Howard Carter, the archaeologist who discovered King Tutankhamun's tomb, sums up Belzoni as "one of the most remarkable men in the history of archaeology". Belzoni was a man “of good figure, gentlemanly manners, and great mind”, a "circus clown" but "of serious and lofty purpose, and imbued with the great desire of bettering the knowledge of the world".
Early Adventures of Belzoni
Born in 1778 to a barber of Padua, Italy, Giovanni Battista Belzoni, one of fourteen children, has always been of a “truant disposition”, an ardent reader of “Robinson Crusoe” with a “purpose of rambling”. As a young boy he travelled with his brother to Ferrara to seek his fortune. This was the first adventure of the 19th-century explorer from which he returned home in a bad state. But at 18 he left again this time for Rome to exercise the profession of his father.
In Rome Belzoni entered the Capuchin order and became a monk. It was there that he studied hydraulics and built an Artesian well for the Capuchins. When Napoleon occupied Rome in 1798, Belzoni escaped to the Netherlands where he earned a living as a barber as the Dutch were not interested in his hydraulic inventions. He did not know that hydraulics would prove useful to becoming an Egyptian archaeologist.
Adventures at the Circus: Astley’s Circus and Sadler’s Wells
In 1803, the future Egyptian archaeologist found himself in Edinburgh, Scotland, performing feats of strength. Belzoni was now married and a self-employed strongman lifting enormous weights and performing gymnastic acts. It was in Edinburgh, after such a performance, that he met Henry Salt, then portrait painter and later British Consul-General in Alexandria and collector of Egyptian antiquities.
Impressed by Belzoni, Henry Salt introduced him to the manager of Astley’s Circus. Philip Astley, the father of the modern circus, appreciated the skills of the Paduan giant strongman. Apart from being extremely strong, the future Egyptian archaeologist stood tall at 6ft 6’’. Belzoni and his wife were employed to perform an act called “The Twelve Labours of Hercules” at a liberal salary. Belzoni carried twelve men on stage while his wife dressed as cupid waved a flag at the top.
Belzoni performed also at the musical theatre of Sadler’s Wells, at Islington London, where he appeared as the “Patagonian Samson”. He had an iron frame strapped on his body upon which stood eleven men in a human pyramid and “walked along the stage to the astonishment and delight of his audience”. Soon the 19th-century explorer would shift his interest from human pyramids to the pyramids of Egypt.
Belzoni’s career at the circus spanned 12 years. His giant stature and strength earned him the nickname “Great Belzoni”. After further circus performances in Lisbon and Madrid, he travelled to Malta where a meeting with an emissary of Mohammed Ali Pasha convinced the explorer to venture to Egypt.
Exploring Egypt: From the circus to archaeology
Tales of treasure and the desire to promote his hydraulics inventions brought Belzoni to Egypt. But although his hydraulics machine worked Ali Pasha, who was undertaking land reclamation works at the time, was not interested. While exploring Egypt, Belzoni came into contact with the Swish orientalist J. L. Burchkhardt. Burchkhardt and Belzoni’s old benefactor, Henry Salt, now British Consul General to Egypt, were instrumental in Belzoni’s new career. The circus strongman and restless explorer would soon become an Egyptian archaeologist.
Sources and Further Reading:
Giovanni Belzoni, Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries within the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs and Excavations in Egypt and Nubia, Brussels 1835
Kari Beese, "Giovanni Battista Belzoni", Minnesota State University, Emuseum
Louis E. Cooke, "Reminiscences of a Snowman", Newark Evening Star, Newark, New Jersey, September 23, 1915.
Stanley Mayes, The Great Belzoni, Taurus Parke Paperbacks, 2008 (first published 1958).
Walter Thornbury, "Sadler's Wells", Old and New London, Vol. 2 (1878), pp. 289-96.
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