni: "The man who took the young Egyptology by the hand and made it a science that has yet to cease to amaze."
