NARRATOR: In the year 1255 BC,
Egypt's Pharaoh Ramesses the Great and his queen Nefertari
travelled to the southern tip of their empire...
to inaugurate a new temple,
a wonder of the ancient world.
It was hewn out of the mountainside
and fronted by four 60-foot statues of the Pharaoh himself.
3,000 years later, in 1816,
the explorers Giovanni and Sarah Belzoni
stood on the same spot.
- Come on. - Giovanni.
There was a local legend that inside,
the temple was full of gold.
(Sarah exclaims)
The entrance, covered in sand. It would take an army of men to clear that away.
Giovanni, look at this.
Is it not the finest building the world has ever seen?
Think of the treasure inside it.
To remove centuries of sand
would require a massive feat of excavation.
It would test Belzoni's ingenuity to the limit.
This is the story of how an eccentric adventurer
became inspired by the works of one pharaoh...
so that he went on a personal quest
for a treasure worth far more than gold.
After just a few days at the temple of Abu Simbel in Nubia,
Belzoni and Sarah were forced to return to Cairo.
They needed money and supplies to attempt the massive task of uncovering the temple.
On his expeditions so far through Egypt,
Belzoni had already accumulated many antiquities for the British Museum.
The centrepiece, a magnificent seven ton head of Ramesses.
The whole collection was to be delivered to his patron, the British Consul.
- Mr Belzoni? - Yes.
I thought it was you. Good morning.
My name is William Beechy. I'm the Consul's Secretary.
He told me to expect you.
By the way, he said that you could leave the other antiquities in the courtyard here.
I think you'll find there's enough space.
What?
Everything should go to England and the British Museum.
The Consul was quite clear on the matter. Only the head was to go on.
I'm sure he'll explain everything.
Belzoni hoped not just that his collection would build him a reputation in England,
but that it would encourage the Consul to fund another expedition up the Nile.
Ah!
There you are, Belzoni.
Congratulations. You've done a wonderful job.
The head of Memnon and all the other antiquities as well.
- Mr Beechy says you wish to leave them here? - Yes, that's right.
I think it's for the best. You don't want to spoil the museum all at once.
Now, what next? What are your plans?
I must go south again.
There is much more I have collected waiting at Thebes and Philae.
And most exciting is the buried temple of Abu Simbel in Nubia, but we have to move fast.
Drovetti and the French are not to be trusted. They will steal everything if they can.
Will they really?
- Well, we mustn't have that, must we, Bill? - No, sir, not at all.
And I suggest the British Museum send an artist.
The temple at Nubia needs to be recorded.
I don't think we need to get them involved.
Besides, I'm not sure my funds can stretch all the way to Nubia.
Why not try a bit nearer?
As for artists, why not take Bill with you?
- He's a wonderful painter, aren't you, Bill? - But, sir, I need experts.
You're the expert, Mr Belzoni. Look at what you've got already.
Now, you find any more of that,
you have my full authority to take it, you understand?
- Yes, but... - Good. Now, where's Yanni?
Yanni, a word if you please.
By 1816,
there was a growing demand in Europe for Egyptian antiquities.
And for someone in Henry Salt's position,
such a lucrative market offered great opportunities.
I can't go with you.
- You must go alone. - I can't leave you here.
You were with me on my first voyage, you'll be there on my second.
I can wait a week until you are well.
No! You must go now before word leaks out.
Already there are rumours that you've found more treasure down south.
What if Drovetti knows?
You must go now. Be careful.
Besides, I don't trust Salt.
- Mr Salt is an honourable man. - Yes.
Then, why does he insist on Mr Beechy
and that Greek man Yanni Athanasiou coming with you?
Yanni wants your job.
Yanni is an interpreter and Beechy is a painter.
And treasurer. And is in charge of the money.
And he's Salt's watchdog.
Look, you go now and I'll join you later.
Please, before it's too late.
Very well, but I'm leaving James here to look after you.
Belzoni left his wife behind in Cairo and set sail for Luxor,
and then further south to the temple of Philae.
He hoped that by uncovering more antiquities,
he could convince Salt to take a gamble and fund his dream.
A return to Abu Simbel.
