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Title: Travels in Egypt and Nubia (The Great Adventures)
ISBN: 8854402133
Author:
Giovanni Battista Belzoni
Publicate Date: 2007-03-13
Publish: 2007-03-13
List Price: $12.95
Average Customer Rating: 5.0
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $8.98
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $8.98
Amazon Merchant Price: $11.01
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Excellent and Entertaining with a few corrections...
First: This book as published contains some errors so be sure to correct them in your copy. Corrections are listed after the review.
This book is an excellent book if you are interested in the early explorations and excavations of Ancient Egypt. It reads like an adventure and puts you in the shoes of the first archaeologists. In fact, Howard Carter, the man who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, referred directly to this book written 102 years earlier saying "Belzoni's account of his experiences in Egypt...is one of the most fascinating books in the whole of Egyptian literature." (pg 68 in both The Discovery of the Tomb of Tutankhamen by Howard Carter and A.C. Mace and The Tomb of Tut Ankh Amen: Volume 1: Search Discovery and the Clearance of the Antechamber (Duckworth Egyptology) by Howard Carter and A.C. Mace)
This book was originally written and published as "Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries within the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs, and Excavations in Egypt and Nubia; and of a Journey to the Coast of the Red Sea, In search of the Ancient Berenice; and another to The Oasis of Jupiter Ammon" by Belzoni in 1820 in London with publisher John Murray, Albermarle-Street and printed by Thomas Davison, Whitefriars.
That said, this 2007 version is a nice hardcover of the original 1820 version (word for word), with a few color pictures but minus many of the plates and a detailed table of contents as in the original. Also, the entire account by Mrs. Belzoni entitled "Mrs. Belzoni's Trifling Account of the women of Egypt, Nubia, and Syria" has been omitted. Additionally, the appendix written by G. Belzoni containing "An explanation of some of the Principal Heiroglyphics", is also missing. Both sections together account for nearly 100 additional pages of Belzoni's original work as published.
One can find the entire narrative in pdf form online through some museums if interested with these sections included, just search for the original title. However, when compared to a digital version, this version is already printed on paper, the typeface very readable, the binding is very sturdy, and the book is compact making it ultimately more portable and more likely to be read. Compared to reading a 500+ page pdf file on a computer screen, I would much prefer to read Belzoni's account in this book and then refer to the digital pdfs for the extras not included in this book. Also, the original 1820 version is out there, but since it sells for anywhere from $5K to $20K, you are much better off with this version from Amazon if you just wanted to read some cool history.
Now, the corrections. In the museum copies, there is an Errata page just after the table of contents which was included in the 1820 version but somehow has not been carried to this 2007 version nor have the corrections been made before publishing. As a result, the errors still exist in this book. However, a pen and some time and you can correct them yourself so here are the corrections and the corresponding page numbers to this 2007 White Star Publishers Edition.
Errata for White Star Edition:
pg 9, line 6, for "1900", read "1800"
pg 36, line 28, for "Memnion", read "Memnonium"
pg 78, line 2, for "El Shal", read "El Shag"
pg 123, line 4, for "Todfa", read "Taffa"
pg 123, line 24, for "large", read "small"
pg 234, line 6, for "opposite Deir, we found the Cacheffs were not there, but at Tomas.", read instead "we found that the Cacheffs were not there, but at Tomas opposite Deir."
pg 383, line 22, for "six hours", read "twelve hours"
(also from pg 383, the original narrative contains 2 additional pages of greek text before the translation which this volume omits, I can't read it but it gives the feeling of authenticity to the original work.)
pg 440, line 1, for "Fedmin el Hanaiser", read "Fedmin el Kunois"
There you go...now you have a corrected edition. Perhaps White Star will come out with a second edition with both the corrections, the omitted sections, and more plates, but until then, this will do.
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2: Travels in Egypt and Nubia (The Great Adventure)
The price and service from Amazon was GREAT!I had ordered 2 books the other being Belzoni's Travels: Narrative of the operations and Recent discoveries in Egypt and Nubia. This book needed to be ordered from one of your used book vendors(out of print...guality and price were terrific). As it turned out the new book that I ordered from you covered Belzoni's First, Second and Third journey's into Egypt and Nubia. It was a duplicate of the other book less drawings and additional chapters.I wish I had known this at the time....would have purchased only one book. Thank you!
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3: One of the Best Works of Non-Fiction for 2007
Not since I visited Egypt many years ago have I been as enthralled with the mistique of that country. Belzoni brings the experience back to life once again, but as the original discoverer of so much rather than as a mere tourist. Here you will find the original diaries of Belzoni -- complete with their original spelling and punctuation mistakes -- that detail not only his uncanny ability to discern the best places to dig, but also the intense rivalries that existed at that time with other archaeologists. Add to this the confused state of affairs resulting from his mode of travel in the early 1800s, and the regional Arabic feifdoms he had to deal with to get anything done, and you have -- in my opinion -- one of the best works of non-fiction for 2007. This book is absolutely fascinating. It would make a great movie.
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