Egyptologists were the first to encounter the special power that mummies possess. After all, most of the dead who underwent mummification were people extraordinary for their time: sorcerers, witches, priests, sacred rulers. For them, the afterlife was almost a home, but they did not miss the opportunity to return to the world of the living and play a little.
So, perhaps, the numerous amulets, talismans and spells surrounding the final resting place of mummies are needed not to protect their mortal remains from marauders, but quite the opposite, in order to protect civilians from the pranks of mummies.
On February 16, 1923, archaeologists uncovered the tomb of Tutankhamun - the only intact tomb in the Valley of the Kings - and saw ebony statues of "guardians of the pyramids" carved from the sealed doors of the tomb. And soon after the opening of the tomb, a series of strange deaths began.
The first to die on April 6 was Lord Carnarvon, an amateur archaeologist and philanthropist, who financed the excavations. Suffering from bouts of severe fever caused by a mosquito bite, the archaeologist lay in a Cairo hotel room. It was a rainy night, one that rarely happens in Egypt. A lightning strike disabled the transformer, and the lights went out in the hotel … Doctors pronounced him dead from a heart attack, but the whole world immediately started talking about the "curse of the pharaoh."
Others began to die - Carnarvon's friends and the scientists who entered the tomb. For six years, 12 out of 21 people who were present at the opening of the tomb passed away. For the sake of fairness, we note that the scientific leader of the expedition Howard Carter died in 1939 at the age of sixty-six, and his employee Richard Adamson did live to a very respectable age.
Meanwhile, stories about the "revenge of the pharaohs" are known before the opening of the tomb with Tutankhamun. A gloomy spirit hovers over Jabel Abukir, a vast desert plateau covered with more than five thousand ancient burials. In one of them, fourteen treasure hunters died at once under the rubble …
Europeans began their troubles with Henderson, a doctor at the British East India Company, who kidnapped two mummies in Thebes in 1805 and went mad a year later.
The Swede Liedman, who traveled extensively in Egypt, collected an extensive collection of items "removed" from the tombs, but it suddenly burned down in a warehouse in Constantinople.
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In 1914, the Russian explorer Krasovsky died. Before his death, he was tormented, as he wrote, "by the soul of the opened pyramid." Some of the fellahi excavators who worked with him on the excavations also died. Subsequently, it was suggested that the pyramid was built of radioactive granite, and radiation sickness was the cause of the death of Krasovsky and the workers. However, later measurements did not reveal any increased radioactivity. In addition, the picture did not fit into the car accident in which Krasovsky's colleague and employee, the Englishman Cockcroft, died.
The last known victim of the "curse of the pharaohs" was the Egyptian archaeologist Mohammed Zakaria Goneim. In 1952-54, he made a number of important discoveries - in particular, he opened and investigated the pyramid of Pharaoh Sekhemkhet, son and heir of Djoser. Then, while clearing the underground passage, one of the stone blocks of the ceiling suddenly collapsed and buried a worker underneath. And in 1957, crossing the Nile by boat, Goneim himself drowned.
Deadly touch of a mummy
Egyptologists were the first to encounter the special power that mummies possess. After all, most of the dead who underwent mummification were people extraordinary for their time: sorcerers, witches, priests, sacred rulers. For them, the afterlife was almost a home, but they did not miss the opportunity to return to the world of the living and play a little. So, perhaps, the numerous amulets, talismans and spells surrounding the final resting place of mummies are needed not to protect their mortal remains from marauders, but quite the opposite, in order to protect civilians from the pranks of mummies.
The curse of the pharaohs
In one of the Egyptian texts, written four thousand years ago, one of the pharaohs taught the heir: “Do not destroy tombs, do not destroy, do not destroy. So I did this, and according to my deeds the gods dealt with me. But human curiosity cannot be contained.
On February 16, 1923, archaeologists uncovered the tomb of Tutankhamun - the only intact tomb in the Valley of the Kings - and saw ebony statues of "guardians of the pyramids" carved from the sealed doors of the tomb. And soon after the opening of the tomb, a series of strange deaths began.
