Giovanni Battista Belzoni - Narrative of the operations and recent discoveries within the pyramids, temples, tombs, and excavations, in Egypt and Nubia

Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778 – 1823) was an Italian explorer and pioneer archaeologist of Egyptian antiquities. He is known for his removal to England of the seven ton bust of Ramesses II, the clearing of sand from the entrance of the great temple at Abu Simbel, the discovery and documentation of the tomb of Seti I, and the first to penetrate into the second pyramid of Giza. This 1820 narrative of his travels and discoveries is fascinating. Full title: 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 of another to the oasis of Jupiter Ammon — Summary by David Wales