Topographival View of the Valley of Beban El Malook

Category

Library Item

Item no

31083

Title

Topographival view of the Valley of Beban el Malook, with a view of the new discovered tombs, distinctly marked in black

Date

1820

Size

48.5 x 37.3 cm

Type

Lithograph

Location

Reference Library

Giovanni Battista Belzoni was an Italian explorer and archaeologist, born in Padua (Padova). In 1803 he was working in England as a circus strong man, and exhibiting models of hydraulic engines. In 1815 he went to Cairo to try and sell his hydraulic engines to Muhammad 'Ali Pasha, and within two years had begun a new career, excavating Egyptian tombs and temples.

The Valley, known as Biban el-Muluk, "doorway or gateway of the kings," or, the Wadyein, meaning "the two valleys," is actually composed of two separate branches. The main eastern branch, called ta set aat, or "The Great Place," is where most of the royal tombs are located, and in the larger, westerly branch where only a few tombs were cut. Today it is known as The Valley of the Kings.

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Related subjects

Architecture > Monuments > Pyramids

Architecture > Monuments > Tombs

Landscape > Land > Desert

Landscape > Land > Mountains

Landscape > Landscape architectural facilities > Archaeological sites

Landscape > Landscape architectural facilities > Excavation

Places > Africa > Egypt

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