The first to die on April 6 was Lord Carnarvon, an amateur archaeologist and philanthropist, who financed the excavations. Suffering from bouts of severe fever caused by a mosquito bite, the archaeologist lay in a Cairo hotel room. It was a rainy night, one that rarely happens in Egypt. A lightning strike disabled the transformer, and the lights went out in the hotel … Doctors pronounced him dead from a heart attack, but the whole world immediately started talking about the "curse of the pharaoh."
Others began to die - Carnarvon's friends and the scientists who entered the tomb. For six years, 12 out of 21 people who were present at the opening of the tomb passed away. For the sake of fairness, we note that the scientific leader of the expedition Howard Carter died in 1939 at the age of sixty-six, and his employee Richard Adamson did live to a very respectable age.
Meanwhile, stories about the "revenge of the pharaohs" are known before the opening of the tomb with Tutankhamun. A gloomy spirit hovers over Jabel Abukir, a vast desert plateau covered with more than five thousand ancient burials. In one of them, fourteen treasure hunters died at once under the rubble …
Europeans began their troubles with Henderson, a doctor at the British East India Company, who kidnapped two mummies in Thebes in 1805 and went mad a year later.
The Swede Liedman, who traveled extensively in Egypt, collected an extensive collection of items "removed" from the tombs, but it suddenly burned down in a warehouse in Constantinople.
In 1914, the Russian explorer Krasovsky died. Before his death, he was tormented, as he wrote, "by the soul of the opened pyramid." Some of the fellahi excavators who worked with him on the excavations also died. Subsequently, it was suggested that the pyramid was built of radioactive granite, and radiation sickness was the cause of the death of Krasovsky and the workers. However, later measurements did not reveal any increased radioactivity. In addition, the picture did not fit into the car accident in which Krasovsky's colleague and employee, the Englishman Cockcroft, died.
The last known victim of the "curse of the pharaohs" was the Egyptian archaeologist Mohammed Zakaria Goneim. In 1952-54, he made a number of important discoveries - in particular, he opened and investigated the pyramid of Pharaoh Sekhemkhet, son and heir of Djoser. Then, while clearing the underground passage, one of the stone blocks of the ceiling suddenly collapsed and buried a worker underneath. And in 1957, crossing the Nile by boat, Goneim himself drowned.
Curse of Nefertiti
Nefertiti, the wife of a narcissistic and mystically inclined pharaoh, was hardly happy in earthly life. She was never able to do what the whole country expected of her - to give birth to a son-heir, and the harsh mother-in-law Queen Teye turned the life of an Egyptian beauty into a real hell.
But all earthly troubles are transient. For the ancient Egyptian, the posthumous fate of the body was much more important. While the mummy, wrapped in scrolls with divine sayings, protected by amulets and statues of guardian gods, lies in the sarcophagus of a pyramid or rock tomb - the spirit of the deceased is calm, and enjoys serenity in the kingdom of Osiris. But even this posthumous peace, Nefertiti was deprived.
"According to Egyptologist Susan James from Great Britain in Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt, Nefertiti's mummy has been kept in the British Museum for more than a century - albeit under a false name."
James suggests that Nefertiti was found by French archaeologist Victor Loret in 1898. Scientists believe that Nefertiti died around 1336 BC when she was 28 or 29 years old - the same age as the mummy that Laura found. Another confirmation of James's assumption is the appearance of the mummy: all the signs of Nefertiti we know fit her.
So, the wife of Pharaoh, hardly happy in earthly life, did not find her posthumous peace. Is it any wonder that the busts of Nefertiti, as knowledgeable people have long noticed, bring misfortune to their owners.
Curse of Timur
Timur the Lame is an eastern conqueror and founder of the vast Central Asian empire, and after his death he tried to dictate his will to the world.
“Timur strove to surpass Genghis Khan with his cruelty
Timur posed as a venerable Muslim and ordered the erection of the largest mosque in the world - the Samarkand Bibi-khanym mosque. The dome of this mosque was so large that the masonry could not withstand the load, and the dome collapsed on the heads of the worshipers - however, this happened after Timur's death. He died in the midst of preparations for a campaign in China. The army marched out at the end of December 1904, but Timur fell ill in Otrar on the Syr Darya River and died on January 19, 1405.