But it wouldn't be easy.
BELZONl: Mr Salt entertained strong doubts of the existence of a temple there,
for he said that he thought we should find no entrance.
NARRATOR: Belzoni pressed on towards the ancient city of Thebes.
Today's Luxor.
- Slow, huh? - Too slow.
NARRATOR: With his ship becalmed,
Belzoni had little option but to moor at a place called Minya.
- What is this place? - I don't know.
They say traders come here to buy and sell antiquities.
NARRATOR: From the start, Belzoni's expedition was under threat.
Most seriously he faced renewed rivalry with Bernardino Drovetti,
a ruthless and highly successful dealer in antiquities.
For Drovetti, Egypt was about one thing and one thing only.' making money.
Where's Yanni?
(People chattering)
That's Drovetti he's talking to.
- What did you tell him? - Tell who? What are you talking about?
- That was Drovetti. What did you say? - I just said hello.
Did he ask where you were going? Did you say you were with me?
Look, it was just a conversation.
- It was nothing. - Idiot.
BELZONl: We learnt that agents of Mr Drovetti were making a forced march to Thebes.
And I had no doubt if they reached Thebes before us,
they would take possession of that ground
that was so evidently pregnant with objects worthy of excavation,
and we should no longer have a right to explore it.
Look, I'm sorry, all right. I'm sorry. How could I know?
You should tell me if there's a problem with who I can or can't talk to.
- Too late now, he is a thief. - BEECHY: I'm sure it'll be all right.
We should return to our boat and keep sailing.
We'll never catch him that way.
Look, our only chance is to ride over land.
Yanni and I will go, you take the boat.
Ride? Did you say ride?
Yes, ride.
Ride what?
Come on! Keep up. Let's go.
- Come on, Yanni. - YANNl: He is cleverer than you.
You son of a whore. Fish-stealing whore, you...
(Speaking in Arabic)
BELZONl: Come on, come on. YANNl: I've never ridden a donkey before!
Well, now you have four or five days to learn. Hurry up!
BELZONl: We set off immediately
and forced marches brought us on the next evening to Manfalout.
From this place, we hastened without delay and arrived at Siout before daylight.
At sunrise, we mounted again and arrived at dark at Tahta.
Here we rested in the convent for four hours,
and started afresh by the light of the moon and arrived at Gurgach in the night.
We proceeded onward, rested a couple of hours at Banut
and arrived at Luxor the following noon.
The whole of our journey occupied five days and a half,
during which I slept 11 hours.
- BELZONl: Come on! - All right, all right.
NARRATOR: Luxor, the modern town built on the ruins of ancient Thebes,
boasts the highest concentration of Egypt's temples.
Here, Belzoni planned to uncover antiquities
that would please his patron, Henry Salt.
I've been talking to the local people.
This whole area is licensed to Drovetti.
I told you this ride was a waste of time.
There is nowhere left to dig.
There is always somewhere to dig.
Oh, yeah? Where?
NARRATOR: On his quest,
Belzoni seemed to be in step with one figure from Egypt's past above all others.
The king who left the most enduring mark on the temples of Egypt, Ramesses the Great.
Although the two men were separated by 3,000 years,
the Pharaoh's influence on Giovanni Belzoni was to be profound.
Ramesses came to the throne in 1279 BC,
the son of the warrior king, Seti.
From the beginning, he was determined that his name would live forever.
He married Nefertari, who became his favourite queen and provided him with heirs.
In the early years of his reign, he recorded how the gods blessed him.
Harvests were bountiful and the country was prosperous.
He became Egypt's most extravagant builder
since the construction of the pyramids 1,200 years before.
He erected a string of massive buildings along the Nile
and converted the historic temples of Thebes into monuments to himself.
But there would be nothing anywhere in the world
to rival his plans for the great temple at Abu Simbel in Nubia.
You're smiling at me.
- There you are. - Mr Beechy. You made it.
Nobody knew where you were. I've been looking all over.
Where's Belzoni?
There.
Good morning, Mr Belzoni.
- Beechy. - What is that?
- It looks perfect. - It is.
Salt will be pleased.
All right, Yanni, your turn. In you get.
