Sulle Orme di Giovanni Belzoni

Everyone knows the great temple of Ramesses Ii in Abu Simbel, the pyramid of Chefren in Giza and the tomb of Sethi I in the Valley of the Kings but very few know that the first who managed to penetrate these monuments and discover their entrance was the Paduan explorer Giovanni Belzoni who traveled to Egypt between 1815 and 1819. Similarly, the character of Indiana Jones is universally known, but hardly anyone knows that in creating this singular figure of archaeologist half scholar and half adventurer, George Lucas was inspired by Belzoni himself, whom he defined as “an exceptional archaeologist but with a strong and rude character”. Despite his great discoveries and the extraordinary finds that he managed to bring to Europe, enriching the collections of the British Museum, Belzoni is little known even in Padua his hometown. Unjustly accused of being a mere “treasure hunter”, Belzoni was defined by Howard Carter, the discoverer of Tutankhamun’s tomb, “one of the most notable characters in the entire history of Egyptology”.