Thu Dec 19, 9:52 PM ET |
King Tutankhamen's infamous 'curse of the mummy's tomb', supposed to have killed off many of those involved in the opening of the pharoah's tomb 80 years ago was a myth, Australian researchers say. A file photo shows a camel rider passing the 4,500-year-old great pyramid of Cheops. REUTERS/Aladin Abdel Naby |
"...I mean, in New York it's perfectly normal to have a bandage-wrapped lump of rotting flesh following you around mouthing obscenities in a language you don't speak. Toss 'em a quarter and they usually go away..."
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The sinking of the Beatrice with the Menkaure sarcophagus sounds like the probable source of the story, although the web sources regarding this sinking are all over the map (literally) as to where the ship went down. Menkaure, a.k.a. Mycerinus, is the third of the major pyramids at Giza.The Myth of the Titanic MummyShipping records show no mummy was on board the Titanic (this may be why some versions of the tale say that the archaeologist smuggled it aboard). In no account by any Titanic survivor do they mention sharing a lifeboat with a mummy (which wouldn't have been easy to forget). Nor did any rescuer report taking a mummy on board... The Titanic portion of the story may have been inspired by the loss of the Menkaure sarcophagus in 1838. The sarcophagus, which was being shipped from Egypt to England, was considered to be one of the finest examples of art from the Old Kingdom period. It went to the bottom of the sea when the ship carrying it, The Beatrice, sunk in deep water somewhere near Cartagena. The truth is that the Priestess Amun coffin lid (British Museum item No. 22542) is still sitting quietly in the British Museum's second Egyptian room, where it can be seen today.
by Lee Krystek, 2000
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