It's impossible for me to pay a visit to the British Museum without feeling a compelling summoning call from the Egyptian Hall. A rather esoteric one at that.
It's a force that I seem incapable of controlling, no matter how many times I set my foot in the museum. It's all down to pharaoh Rameses II, the Italian explorer Giovanni Battista Belzoni and one particular filming project that made their paths and mine cross, rather unexpectedly, a few years ago.
I was then making a children’s drama for Channel 4 about the life of Belzoni, who in the 1800’s traveled with his Irish wife Sarah to Egypt on an extraordinary assignment.
He was commissioned to bring treasures from the world of ancient Egypt to London. A true Indiana Jones of the Victorian era.
Some of his findings, like the colossal head of Rameses II are on display for all of us to see at the British Museum.
Rameses II © Jesús Montero - Kind courtesy of the BM
Some other of his finds, rather luckily for us, wouldn’t fit on a boat and remained in Egypt for all of us to marvel at.
He discovered the tomb of Sethi I (father of Rameses II), found the great temple at Abu Simbel and the entrance to the second pyramid, that of pharaoh Chephren. He was indeed the first person in modern times who, torch in hand, set foot in the inner sanctum of such archaeological treasures. As I said, a true Indiana Jones.
He wrote a wonderful and colourful account of his adventures and discoveries in the land of the pharaohs BUT – and this could be the force that summons me to the Egyptian Hall each time I visit the British Museum – he did not receive, in my opinion, the credit he deserved or had himself wished for.
Tomb of Sethi I - © Jesús Montero
Even today, when you visit the Egyptian Hall at the British Museum his name is nowhere to be seen; in other words, someone else did get the credit for his incredible discoveries. Not him.
Through my research, I got to know Belzoni and his wife rather well – his wife Sarah was also an independent explorer who wrote a personal account of the women of Egypt, Nubia and Syria –. Whenever Belzoni had the chance to put pen to paper, he left behind his longing for recognition.
He was aware of the fact that he would probably not get the credit he deserved and this is, perhaps, the indescribable force I feel when I visit the Egyptian Hall.
There are a few. You do have to look for them, carefully, very carefully. Eventually you will find them. One of them is the most prominent to the naked eye.
Belzoni carved his very own name, in his very hand, in the black stone of a few of his findings - now on display at the British Museum. Did his desire for recognition guide his hand?
Perhaps his echo feeds the force that summons me to the Egyptian Hall and to this particular example of the treasures he found, inviting me to look down, carefully, very carefully and read, chiselled in the black stone: “BELZONI”.
There’s a grin on my face and I say to myself: “I know”.
© Jesús Montero - Kind courtesy of the BM
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