Giovanni Belzoni

All inquiry into antiquity, all curiosity respecting the pyramids, the excavated cities, Stonehenge, the Ohio circles, Mexico, Memphis, is a desire to do away this wild, savage, and preposterous there or then and introduce in its place the here and the now.

Belzoni digs and measures in the mummy pits and pyramids of Thebes until he can see the end of the difference between the monstrous work and himself.

When he has satisfied himself, in general and in detail, that it was made by such a person as he, so armed and so motived, and to ends to which he himself should also have worked, the problem is solved.

His thought lives along the whole line of temples and sphinxes and catacombs, passes through them all with satisfaction, and they live again to the mind or are now.

All inquiry into antiquity, all curiosity respecting the Pyramids, the excavated cities, Stonehenge, the Ohio Circles, Mexico, Memphis, is a desire to do away this wild, savage, and preposterous There or Then, and introduce in its place the Here and the Now.

Belzoni digs and measures in the mummy pits and pyramids of Thebes until he can see the end of the difference between the monstrous work and himself.

When he has satisfied himself in general and in detail, that it was made by such a person as he, so armed and so motive, and to ends to which he himself should also have worked.

The problem is solved.

A tomb which neither the shepherd kings nor the Medes of Cambyses nor the Greeks nor the Romans nor the Arabs have explored and which will give up to us its riches intact, continued the perspiring scholar with an enthusiasm which made his eyes gleam behind the lenses of his blue glasses.

And on which you will print a most learned dissertation which will give you a place by the side of Champollion, Rossellini, Wilkinson, Lapsius and Belzoni, said the young nobleman.

I shall dedicate it to you, my lord, for had you not treated me with regal munificence I could not have backed up my system by an examination of the monuments and I should have died in my little town in Germany without having beheld the marvels of this ancient land, replied the scholar with emotion.

This conversation took place not far from the Nile at the entrance to the valley of Biban el Malouk between Lord Evendale who rode an Arab horse and Dr. Rumphius more modestly perched upon an ass the lean hind quarters of which a fellow was belabouring.

Behind a wall of stone and unbaked brick that readily yielded to the pickaxes of the workmen was discovered the stone slab which formed the doorway of the subterranean monument.

On the clay seal which closed it, the German doctor, thoroughly familiar with hieroglyphs, had no difficulty in reading the motto of the guardian of the funeral dwellings who had closed forever this tomb, the situation of which he alone could have found upon the map of burial places preserved in the priests' college.

"I begin to believe," said the delighted scholar to the young nobleman, "that we have actually found a prize, and I withdraw the unfavorable opinion which I expressed about this worthy Greek." "Perhaps we are rejoicing too soon," answered Lord Evendale, "and we may experience the same disappointment as Belzoni when he believed himself to be the first person to enter the tomb of Meneph the Seti, and found, after he had traversed a labyrinth of passages, walls, and chambers, an empty sarcophagus with a broken cover, for the treasure-seekers had reached the royal tomb through one of their soundings driven in at another point in the mountain." "Oh, no," answered the doctor.

"The range is too broad here and the hypogeum too distant from the others for these wretched people to have carried their mines as far as this, even if they scraped away the rock." End of prologue, part one.

All inquiry into antiquity, all curiosity respecting the pyramids, the excavated cities, Stonehenge, the Ohio circles, Mexico, Memphis, is the desire to do away this wild, savage, and preposterous there and then, and introduce in its place the here and now.

Belzoni digs and measures in the mummy pits and pyramids of Thebes until he can see the end of the difference between the monstrous work and himself.

When he has satisfied himself, in general and in detail, that it was made by such a person as he, so armed and so motived, and to ends to which he himself should also have worked, the problem is solved.

His thought lives along the whole line of temples and sphinxes and catacombs, passes through them all with satisfaction, and they live again to the mind, or are now.

A tomb which neither the shepherd-kings nor the Medes of Cambyses nor the Greeks nor the Romans nor the Arabs have explored and which will give up to us its riches intact, continued the perspiring scholar, with an enthusiasm which made his eyes gleam behind the lenses of his blue glasses.

And on which you will print a most learned dissertation which will give you a place by the side of Champollion, Rossellini, Wilkinson, Lepsius, and Belzoni, said the young nobleman.

