Giovanni Battista Caviglia

Who is Giovanni Battista Caviglia?

Giovanni Battista Caviglia was an explorer, navigator and Italian Egyptologist. He was one of the pioneers of Egyptian archeology of his time. He was influential in the excavation of the Sphinx of Giza near Cairo.

He was born in Genoa in 1770 at a time when the city was the capital of the Republic of Genoa. He spent most of his life sailing in the Mediterranean in which he became a merchant captain.

When he decided to start his career as an explorer left his ship moored in Alexandria, and offered his services to various collectors, and most of his excavations were carried out on behalf of the Consul General British Henry Salt.

Between the 1816 and 1817 explored the pyramid of Cheops where he made important discoveries, including the descending corridor, the bottom of the well service and unfinished underground room.

In 1817 Salt hired him to dig up the sphinx Cairo, which over the centuries had been almost totally covered by the sands of the desert.

The last dig around the sphinx was performed in the year 160 by order of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. As the excavations continued came upon an array of Egyptian artifacts and inscriptions Greek and Roman.