He has uncovered a magnificent stone bust in perfect condition.
I thought we had arranged for all these sites to be ours.
We did, but when we searched the area we found nothing.
- So we let go of the licence. - Idiots!
I'd do better following him!
Everyone said this man was a circus clown.
Wherever he looks, he finds something.
Get rid of him!
NARRATOR: Drovetti's first step was to get the local ruler to issue an edict.
BELZONl: It is the will of the ruler of Upper Egypt
that no person shall sell any antiquity to the English party.
On the contrary, it is hereby ordered that everything that may be found
shall be sold to Mr Drovetti.
I need not inform you how I felt on hearing this mandate.
...but anywhere else, Drovetti will just twist the Caimakan and stop us.
- They've got permits everywhere. - Not everywhere, he doesn't.
Hamet, I want you to spread the rumour that we are giving up.
We have no more stomach for this and are going back to Cairo.
Say we are leaving to sail north.
- North? Mr Salt said we... - North.
Then, we stop five or six miles downriver.
We wait a few hours, we turn round and we head south.
By dawn, Luxor will be far behind us.
BELZONl: Under the circumstances, we deemed it of no use
to attempt a renewal of our labours
and contented ourselves with entering on our intended journey to the island of Philae.
NARRATOR: At Philae, Belzoni intended to pick up his antiquities
and await news from Salt.
BELZONl: I suggested by messenger to Mr Salt
that if he could send us a supply of money,
we would proceed to open the temple of Abu Simbel,
a project that was deemed nearly imaginary, a castle in the air.
NARRATOR: After 11 days sailing, Belzoni approached the island temple of Philae.
We will stop here and pick up my collection.
God! What have they done?
"Operation manquee."Job spoilt. Who would do such a thing?
Drovetti. They are animals. This is vandalism.
These things are thousands of years old.
You think they've gone to Nubia?
- Maybe it was the locals here. - They don't write French.
This is a message for me.
I think we should go back to the boat.
BELZONl: They won't harm us. They're just curious.
(Gun fires)
(Shots at short intervals)
MAN: Five!
Six!
Seven!
Eight!
Nine!
Ten!
Eleven!
Twelve!
Good afternoon. Captain Charles Irby at your service.
- And Captain James Mangles. - Gentlemen.
Giovanni Belzoni. And William Beechy and Yanni Athanasiou.
Belzoni. I've heard of you.
We're celebrating His Majesty's birthday. 21 -gun salute.
- Couldn't use your guns, could we? - Of course.
Thirteen!
Fourteen!
NARRATOR: The two Royal Naval officers were on a tour of Egypt
following the Napoleonic Wars.
Belzoni's encounter with them was his first stroke of luck at Philae.
His second was news that came from the British Consul.
BELZONl: An Arab arrived from Cairo with a letter from Mr Salt.
The letter brought us a supply of money.
And to my great satisfaction, Mr Salt complied with my wishes
of opening the temple of Abu Simbel.
We're thinking of staying here for a few days, then heading back north.
Well, why stop here?
A little further on and you will see the finest monument in all Egypt.
Abu Simbel.
We are going there to try and find a way into the temple.
I could do with some help.
We're collecting on behalf of Henry Salt, the British Consul.
The British Museum.
And to get there before the French, if we're lucky.
Consider us at your disposal, sir.
NARRATOR: Five weeks after leaving Luxor,
Belzoni and his unlikely band of adventurers approached Abu Simbel.
At last, the chance to discover whether beneath the sands lay a temple filled with treasure.
No sign of the French.
That's an awful lot of digging, Giovanni.
Don't worry. We'll get men.
BELZONl: It was a mass of sand accumulated by the winds for many centuries,
and to have had it removed would have been an undertaking
that all the people of the adjacent country could not have effected in 12 months.
He says he can get men.
We need 100 men to help clear away sand from the front of the temple.
I shall pay 300 piastres for the work.
(Speaking in Arabic)
BELZONl: At length, with much ado, I made a bargain for two piastres a man.
(Belzoni ordering workers)
- God, it's hot. - Bit of a lost cause this.
Fast as they take it away, it keeps filling back up.
