View of the ruins of Eleithias

Category

Library Item

Item no

31085

Title

View of the ruins of Eleithias

Artist / maker

Aglio, A.

Date

1820

Size

33.0 x 21.5 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.

Eleithias now known as El-Kab perhaps most famous for its many splendid tombs, but there are also a number of temple ruins in the area. The main temple complex at el-Kab within the massive mudbrick wall that encompassed at least part of the ancient town, contains many different structures and is difficult to understand without a ground plan. In fact, there appears to be little serious investigation of this complex. These structures are built against and into each other. This region was sacred to the goddess Nekhbet, "She of Nekhen", who became the tutelary goddess of Upper Egypt while Wadjit was her counterpart in Lower Egypt.

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Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Architraves

Architecture > Architectural features > Columns

Architecture > Monuments > Tombs

Communication > Written > Hieroglyphs

Landscape > Landscape architectural facilities > Archaeological sites

Landscape > Landscape architectural facilities > Excavation

Places > Africa > Egypt

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