Simulation: Belzoni’s Real Phantasmagoria
It is the Spring of 1821 in London. Our host, the Great Belzoni, has just opened an amazing exhibition in the Egyptian halls. A facsimile of the magnificent burial chambers of Seti I, believed to be of Pharaoh Psammis, which he had discovered not long before in the Valley of the Kings. “Nothing is omitted to the most minute emblem. The effect produced on those who enter into these halls from the glare of day is indescribable,” wrote a visitor. In Belzoni’s real phantasmagoria, a whole underworld comes back to life thanks to the Herculean work he did on-site, not only unearthing but also, with the help of Alessandro Ricci, painstakingly documenting in wax molds, detailed drawings, and watercolors the magnificent decorations of the tomb. Here, you’ll travel back in time and underground in Belzoni’s footsteps. The Tomb is a perfect facsimile and ours, therefore, a simulation of a simulation.
