He found Queen Nefertari's tomb in Deir el-Medina in the Valley of the Queens (1904) and excavated the TT8 tomb of the royal architect Kha (1906), found intact and displayed in toto in Turin.

[2][3] He was appointed director of the Egyptian Museum in Florence,[4] where he professionally reorganized the collection in new quarters in 1880, then at the peak of his career was made director of the Museo Egizio di Torino, which became with him and his many seasons of excavating, the second biggest Egyptian museum in the world.

Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli, the famous astronomer, Celestino [it], the Arabist, Cesare, the pioneer of photography, Carlo Felice, the agronomist, Giovanni Battista Schiapparelli [it], a pioneer of industrial chemistry and Elsa Schiaparelli, one of the most prominent figures in fashion between the two World Wars were among his kin.

In 1902, permission to excavate the Western cemetery in Giza was granted by Gaston Maspero, director of the Egyptian Antiquities Service.

[6] Between 1903 and 1920, Schiaparelli undertook twelve archaeological campaigns, opening sites in Heliopolis, the cemeteries of Giza, Hermopolis, Assiut, Qaw el-Kebir, Gebelein and Aswan (the tomb of Harkhuf).