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Giovanni Belzoni (ca. 1815)
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Portrait of Giovanni Battista Belzoni (ca. 1815).
Belzoni went to Egypt in 1815, intending to build hydraulic irrigation systems for Muhammad Ali, the Pasha of Egypt. At length, however, Belzoni abandoned this project, since local farmers and officials were reluctant to abandon long-held, traditional methods of oxen-drawn irrigation machinery using primitive pulley wheels.
Having explored much of the Nile region by then, meanwhile, Belzoni turned to the collection of antiquities on commission. Among other accomplishments, Belzoni mapped the passageways and tombs in a Giza pyramid, as described in his book, Recent Discoveries in Egypt. In 1818 he transported many Egyptian sculptures, including a large head of Ramesses II, to England. These remain in the British Museum collections.
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