The ancient Egyptians astounded the world with their culture and knowledge. Some of their innovations are still a mystery to us. Archaeologists are working hard, unearthing wonders that we are trying to make sense of through thorough investigations.
With that said, we have always heard of the “mummy’s curse”, a myth— or a group of myths— that has intrigued many over the centuries. To this day some are trying to figure out if there’s truth to the stories.
Most Egyptologists do not believe in the so-called “Curse of the Pharaohs”; nevertheless, the stories are sure frightening. Here are some of the scariest stories on the ancient Egyptian curses.
Tutankhamun’s Curse
A warning on Tutankhamun’s tomb reads, “Death shall approach on rapid wings to him who disrupts the King’s tranquility.” When Egyptologist Lord Carnarvon and discoverer Howard Carter decided to open the tomb in 1922, they ignored it.
The story goes that Lord Carnarvon, the team’s financial sponsor, died four months after the tomb was opened. What’s more remarkable is that he died of a mosquito bite on his cheek, and all the lights in his house mysteriously went out when he died.
Osiris “The God of Death”
Egyptologist Walter Brian Emery discovered a little statue of Osiris, the Egyptian God of Death, during an excavation near Sakkara in 1971. He and his assistant returned to the dig site’s headquarters in a nearby village at the end of the day.
Emery brought the Osiris statue with him. He then headed to the bathroom to shower when he arrived at his house. His helper began to hear Emery weeping after a few moments. He dashed over to the man and discovered him gripping the sink’s basin, apparently traumatized. Emery “stood there as if paralyzed,” according to his aide. “I took his shoulders in my hands and dragged him onto the couch. Then I dashed for the phone.” He continued.
Emery was diagnosed with right-sided paralysis and was unable to communicate. The next day, he passed away.
The Curse Of Kom Abu Billo claimed one victim each year
His aunt died one day as he was bringing items from the site Kom Abu Billo, according to renowned Egyptologist Zahi Hawass. His uncle died a year later on the same day, and his favorite cousin died a year after that.
The “Curse of the Pharaohs” had claimed these members of Hawass’ family, according to newspapers. He, on the other hand, disagrees, claiming that “fortunately, there is no such thing.”
Tombs of Saqqara
Some of the Saqqara tombs, according to experts, have colorful curses etched on the walls to keep intruders away. Last year, Egyptologist Salima Ikram of the American University in Cairo examined some animal mummies discovered at Saqqara.
In an email to Business Insider, she explained that the inscriptions in human tombs are largely meant to dissuade trespassers from desecrating the mummies’ final resting places.
Ancient Egyptian relic
An ancient Egyptian treasure was given to the German Embassy in Egypt in 2007 with a note from an anonymous sender confessing that it had cost him and his family nothing but grief and anguish since its theft.
The thief allegedly stole the artifact as a memento while in Egypt and brought it back to Germany, but he soon became ill with an unexplained ailment. He developed a fever, and his disease progressed to paralysis and death.
The thief’s stepson sent the relic back because he feared that until it was returned to Egypt, his family and his stepfather’s soul would suffer.
These mummies double like ghosts
In his book Traite des Embaumemens, published in 1699, Louis Penicher described a mummy’s curse. He told the account of a Polish man who bought two mummies from Alexandria with the intention of studying them for therapeutic purposes.
The story goes he began to be haunted by two ghosts who appeared on the boat as he sailed back across the Mediterranean Sea. The man acted swiftly, tossing the mummies into the water. As soon as the bodies were swallowed by the sea, his visions of spectral entities came to an end.
A mummy might have sunk the ‘Titanic’
It may or may not be true, but it’s still a fascinating story. It began as a ghost story, with sounds emanating from a mummy’s wooden coffin in one of Britain’s museums late at night. When one of the museum guards inexplicably died, they planned to take the coffin to the United States and dispose of it on the Titanic. The rest of the story is a matter of fact.
