The Real Indy?

"Professor af archaeology, expert on the occult and…obtainer of rare antiquities…a man of many talents" (Raiders of the Lost Ark: 1981)

Are archaeologists really like this?

The Indiana Jones films are one of the best examples of the portrayal of an archaeologist in motion pictures. The mix of action, intrigue and adventure has made this trilogy a popular franchise. Unlike some other films of this nature, Indiana Jones himself does actually speak some archaeological truths in his films. Ranging from simple definitions:

"neo meaning new and lithic meaning stone" (Raiders of the Lost Ark: 1981)

To some interesting theories relating to archaeology:

"Forget any ideas about lost cities, exotic travel and digging up the world…we do not follow maps to buried treasure and x never ever marks the spot" (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: 1989)

How ironic it is that ‘Indy’ does the opposite of everything he tells his students in this scene. There is a joining of fact and fiction here. What Indiana Jones teaches describes real archaeology and it is an interesting touch that he goes against his words of wisdom in the rest of the movie.

Stiebing discusses Belzoni and Lelorrain whom he describes as adventurers. Belzoni, a European ‘explorer’ of the nineteenth century. He accepted a commission to "secure some antiquities" for the British consul-general and, in 1819, he completed the task of:

"Moving a colossal granite head and upper torso of pharaoh (we now know it was Ramesses II) from a temple in Thebes to Alexandria" (Stiebing 1993: 61)

Belzoni really was the Indiana Jones of the nineteenth century. In 1817 he carved out the entrance to the temple at Abu Simbel and became the first European to see its interior. (Steibing 1993: 64) Amongst other archaeological successes Belzoni discovered several tombs in the valley of the kings including that of Seti I,

"…the second pharaoh of the nineteenth dynasty, said to be the wealthiest pharaoh of them all" (The Mummy: 1999)

Later, he discovered the hidden entrance to the Pyramid of Chephren, or Khafre, at Giza and became,

"the first person to enter it since medieval times when the secret of its entrance had been lost" (Stiebing 1993: 64)

Stiebing describes Belzoni as a:

"courageous, intelligent, good-natured individual who did not destroy antiquities" (Stiebing 1993: 55)

He compares this attitude to that of Colonel Richard Howard Vyse who was in Cairo in 1836 to study the pyramids. His version of study, however, involved blasting holes in the pyramid when difficulties arose in locating the actual entrance.

This idea of Belzoni does correlate with the characters depicted in such motion pictures but there is little evidence to suggest that they are directly related. There is some possibility, however, that these depictions of archaeologists could be said to have some credence as, it can be argued, archaeologists were once a more adventurous breed than they are today. Of course, not all archaeologists were having their adventures, even in the nineteenth century and these scholars had as great an impact on the study as any. Much effort went, for example, into deciphering the Rosetta Stone which led to the understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphics.