At the time Napoleon began systematically stripping Egypt of its magnificent treasures, former Circus strongman Giovanni Belzoni found his purpose in life. Blessed with considerable engineering skills, the flamboyant showman was asked by the British consul in Cairo to outflank the French and secure what artifacts he could on behalf of England. With the aid of accomplished tomb robbers, he did so, becoming the first man ever to set eyes upon the extraordinary tomb of Sethi I in the Valley of the Kings and maneuver the labyrinths of the second exploits, which scholars had attempted to do for generations. He succeeded in lifting the seven-ton head of Ramses II onto a raft.