BELZONl: That's it. That's it. Dig, Dig!
Dig, that's it. Dig, that's it.
Dig. What? Where are you going? Dig!
Come on, dig. Dig.
This will take months.
And the natives are losing interest.
I, uh... I doubt any of them will turn up tomorrow.
There were less than 40 today.
- What if you tried paying them more money? - There's no point.
What we need is palm fronds and trunks. And water.
We need to build a palisade either side of the entrance and wet the sand.
- How? We have no labour. - We have enough.
There's five of us.
Plus Hamet, plus the crew of the boat. That's almost 20 people.
We pay them extra, we can do it.
- Of course we can. Hey, James? - Quite so.
No problem at all.
Hmm.
NARRATOR: Belzoni's plan
was to construct a barrier that would hold back the sand from the entrance.
BEECHY: Come on. Yes.
BEECHY: Good.
BEECHY: More water. IRBY: Yes.
BEECHY: Yalla, Yalla.
BEECHY: That's it. It's going in.
BEECHY: Almost there, Giovanni.
Come on.
BEECHY: Yes.
BEECHY: Here we go.
BELZONl: Hold it steady! Steady!
I think we're there.
You're right. This is the entrance.
- That's enough. I can get in now. - No, stop!
Clear the entrance, then wait until morning.
NARRATOR: No one had set eyes on the interior of Abu Simbel for over 2,000 years.
Time to go in.
No, wait. Put out the torches. Everyone!
My God, it's huge. Amazing.
- How did you know? - You knew?
Sure? No.
But now I understand the man who built this.
I don't know his name but I know he's a real showman.
Then, I see the entrance face due east. I think,
"What would I do?"
Some man, huh?
BELZONl: We entered the most magnificent of temples.
Superior than any other in Egypt.
NARRATOR: The first hall is dominated by colossal statues of Ramesses the Great.
On the south side, they wear the crown of Upper Egypt.
And on the north, the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt.
Here, these pictures. Looks like some sort of battle.
NARRATOR: The pictures and hieroglyphs that cover the walls
tell the story at the heart of the legend of Ramesses the Great.
I think he won. Don't you?
(Soldiers yelling)
NARRATOR: The battle was his first as Pharaoh, in the fifth year of his reign.
Ramesses' objective was a strategically vital fortress city, Kadesh,
seized by the Egyptian's great enemies, the Hittites, 70 years before.
It was of immense importance
for it controlled lucrative trade routes to the Northern Mediterranean.
Ramesses led the approach to the city from the south.
He soon received intelligence that the Hittite army had fled.
The gates were wide open.
The young pharaoh made a swift decision.
Taking a light force, he moved in for a rapid capture of the city.
But Ramesses had been tricked.
The Hittites were still there.
With the Pharaoh isolated, their army,
twice the size of Ramesses' entire force, prepared to attack.
The moment he received the dreadful truth,
Ramesses knew he faced the greatest battle of his life.
(Soldiers yelling)
But what happened next, according to Ramesses' account at Abu Simbel,
is extraordinary.
Ramesses claimed to have had a vision of his own divinity.
He wrote, "I was like fire.
"I was like a falcon pouncing.
"I was like a lion with its prey.
"I, alone, against millions of foreign enemies was triumphant.
"I killed and killed until they lay thrown together in their own blood. "
In the aftermath of victory,
Ramesses' soldiers walked amongst the dead, cutting off hands.
A gruesome body count.
The message to the Egyptian nation would be clear.
As the god Amun presented him with a khopesh, symbolic sword of victory,
Ramesses became the ultimate warrior king.
Both fighter and god.
As Belzoni explored deep into the temple, he discovered the inner sanctuary
and the statues of the three great gods, Ra, Amun and Ptah,
sitting alongside Ramesses himself.
Twice a year, the rising sun shines up the hall to the inner sanctuary,
illuminating three of the four statues.
Only Ptah, god of the underworld, remains in the shadows.
There's nothing like it in any other temple in Egypt.
YANNl: These things are worth nothing.
This whole place is a waste of time.
There was supposed to be gold. It's empty.
Empty? Maybe.
But this place is worth more than gold.