His body was embalmed and sent in an ebony coffin to Samarkand, where he was buried in a magnificent mausoleum called Gur-Emir. The inscription was carved over the tombstone: "Whoever disturbed the ashes of those buried here, will bring incalculable disasters to his people."
Even during the October Revolution and the Civil War, no one dared to encroach on the Gur-Emir mausoleum - everyone was afraid of the prophecy. But Soviet archaeologists, despite the warnings of local aksakals and who considered their fears a mere superstition, nevertheless decided to open the tomb. This happened in June 1941.
It should be added that the remains of Timur were returned to the mausoleum after proper study. It happened on the day of the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, which marked the turning point in World War II …
The curse of the Altai shamans
It would seem that all this is the case of bygone days. But the inhabitants of Altai do not think so. They argue that the earthquakes, which have become more frequent here, are associated with the mummy, which, according to scientists, is about 2.5 thousand years old.
Russian archaeologists discovered the "Altai princess" 11 years ago on the Ukok plateau near the border with China, which can only be reached by helicopter. The girl's mummy with bizarre tattoos on one of her arms has been preserved in almost perfect condition, thanks to the water that penetrated into her grave and then froze.
The mummy was wearing a silk shirt and a fine-work headdress. Together with the girl, six horses with saddles and harnesses were buried; dishes made from sheep and horse meat and jewelry made of felt, wood, bronze and gold were also found in the burial.
Archaeologists came to the conclusion that the girl was either from a noble family, or was engaged in shamanism.
For further research, the mummy was transported to the Novosibirsk Institute of Archeology and Ethnography.
However, recent earthquakes have sparked a fierce debate between archaeologists, local residents and Altai authorities over the mummy. Despite the fact that the archaeologists had permission to excavate, local authorities say the mummy was taken out illegally. They banned additional excavations, accusing archaeologists of looting and disrespect for their ancestors.
The archaeologists who discovered the "Altai princess", in turn, claim their rights to the find as intellectual property and say that the ban on excavations deprives the world of treasures, which are frozen graves, which, by the way, may soon be lost due to global warming. Scientists believe that there may be many more frozen mummies on the plateau, which will help shed light on the history of the nomadic people who built the Pazyryk burial mounds, which were described in the 5th century BC by the Greek historian Herodotus.
But people are worried. After all, Altai has been shaking for six months. Two tremors a day. First, the dogs start howling, then the window panes rattle. The earth moves in waves, water beats from the mountains. The shamans have already promised the end of the world.
Residents of the affected villages write letters to the authorities - to Gorno-Altaysk. First, they asked to send tents, stoves, stoves and mixed feed for livestock. But either the letters do not reach the authorities, or their authorities do not read them.
When the inhabitants of the ruined village of Beltir - an old man and a boy - committed suicide, everyone decided that it was from hopelessness. And then a suicide epidemic began in the affected areas. The shamans said: "This is the curse of the Altai princess."
And people wrote another letter:
“We, the indigenous inhabitants of Gorny Altai, are pagans and worship nature. All the excavations that have been and are being carried out in Altai are causing us irreparable damage. Not taking into account the opinion of the people, priceless treasures, the spiritual heritage of the Altaians are exported. So, on the Ukok plateau in the Kosh-Agach region, a burial mound was opened, where a tattooed young woman of noble birth was located.
For the inhabitants of Altai, she was a sacred relic - the keeper of the peace and greatness of our people. Now the Altai princess is kept in the Novosibirsk museum. As pagans, we have no doubt that the soul of the Altai princess is rebelling and demands to finally rest her ashes. The tragic events of recent months are connected with this. We, residents of the village of Oroktoy, appeal to the residents of the Altai Republic with an appeal to support us and demand the return of the sacred relic."
