The mystical stories about the death of researchers who disturbed the peace of the mummies of the pharaohs have become the subjects of many thrillers, Hollywood blockbusters and are familiar to almost everyone. But few people know that similar events took place on the territory of present-day Kabardino-Balkaria in the spring of 1767.
Stolen treasures
In the "Ossetian Affairs" of the Russian Foreign Policy Archive there is a report number 26, sent by the commandant of the Kizlyar fortress (North Ossetia) Nikolai Potapov on April 3, 1767 to the Most Holy Government Synod under the "Secret" stamp. Here is an adapted quote from this document.
“One of the residents of the Chegem Gorge, three miles from the sheep grazing site, found a hole. and there are doors in it. Entering them, he saw an elderly husband and a girl sitting. In front of the old man lay the book he was reading, and in front of the girl there was a golden basin, and in it was a golden ring, as well as many gold and silver things.
Having got out of the pit, this man told about what he saw to his six comrades, the shepherds, and they went to those people and took all the gold and silver that was there. And when they began to take the gold ring, the girl seemed to tell them not to do this, for death will come to them through this. However, the shepherds did not obey. After that, at three o'clock in the morning, a voice was heard throughout the village, telling that those who took the treasure would bring it back, otherwise all the inhabitants would be in trouble. The Chegemians carried the treasure into that pit, but they did not see the old man and the girl. And on the fourth night all the shepherds and their family members died, after which other villagers began to die.
Business trip to the Caucasus
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Upon learning of the incident, the commandant of the nearest outpost sent captain Kireev to those places. in order to "find out why the Chegem inhabitants had an unusual death." He confirmed that “the Chegem shepherds grazed sheep in the mountains, one of them accidentally stumbled and fell into the ground, where he saw a laid-out stone horomina. When he entered it, he saw a multitude of treasury, several crosses of gold and silver, and two seated incorruptible bodies: a man in monastic attire and a woman. The shepherd told his comrades about this, who went to that place, took a lot of treasury and other things, and finally, when they began to remove the ring from the woman's hand, they heard a voice forbidding them to take the treasure. However, they did not obey him, took what they needed, brought it to their homes. After that, one by one, one by one, every last one with their wives and children died,and just two months later, twenty more people died in the village."
Moscow reacted to the commandant's message extremely quickly. Already in May, a decree was issued by Her Imperial Majesty the Autocrat of All Russia from the Most Holy Governing Synod of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs, signed by the General Secretary Mikhailo Ostolopov and the clerk Alexei Drevsky, according to which Abbot Gregory was instructed to leave for the Caucasus.
Let us recall that the Synod is the highest collegial body of the Russian Orthodox Church, which was part of the state administration and was engaged, among other duties, in the spread of Christianity.
Scientists testify
As Doctor of Historical Sciences Professor V. Vinogradov wrote, “the background of interest was not hidden: in those years the so-called Ossetian spiritual mission, on the instructions of the Russian government, launched an active propaganda of Christianity among the highlanders of the Central Caucasus. And the fact of the discovery of Christian antiquities and "holy relics" (incorruptible bodies) that punished the blasphemers who disturbed their peace seemed extremely tempting for missionary propaganda."
… The greatest scientist of the 18th century Peter-Simon Pallas reported about Christian monuments located in the Chegem gorge, who wrote that the Balkars living here until recently “were Christians and have churches, among which one is especially remarkable in Chegem. It is located on a rock in which an ornate passage has been cut, equipped with iron railings on both sides. The remains of books are still preserved here. Several sheets of them, obtained from there with many dangers, turned out to be: one sheet - from the Gospel in Ancient Greek, the rest - from other Greek church books."
Mysterious voice
So, there really were treasures. This confirms the fact that it was in the upper reaches of the Chegem that the center of the Caucasian Christian Metropolia was located in the XIII-XIV centuries. But how could it happen that after three centuries, that is, in 1767, one of the Greek missionaries was still alive? After all, it was clear from the message that it was about living people in the crypt - an old man reading a book, and a girl who predicted death to the kidnappers.
In the following message, however, we are talking about imperishable bodies, that is, mummies. But the shepherds heard the voice that forbade the taking out of the treasures! Who warned the kidnappers about their impending doom?
If we were talking about events that took place some time ago, then the presence of such a warning could be attributed to human fantasy based on the troubles that befell the Chegemians. But after all, everyone who knew about this story was interviewed, so to speak, on fresh tracks, when the veil of popular rumor had not yet managed to hide what had happened with a fog of invented strata. Mysticism and only …
Black Death
However, one can try to explain the death that befell the robbers of the tomb. Most likely, the keepers of Christian treasures who were in the burial vault (and we are talking, of course, about it), died of the plague, the black death, as it was called in those days. The causative agents of the plague, as you know, can retain their properties for centuries. In the history of the Caucasus, there have been many epidemics that took entire settlements, thousands and thousands of residents to the grave. It is also known that the sick inhabitants of the gorges, in order not to infect their fellow tribesmen, went high into the mountains, into caves, and died there. At the beginning of the last century, postcards were widespread throughout Russia, on which a very brave young man was captured next to mummies leaning against the wall of the burial ground. What happened to him later, we do not know, but we knowthat many of the dead who disturbed the peace leave our world quickly enough.
Who will be the next victim?
Unfortunately, we could not find out how the Chegem story ended, although we looked through a great many documents on the topic of interest. We studied the five-volume “Complete Collection of Decrees and Orders for the Department of the Orthodox Confession of the Russian Empire. The reign of Empress Catherine II "," The book of the highest decrees of the synod of 1767 "," Complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire since 1649 ", a number of other publications. The name of the Kizlyar commandant Potapov is mentioned on their pages quite often, as well as reports on the events in Bolshaya and Malaya Kabarda. The name of Abbot Gregory is also encountered, but not a word about the relics themselves and their fate.
The question arises: what happened to the considerable treasures - the golden basin, gold and silver objects that the shepherds returned to the crypt? It can be assumed that they were careful not to touch the treasure, fearing fatal consequences. And the publicity of this case was so great that if the jewelry were seized, documentary evidence would probably remain about it. They do not exist, which means that it is very likely that in one of the burial grounds hidden under the ground in the area of the village of Eltyubyu (as it is now called Verkhniy Chegem) in Kabardino-Balkaria, the sacred relics of the mummies of the old man and the girl are still guarded.
Who will be the next victim of their wrath if the entrance to the crypt is found? And will an unusual voice sound, warning of punishment?
Maria and Victor Kotlyarov. Magazine "Secrets of the XX century" No. 17 2010