Last week, egypt saw several unpleasant events: train derailments, building collapses, and a massive boat jam on the Suez Canal, which attracted global attention. At the same time, another big event that has attracted the attention of Egyptians is also on the agenda - next week, Egypt will begin the largest mummy removal work in the country's history.
Egypt is about to embark on the largest mummy handling in history. According to the Daily Mail
According to the British "Daily Mail" reported on the 29th, this "coincidence" soon set off a hot discussion on social media, and many netizens said that the "strange things" in Egypt last week were clearly "a thousand-year curse from the pharaohs".
In this regard, archaeologists collectively refute rumors, calling the occurrence of the above events "purely coincidental", and the language and symbols carved on the walls of the pharaonic tomb "only show the imagination of ancient Egyptians", hoping that netizens will not indulge in Hollywood science fiction movies. As for the so-called "curse of the pharaohs", it also has something to do with Conan Doyle, who is famous for the Sherlock Holmes series.
All kinds of "coincidences" have aroused the association of netizens
The "curse of the pharaohs" spread across the web
Egypt plans to move 22 mummies to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization on April 3, including the mummies of Ramses II, the most famous mummies in human history.
Ramses II, the pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, was also the leading military, statesman, and artist of ancient Egypt, and during his reign he carried out a series of expeditions to expand the territory of the Ancient Egyptian Empire from Syria in the east to Nubia in the south. Because of his outstanding merits, he is also regarded by historians as "Ramses the Great". His mummy is considered to be the best-preserved mummy in the world, and is therefore the champion of the "World's Top Ten Mummies".
Infographic: The Mummy of Ramses II
It is reported that in addition to this famous mummy, the mummies of Thutmose III, Seti I, the famous ancient Egyptian beauty Queen Yahmos Nafaelthelli, and many other pharaonic queens are among the mummies.
In fact, as early as the news came out, some netizens "opened their minds" and discussed the mummies' movements - in the ancient Legend of Egypt, when the mummies were buried, the wizards "cast curses" on them, and anyone who "disturbed" them would be "cursed" and then haunted by bad luck.
Coincidentally, there have been a series of accidents in Egypt —
• On 23 March, the "Long Ship" ran aground in the Suez Canal and did not successfully re-emerge until the 29th to give way to the river. But it will take days for more than 360 boats to be blocked at both ends of the canal to clear and return to normal;
The "Long Ship" that was previously stranded on the Suez Canal. According to the Daily Mail
• On 26 March, two trains collided in the Tahta area of Sohag governorate in southern Egypt, killing at least 32 people and injuring more than 160 others;
• On March 27, a 10-story residential building in the eastern part of the capital, Cairo, collapsed, killing at least 25 people and injuring 25 others.
In addition, there are various accidents of various sizes, such as bridge collapses and fires. As a result, many netizens on social media "sniffed" out a "strange atmosphere" and blamed these events on the "curse of the pharaoh": some people said, "Anyone who disturbs the mummies of ancient Egypt will be cursed, let alone the mummies of the pharaohs"; others are afraid that the world will not be chaotic, "Death will soon come to these people who disturb the rest of the pharaohs".
Some netizens on Twitter spoke
Archaeologists collectively refute rumors
Where did the "curse of the pharaohs" come from?
Rumors on social media quickly attracted experts to refute them en masse. None of the pharaoh's tombs were damaged during the excavations, they said, and that "these accidents happened by coincidence." Archaeologists have refuted these remarks, but they have also popularized the origin of the curse theory - even has something to do with Conan Doyle, who is famous for the Sherlock Holmes series.
The famous Egyptian archaeologist and Egyptologist Zay Havas was involved in the opening of the coffin of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. He told local media that there was no such thing as a "pharaoh's curse." He further explained that archaeologists who have excavated pharaohs' tombs in the past have often died because of microbes at the site.
Tutankhamun's tomb opens the coffin. Figure according to AFP
Egyptian historian Bassam El-Shammaa also refuted the "curse of the pharaohs" rumor, saying the language and symbols carved into the walls "merely expressed the imagination of the ancient Egyptians."
He added that some mummies developed mold, causing mold to grow on the walls of the burial chamber, including deadly molds such as Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus. Moreover, some of the mausoleum walls are stained with bacteria that invade the respiratory tract, such as staphylococcus. This is also one of the reasons for the occurrence of fatalities at some archaeological sites. In addition, the coffin can leak out ammonia, causing burning of the eyes and nose, and can also lead to pneumonia and even death. Bat feces inside the tomb can also cause flu-like respiratory diseases.
In 1922, the excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb resulted in the death of more than 20 people, and the British archaeologist Howard Carter Carter and his patron Lord Carnavon, who discovered and excavated Tutankhaon's tomb, also suffered bizarre things - first a cobra as a symbol of the ancient Egyptian dynasty entered Carter's bird cage and bit his canary; after that, Lord Kanafon was bitten by a mosquito, and when he shaved his beard, he just cut the bite mark, and finally died of infection. At this point, the "curse of the pharaohs" began to spread.
The British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, author of The Complete Detective Sherlock Holmes, seems to have believed in this "curse" theory. He had suggested that Lord Carnarvon's death was caused by something that Tutankhamun's wizards had laid to guard the tomb of the pharaoh. This further reinforces the spread of the curse and the focus on the "curse of the pharaohs."
Red Star News reporter Lin Rong
Edited by Li Binbin
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