We must make sure all this is recorded.
Make detailed drawings, pictures, plans.
NARRATOR: Belzoni's life changed here, in this temple.
Despite sweltering temperatures,
and with the knowledge that there was no gold or precious stones,
Belzoni began to record every detail.
BELZONl: The heat was so great in the temple that the perspiration from our hands
soon rendered the paper quite wet.
NARRATOR: By the time Ramesses attended the opening of the temple, aged 50,
it seemed his place in history as the divine warrior king was secure.
But this was not the end of his story.
And for Belzoni, it was just the beginning.
He now set himself a new mission.
To learn, discover and bring to the world
all he could about this extraordinary ancient civilisation.
He'd always been proud of his connection with the British Museum.
Now he wanted to go further and become one of the first scholars of ancient Egypt.
But he faced one huge problem.
It was Thebes which represented for him
the best chance of unearthing more wonders of Egypt's past.
And unfortunately for Belzoni,
its monuments were controlled by his great enemy Drovetti.
Nevertheless, Belzoni hurried back to Luxor and the ancient ruins of Thebes.
At last, reunited with his wife Sarah and servant James Curtin.
Signore Belzoni. Signora. You're back.
- For a short time. - That's good.
Because this is a very dangerous place to stay.
- So I see. - I suggest you leave for Cairo.
I wouldn't like any accidents to happen.
Thank you for your advice.
- I think he just threatened to shoot you. - Possibly.
Did you know that William Hamilton says
that at the beginning of the Christian era there were 18 open tombs in one valley?
- He didn't say where they were, did he? - No.
But Napoleon's savants listed 11 tombs that they knew about in the Qurna area.
Well, we can't go to Qurna. Drovetti has all the licenses.
I know. But he hasn't found any new tombs,
which means either he can't find them or the place is dry.
So let's think.
If you were an ancient Egyptian pharaoh and there was no more room at Qurna,
where would you go if you wanted your tomb to be safe for all eternity?
Me? Well, I'd be happy in Lyme Regis, Dorset. My local churchyard.
Nobody is going to rob your tomb, William.
But if I were a king, I'd go beyond Qurna,
into the Western Valley, deeper into the hills.
That place is a wilderness. Nobody goes there.
So... a good place to be buried.
BELZONl: The sacred valley, named Biban el-Muluk, begins at Qurna,
runs toward the southwest and gradually turns due south.
The ground can be visited either by a single natural entrance,
that is formed like a gateway,
or by the craggy paths across the mountains.
NARRATOR: Belzoni's research had brought him to the wilderness,
now known as the Valley of the Kings,
the burial ground of Egyptian pharaohs for over 400 years.
Belzoni believed that the discovery of new tombs
would offer him a window on this lost civilisation.
(Exclaiming)
Who's that?
Don't tell me, out shooting for ducks?
No, no, there was a thief.
- He robbed our camp. - He ran all the way out here?
He looked a lot like you. You should be careful.
I think you are the one who should be careful.
Tell Mr Drovetti I shall hold him personally responsible
if anything should happen to myself or my team. Hear?
- What's the matter? - This is crazy.
I've had enough of following you around. What are we doing, huh?
There's nothing here, nothing. I'm sick of it.
You don't know what you are doing and now you bring us out here and risk us being shot at.
Well, I have no wish to be food for vultures.
- We should go back. - He was shooting at me, not at you.
- He's only trying to warn us off. - (Laughing) From what?
From this? Warn us off from this?
- You are mad. - You don't like it, you leave.
- But this is my expedition and I say we stay. - Your expedition?
Ha! Who do you think you are?
You're nothing but a hired man employed by Mr Salt to pick things up.
That's what you do, isn't it? Pick things up?
- Mr Circus Strongman. - You know that's not true!
You're so dumb, aren't you?
Always talking about your expedition and being the great collector for the British Museum.
- Yanni, please! - You understand nothing!
None of this is for the British Museum!
It is all for Mr Salt to collect so he can sell it.
You are just the cheapest idiot he could find.
Why do you think he pays you himself, not the British government?
That's not true.
- Tell him, Bill. - It is true.
Everything we collect is for Salt himself.