This letter reached the authorities. As well as other collective letters demanding to bury the mummy. The demand was signed by maral breeders, lumberjacks, livestock specialists, bricklayers, milkmaids, machine operators, shepherds, doctors, combine operators, teachers, the unemployed, and Aulkhan Yatkamaev, the head of the Kosh-Agach region, which suffered the most from the earthquake.
"We must calm people down and bury the Altai princess," says Yatkamaev. “We have tremors here two or three times a week. People think this will continue until the princess's spirit rests in peace. ""
But there is an opinion that it is impossible to return the mummy to the place of the previous burial. Rimma Mikhailovna Yerkinova, director of the local history museum, calls for the creation of a mausoleum for the "Altai princess". The government of the republic has already allocated 2 million rubles for an architectural project …
Curse of Oetzi
In 1991, another mummy was discovered in the Austrian Tyrol, immediately named the "ice man" or Ötzi in honor of the Ötztal ridge and Ötztal valley, where it was discovered. Ötzi died about 5300 years ago. At first, scientists suggested that he died in the mountains while hunting. But the results of further research were sensational.
The ax found near the body, as well as the clothes on the mummy, were covered in blood. DNA studies have shown that it is the blood of four different people. This means that most likely Oetzi participated in a bloody battle and managed to kill at least two of his enemies. It was also found that the head of an arrow was stuck in Ötzi's shoulder. Probably, he was shot from behind, and he managed to pull only the shaft out of his body. According to one of the climbers who discovered the body, Ötzi was holding a dagger in his right hand.
When the body was removed from the glacier, the weapon fell out of his hands. Numerous wounds and bruises were found on the arms and in the lumbar region, indicating that Ötzi had been beaten. Traces of someone else's blood were found on Otsi's fur cape - apparently, he carried his wounded comrade on his shoulder. Traces of the blood of two more people were found on the quiver with arrows, and blood was also found on his dagger.
Wounded and beaten, Ötzi tried to overcome the mountain pass at an altitude of 3,400 meters, but his strength betrayed him.
So Ötzi sold his life dearly. He probably died blazing with anger and vengeance, and after five thousand years awakened to a new life in order to take revenge and kill.
The first to recognize the strength of his anger was Professor Gunther Henn, who, with his own hands, was putting the remains of a prehistoric man into a plastic bag. He died in a car accident at the age of 64 in a car accident. At the same time, he was just going to a conference dedicated to Ötzi, at which he intended to make a sensational report.
Shortly thereafter, 52-year-old guide Kurt Fritz, who showed Henn the place where Oetzi lay, and brought the remains of a prehistoric man to the valley by helicopter, was buried under an avalanche. This death is truly mysterious, since an experienced guide was the only one in the bunch who was carried away by an avalanche.
Oetzi then dealt with the German journalist Rainer Helzl. He captured the recovery of Ötzi from the ice captivity and made a documentary based on these frames, which was watched all over the world. Helzel died of a cerebral hemorrhage shortly thereafter.
In 2004, the traveler Helmut Simon, who together with his wife discovered Ötzi's body, disappeared during a snowstorm that suddenly broke out "out of a clear sky", when a 67-year-old German, who had come to Austria on vacation, left alone in the mountains, on the slope of that the Ötztal ridge itself. Only eight days later, rescuers tracked down his frozen body.
But the "ice man" did not stop there. Konrad Spindler and Tom Loy became his new victims. Spindler, a member of the ice man research team, died of multiple sclerosis, Loy is a renowned Australian archaeologist in molecular chemistry whose research shed light on the details of the death. Oetzi, was found dead at his home in Brisbane in the Australian state of Queensland. Death came from a blood disease, which he began to suffer shortly after meeting the mummy. And again, the irony of fate: the scientist was already finishing his work on the Tyrolean mummy and based on the study of DNA from Ötzi's clothes and tools of the Copper Age.
Our ancestors, building a new house, often walled up a mummy of a cat with a mouse in its teeth in the foundation - it was supposed to protect the well-being of the house. In the folklore of many peoples, legends have been preserved about girls and women walled up alive in the city wall so that the city would stand forever. However, these cruel rituals have become a thing of the past with the Middle Ages and should not be resurrected.