Travels in Egypt and Nubia (The Great Adventures) [Hardcover]

Giovanni Battista Belzoni (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2007 | Series: The Great Adventures

In this diary, engineer and explorer of Egyptian antiquities Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778-1823), recounts a life story as entertaining as the best fiction. Beginning with his childhood in Padua where he was one of 13 children, moving on to his early adulthood in England where he was a member of a circus troupe, and, finally, his later years spent searching for antiquities in Egypt in an era when the desert sands concealed boundless treasures, Belzoni's diary chronicles an extraordinary life. His discoveries, including the temple at Abu Simbel, the pyramid of Khafre, and the tomb of Seti I, made a fundamental contribution to our knowledge of ancient Egypt, yet Belzoni has remained obscure-until now. His journal gives readers fresh insight into an exciting time in the history of archaeology and into the career of one of the pioneers of Egyptology, later praised by Howard Carter as "one of the most remarkable men in the entire history of Archaeology."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: White Star (March 13, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8854402133
• ISBN-13: 978-8854402133
• Product Dimensions: 4.9 x 1.5 x 7.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,113,873 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and Entertaining with a few corrections..., May 18, 2007

By 

Jeffrey Smigelski "Environmental Scientist" (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Travels in Egypt and Nubia (The Great Adventures) (Hardcover)

First: This book as published contains some errors so be sure to correct them in your copy. Corrections are listed after the review.

This book is an excellent book if you are interested in the early explorations and excavations of Ancient Egypt. It reads like an adventure and puts you in the shoes of the first archaeologists. In fact, Howard Carter, the man who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, referred directly to this book written 102 years earlier saying "Belzoni's account of his experiences in Egypt...is one of the most fascinating books in the whole of Egyptian literature." (pg 68 in both The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamen by Howard Carter and A.C. Mace and The Tomb of Tut Ankh Amen: Volume 1: Search Discovery and the Clearance of the Antechamber (Duckworth Egyptology) by Howard Carter and A.C. Mace)

This book was originally written and published as "Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries within the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs, and Excavations in Egypt and Nubia; and of a Journey to the Coast of the Red Sea, In search of the Ancient Berenice; and another to The Oasis of Jupiter Ammon" by Belzoni in 1820 in London with publisher John Murray, Albermarle-Street and printed by Thomas Davison, Whitefriars.

That said, this 2007 version is a nice hardcover of the original 1820 version (word for word), with a few color pictures but minus many of the plates and a detailed table of contents as in the original. Also, the entire account by Mrs. Belzoni entitled "Mrs. Belzoni's Trifling Account of the women of Egypt, Nubia, and Syria" has been omitted. Additionally, the appendix written by G. Belzoni containing "An explanation of some of the Principal Heiroglyphics", is also missing. Both sections together account for nearly 100 additional pages of Belzoni's original work as published.

One can find the entire narrative in pdf form online through some museums if interested with these sections included, just search for the original title. However, when compared to a digital version, this version is already printed on paper, the typeface very readable, the binding is very sturdy, and the book is compact making it ultimately more portable and more likely to be read. Compared to reading a 500+ page pdf file on a computer screen, I would much prefer to read Belzoni's account in this book and then refer to the digital pdfs for the extras not included in this book. Also, the original 1820 version is out there, but since it sells for anywhere from $5K to $20K, you are much better off with this version from Amazon if you just wanted to read some cool history.

Now, the corrections. In the museum copies, there is an Errata page just after the table of contents which was included in the 1820 version but somehow has not been carried to this 2007 version nor have the corrections been made before publishing. As a result, the errors still exist in this book. However, a pen and some time and you can correct them yourself so here are the corrections and the corresponding page numbers to this 2007 White Star Publishers Edition.

Errata for White Star Edition:
pg 9, line 6, for "1900", read "1800"
pg 36, line 28, for "Memnion", read "Memnonium"
pg 78, line 2, for "El Shal", read "El Shag"
pg 123, line 4, for "Todfa", read "Taffa"
pg 123, line 24, for "large", read "small"
pg 234, line 6, for "opposite Deir, we found the Cacheffs were not there, but at Tomas.", read instead "we found that the Cacheffs were not there, but at Tomas opposite Deir."
pg 383, line 22, for "six hours", read "twelve hours"
(also from pg 383, the original narrative contains 2 additional pages of greek text before the translation which this volume omits, I can't read it but it gives the feeling of authenticity to the original work.)
pg 440, line 1, for "Fedmin el Hanaiser", read "Fedmin el Kunois"

There you go...now you have a corrected edition. Perhaps White Star will come out with a second edition with both the corrections, the omitted sections, and more plates, but until then, this will do.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Travels in Egypt and Nubia (The Great Adventure), May 14, 2007

By 

Mary Anne Mc Closkey (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Travels in Egypt and Nubia (The Great Adventures) (Hardcover)

The price and service from Amazon was GREAT!I had ordered 2 books the other being Belzoni's Travels: Narrative of the operations and Recent discoveries in Egypt and Nubia. This book needed to be ordered from one of your used book vendors(out of print...guality and price were terrific). As it turned out the new book that I ordered from you covered Belzoni's First, Second and Third journey's into Egypt and Nubia. It was a duplicate of the other book less drawings and additional chapters.I wish I had known this at the time....would have purchased only one book. Thank you!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Works of Non-Fiction for 2007, April 2, 2007

By 

Vince Page (Brookshire, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Travels in Egypt and Nubia (The Great Adventures) (Hardcover)

Not since I visited Egypt many years ago have I been as enthralled with the mistique of that country. Belzoni brings the experience back to life once again, but as the original discoverer of so much rather than as a mere tourist. Here you will find the original diaries of Belzoni -- complete with their original spelling and punctuation mistakes -- that detail not only his uncanny ability to discern the best places to dig, but also the intense rivalries that existed at that time with other archaeologists. Add to this the confused state of affairs resulting from his mode of travel in the early 1800s, and the regional Arabic feifdoms he had to deal with to get anything done, and you have -- in my opinion -- one of the best works of non-fiction for 2007. This book is absolutely fascinating. It would make a great movie.