He wants to get a large enough collection and sell it.
I'm sorry, I thought you knew.
Understand, Mr Strongman?
He fooled you.
He only let you believe the Museum was involved
because he thought that you'd be easier to persuade.
I don't care whether they pay you or not, you're the one that finds everything.
Without you they'd have nothing.
People will remember you, not Salt.
Look at what you've found. Everything on the boat.
The obelisk, Abu Simbel, Philae.
Everything last year. It's incredible.
But it will all be in Salt's name.
Not for long.
You're like a painter.
No matter who pays him, it's the artist we remember, not the man with the money.
We must go on. You can't give up now.
How?
You have me and Curtin.
And Beechy. He believes in you.
Please, Giovanni, you must go on. You are a great explorer.
Do you really believe there is something out here?
Yes.
Yes, I do.
Then you must find it.
Look up there. That's a water run for the rain.
- BEECHY: It rains here? - Not often, but sometimes.
And look, the erosion is clear all the way down until just in front of us.
Then it vanishes. Why is that?
Because the rock is not solid.
- There's a tomb there. - You really think so?
I can't be sure.
- But tell the men to start digging. - Hamet.
Gentlemen?
(Speaking in Arabic)
This way, come on.
(Men chanting in time with swings)
BELZONl: I made a machine not unlike a battering ram.
The walls resisted the blows of the Arabs for some time.
Come on. Nearly there!
Nearly there.
Come on! Once more.
(All cheering)
Yeah!
(Belzoni screaming)
Giovanni!
Hang on, Mr B. Hang on.
We got you.
Safe now, Mr B.
- Are you all right? - I'm fine, fine.
- Then this must be the end. - No. No.
Look, someone's been here before us.
Get some planks.
Anything there? What can you see?
You won't believe it. It's wonderful.
Ah!
BELZONl: When we had passed through the little aperture,
we found ourselves in a beautiful hall.
BELZONl: Oh, it's amazing.
Oh, Sarah. Sarah, look.
BELZONl: We perceived that the paintings became more perfect
as we advanced farther into the interior.
BEECHY: This is incredible.
Congratulations.
NARRATOR: Belzoni had discovered the tomb of Seti,
the father of Ramesses the Great.
Though, like Abu Simbel, empty of treasure,
it's the most lavishly decorated and largest tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
Look here. Come and look at this.
NARRATOR: Where Tutankhamun's tomb, discovered 100 years later,
is the size of a garage, this one is almost the length of St Paul's Cathedral.
My God. Look at that.
BELZONl: What we found in the centre of the saloon
merits the most particular attention, not having its equal in the world.
It's wonderful.
It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen.
BELZONl: A sarcophagus of the finest Oriental alabaster.
I cannot give an adequate idea of this beautiful piece of antiquity.
You can see right through it.
Some fellow, eh? For a man to build all this.
SARAH: Quite a king.
And now it will be known after you, Giovanni.
This shall be the tomb that Giovanni Belzoni found,
the greatest of them all.
NARRATOR: This was indeed to become known as Belzoni's tomb.
And 3,096 years before,
Ramesses himself looked for the last time upon the same sarcophagus,
which then contained the remains of his father.
For Ramesses' own rule had begun on this spot.
Ramesses was to reign until he was 92 years old.
He would go down in history as a heroic warrior.
But it's less well known that 16 years after his famous battle at Kadesh,
he signed a treaty with his enemies, the Hittites.
It was the world's first recorded peace treaty between superpowers.
And it brought great prosperity to Egypt.
Ramesses' most lasting achievement,
contrary to the war-like propaganda on his temple walls,
was as a bringer of peace.
Belzoni recorded the tomb that he'd discovered in unprecedented detail.
(Audience applauding)
And in May, 1821, in London's Piccadilly,
a reproduction of part of Belzoni's tomb
was the centrepiece of an extraordinary exhibition
celebrating the explorer's discoveries.
I wanted to come to London with him.
Belzoni became one of the most famous figures in London.
And many of the artefacts that he collected did actually end up in the British Museum.
Still today, its Egyptian galleries are dominated
by the findings of this extraordinary man,
the gentle giant from Padua.