The Temple of the Sands is the story of how Belzoni made some of his greatest discoveries - including the tomb of Seti I (the most beautiful in the Valley of the Kings) and the hidden entrance to the mysterious sand-covered temple of Ramesses at Abu Simbel.It was a time of adventure, Arabian nights and the golden age of the Empire. Giovanni Belzoni had made his mark by recovering for the British Museum, a magnificent granite bust of a pharaoh from a remote temple near Thebes in central Egypt. Unknown to Belzoni, it was a bust of the perhaps the greatest pharaoh, Ramesses II.
Now, Belzoni wants to become an explorer, to boldly go to parts of this magical land never visited by Europeans and uncover lost treasures of the mysterious ancient culture that have remained unseen for centuries. But he is not alone.
In the Temple of the Sands we see how the French, led by his main rival Drovetti, are keen to sew up the antiquities business in Egypt - a business that is becoming ever more lucrative as Europeans clamour to own a piece of this ancient Empire.
The Temple of the Sands is an educational history resource from the BBC. View the other programmes in the series Egypt.
Post a Comment