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A few days ago, archaeologists discovered new mummies in Egypt and their sarcophagi were opened. Should we expect another disaster in 2020?
“In Egypt, they found a mummy that is more than 2000 years old. And they opened it. And now a question: are you a bit of what is happening right now? Doesn’t life teach you anything?”, They write on the web and list disasters in 2020.
This year is undoubtedly one of the most dangerous, gruesome and unpredictable in decades: the coronavirus epidemic, the devastating fires in Australia, the environmental disaster in Kamchatka, the Nagorno-Karabakh war, the demolition of monuments in America … And now the unveiling of sarcophagi of Egyptian pharaohs, which never led to anything good.
A hundred years ago
Almost a century has passed since one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in history: the intact tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamen. It was inaugurated by Howard Carter on February 16, 1923, marking the beginning of a series of unfortunate events and the sudden death of team members and their innocent loved ones. The phenomenon is called “the curse of the pharaoh” and some hope it happens to us now.
The fate of the British Lord Carnarvon, famous collector and holder of the exclusive rights to the excavations in Egypt, is indicative. After discovering the unsacked tomb in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor, Carter sent him a telegram and the lord, along with his daughter Evelyn, immediately arrived.
Excavations began in November 1922 and in February of the following year the burial chamber was opened. The event was covered by all the agencies in the world, and Carnarvon sold the rights to the Times photos for a lot of money.
The enthusiasm was great, but it did not last long: in April 1923, the man died suddenly. Nothing portends his demise, except a mosquito bite on the cheek. While shaving, Carnarvon cuts the spot and strep falls there. Inflammation, pneumonia, and a painful death followed; for two weeks, his organs failed one by one.
“He calls me”
The relatives of the man affirm that during his agony he pronounced the name of Tutankhamun and repeated: “He is calling me.” An interesting fact is that a healed scar was found on the pharaoh’s cheek. A coincidence?
A year later, at the age of 59, a friend of Carnarvon died: railroad magnate George Gould. He arrives at the excavations with the lord and contracts an infection, which also turns into pneumonia.
The next to leave the white world was a member of the Egyptian royal family, Prince Ali Bay, who also visited the tomb of the pharaoh. He was shot by his own wife, a former French moth. The court acquitted her because her lawyers proved that the prince was a true monster. The lord’s stepbrother, Aubrey Herbert, died of an infection after a tooth was extracted at the age of 43.
For 10 years after the fatal excavations, a total of 12 people left. Carter himself avoided this fate: he died in 1939 at the age of 64, after abandoning archeology and becoming a collector. His daughter, who also participated in the excavations, died at the age of 79.
Journalists are to blame
Many believe that the death of so many people is pure coincidence. In support of the skeptics speaks the fact that the tomb was visited by a total of 58 people, and many of the dead had serious health problems before the excavations.
The culprit for the hysteria was soon found, and that, of course, was the journalists, specifically Carter’s friend Arthur Weigal. He is a former archaeologist who retrained as a journalist for the Daily Mail, the Times’ main rival at the time. It is not surprising that the Daily Mail began to write about the mysterious deaths of the expedition participants.
Opponents of the “pharaoh’s curse” theory also point to the fact that the misfortunes occurred long before the opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb. A doctor named Benjamin Henderson managed to steal two mummies in Thebes, but a year later he went mad. And the Swedish preacher Sven Frederick Lidman tried to export many valuable artifacts from Egypt, but the ship they were loaded on caught fire and burned completely before leaving for Europe.
Modern science
Archaeologists, who continue to excavate today, firmly state that there is no curse. Zahi Hawass, nicknamed the “Egyptian Indiana Jones,” says myths are a media fabrication, developed by tour operators with the resources to attract more tourists.
Zahi Hawass doesn’t believe in the curse.
“Of course, if you are the first to open a tomb, the mummy can release bacteria and toxic substances. But we take that into account and create the necessary working conditions: we provide a supply of fresh air so that we can quickly ventilate the room and get on special masks, “says the archaeologist. However, he does not deny that he encountered a series of strange events while studying Tutankhamun’s mummy.
“We almost died in an accident,” he said. “When we were traveling to the Valley of the Kings, my sister called and said her husband was dead.” While in the Valley, the Minister of Culture suffered a heart attack. Then I gave an interview on Japanese television. As the end was near, a storm broke out and the Japanese fled, screaming at the curse of the pharaoh. I put Tutankhamun’s mummy on a CT scan and a minute later it stopped working. “
Zahi Hawass, however, insists that there is no such thing as a curse on the pharaoh. We hope you’re right – hardly anyone needs another catastrophe in 2020.
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