I shall dedicate it to you, my lord, for had you not treated me with regal munificence, I could not have backed up my system by an examination of the monuments, and I should have died in my little town in Germany without having beheld the marvels of this ancient land, replied the scholar with emotion.

This conversation took place not far from the Nile, at the entrance to the valley of Biban-el-Malook, between Lord Evendale, who rode an Arab horse, and Dr. Rumphius, more modestly perched upon an ass, the lean hind-quarters of which a fellow was belaboring.

On the clay seal which closed it, the German doctor, thoroughly familiar with hieroglyphs, had no difficulty in reading the motto of the guardian of the funeral dwellings who had closed forever this tomb, the situation of which he alone could have found upon the map of burial places preserved in the priest's college.

I begin to believe, said the delighted scholar to the young nobleman, that we have actually found a prize, and I withdraw the unfavorable opinion which I expressed about this worthy Greek.

Perhaps we are rejoicing too soon, answered Lord Avondale, and we may experience the same disappointment as Belzoni when he believed himself to be the first person to enter the tomb of Meneph the Seti, and found after he had traversed a labyrinth of passages, walls, and chambers an empty sarcophagus with a broken cover, for the treasure-seekers had reached the royal tomb through one of their soundings driven in at another point in the mountain.

Oh no, answered the doctor, the range is too broad here and the hypogeum too distant from the others for these wretched people to have carried their minds as far as this, even if they scraped away the rock.

She knows just what folks like and gets paid well for writing it.

Here the lecture began, but Jo heard very little of it, for while Professor Sands was prosing away about Belzoni, Cheops, Scarabay, and hieroglyphics, she was convertly taking down the address of the paper, and boldly resolving to try for the one hundred dollar prize offered in its columns for a sensational story.

By the time the lecture ended and the audience awoke, she had built up a splendid fortune for herself, not the first founded upon paper, and was already deep in the concoction of her story, being unable to decide whether the jewel should come before the elopement or after the murder.

She said nothing of her plan at home, but fell to work next day, much to the disquiet of her mother, who always looked a little anxious when genius took to burning.

A tomb which neither the shepherd kings nor the Medes of Cambyses nor the Greeks nor the Romans nor the Arabs have explored and which will give up to us its riches intact, continued the perspiring scholar, with an enthusiasm which made his eyes gleam behind the lenses of his blue glasses.

And on which you will print a most learned dissertation which will give you a place by the side of Champollion, Rossellini, Wilkinson, Lapsius, and Belzoni, said the young nobleman.

I shall dedicate it to you, my lord, for had you not treated me with regal munificence I could not have backed up my system by an examination of the monuments and I should have died in my little town in Germany without having beheld the marvels of this ancient land, replied the scholar with emotion.

This conversation took place not far from the Nile, at the entrance to the valley of Biban-el-Malouk, between Lord Evendale, who rode an Arab horse, and Dr. Rumphius, more modestly perched upon an ass, the lean hind-quarters of which a fellow was belaboring.

Behind a wall of stone and unbaked brick that readily yielded to the pickaxes of the workmen was discovered the stone slab which formed the doorway of the subterranean monument.

On the clay seal which closed it, the German doctor, thoroughly familiar with hieroglyphs, had no difficulty in reading the motto of the guardian of the funeral dwellings who had closed forever this tomb, the situation of which he alone could have found upon the map of burial places preserved in the priests' college.

"I begin to believe," said the delighted scholar to the young nobleman, "that we have actually found a prize, and I withdraw the unfavorable opinion which I expressed about this worthy Greek." "Perhaps we are rejoicing too soon," answered Lord Evendale, "and we may experience the same disappointment as Belzoni when he believed himself to be the first person to enter the tomb of Meneph the Seti, and found, after he had traversed a labyrinth of passages, walls, and chambers, an empty sarcophagus with a broken cover, for the treasure-seekers had reached the royal tomb through one of their soundings driven in at another point in the mountain." "Oh, no," answered the doctor.

"The range is too broad here, and the hypogeum too distant from the others for these wretched people to have carried their minds as far as this, even if they scraped away the rock." End of Prologue, Part 1 Section 3 of The Romance of a Mummy and Egypt This is a LibriVox recording.

Yeah, that's gonna come back.

It was then excavated in 1816 by an Italian gentleman, Giovanni Battista Belzoni-

Mm-hmm

... who interestingly enough was a circus, a circus performer.