Bust of Italian Explorer Belzoni to be Unveiled in Egypt’s Luxor

Tourists and visitors queue outside the temple of Abu Simbel at the upper reaches of the Nile in Aswan, Egypt. (Reuters)
Tourists and visitors queue outside the temple of Abu Simbel at the upper reaches of the Nile in Aswan, Egypt. (Reuters)
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Bust of Italian Explorer Belzoni to be Unveiled in Egypt’s Luxor

Tourists and visitors queue outside the temple of Abu Simbel at the upper reaches of the Nile in Aswan, Egypt. (Reuters)
Tourists and visitors queue outside the temple of Abu Simbel at the upper reaches of the Nile in Aswan, Egypt. (Reuters)

A bust of Giovanni Battista Belzoni will be unveiled in Egypt’s Abu Simbel as part of the 200th anniversary of the discovery of the historical city by the Italian explorer.

Paolo Sabbatini, director of the Italian Cultural Center in Cairo, said the statue, which was designed in Luxor by Italian sculptor Walter Venturi, author of "The Great Belzoni," will be unveiled on October 19, as part of the International Research Conference, held by Italy in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Culture.

The conference will highlight many of Belzoni's secrets and archaeological discoveries in Giza, Luxor and Aswan. It will be held with the participation of a group of Egyptology scientists from Italy, Egypt and some European countries.

Speaking to the German News Agency (dpa), Paolo said that the Belzoni bust will be the highlight of a special exhibition that features a collection of rare photographs of the Italian explorer and his journey in the field of excavation of Egyptian antiquities.

The exhibition will be managed by Egyptian researcher and historian Francis Amin, who has the largest collection of historical photographs that document various Egyptian temples and tombs, especially in Luxor.

The unveiling will be among a number of archaeological, cultural and artistic events that will be held in October to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Balzoni's discovery of the Abu Simbel temple in southern Aswan.

The city of Abu Simbel is expected to see a mass celebration on October 22, under the patronage of the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and with the participation of Italian and European artists and scientists specialized in Egyptology.



SpaceX's Starship to Deploy Mock Satellites in Next Test

SpaceX logo and Elon Musk photo are seen in this illustration taken, December 19, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
SpaceX logo and Elon Musk photo are seen in this illustration taken, December 19, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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SpaceX's Starship to Deploy Mock Satellites in Next Test

SpaceX logo and Elon Musk photo are seen in this illustration taken, December 19, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
SpaceX logo and Elon Musk photo are seen in this illustration taken, December 19, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Elon Musk's SpaceX said upcoming Starship test flight would include the rocket's first attempt to deploy payloads in space by releasing 10 model Starlink satellites, a key demonstration for Starship's potential in the satellite launch market.

"While in space, Starship will deploy 10 Starlink simulators, similar in size and weight to next-generation Starlink satellites as the first exercise of a satellite deploy mission," SpaceX said in a blog post on its website, Reuters reported.

The Starship flight from SpaceX's sprawling Boca Chica, Texas facilities, tentatively planned for later this month, will mark the seventh demonstration in a test-to-failure style of rocket development where the company tests new upgrades with each flight.

In October, Starship's "Super Heavy" first stage booster returned to its launch pad's giant mechanical arms for the first time, a milestone for its fully reusable design.

The rocket's sixth test flight in November, attended by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, achieved similar mission objectives - besides the landing of Super Heavy, which was forced to target a water landing on the Gulf of Mexico because of a launchpad problem.

Starship is the centerpiece of SpaceX's future satellite launch business - an area it currently dominates with its partially reusable Falcon 9 - as well as Musk's dreams to colonize Mars.

The rocket's power, stronger than the Saturn V rocket that sent Apollo astronauts to the moon in the last century, is key for launching huge batches of satellites into low-Earth orbit and is expected to rapidly expand the company's Starlink satellite internet network.

SpaceX is under contract with NASA to land U.S. astronauts on the moon later this decade using Starship.

Musk, SpaceX's founder and CEO, has become a close ally of Trump who has made getting to Mars a more prominent goal for the incoming administration.