Many people treat archaeologists with great prejudice, contemptuously calling them "grave-diggers". The desecration of graves at all times and in all peoples was considered one of the most terrible crimes. The disturbing ashes of the deceased risk getting into big trouble. This is what the heroes of the blockbuster Stephen Sommers "The Mummy" are convinced of. They opened an ancient tomb and released the forces of evil, lurking in the body of the high priest of Egypt Imhotep, for the terrible crime of the cursed and buried alive. "So it is in the movies!" - You will say. But in the life of "white" and "black" archaeologists, with delight digging up ancient barrows and opening tombs, despite the warnings of the possible consequences, often pay for their audacity for the most expensive price.
The fatal lot
About three thousand years ago, the body of the deceased Egyptian princess Amen-Ra was placed in a painted wooden coffin and buried in a tomb on the banks of the Nile, in Luxor. In 1890, some subjects, which can be safely attributed to the "black" archaeologists, dug up its remains. They offered to buy their discovery to four rich English tourists, whom the evil rock brought to the excavation site at this time. The British liked the beautiful sarcophagus so much that they decided to buy it. They drew lots to see who would receive the treasure. The winner paid several thousand pounds and sent the sarcophagus to the hotel. Then for some reason, he rushed towards the desert - and disappeared forever in its sands. The next day, the second party to the deal was accidentally shot by an Egyptian servant with a gun. The limb had to be amputated. The third of the four, returning to England, found out that he had gone bankrupt, losing all his savings on the stock exchange. The fourth fell ill, lost his job and ended up selling matches on the street.
It is not known what happened to those who dug up the tomb. The story is silent about how the coffin of Princess Amen-Ra came to England. Here the artifact has changed several owners, and most of them died under rather strange circumstances. Here's what one of them wrote in his diary: "When I tried to look into the eyes of the mummy, or rather the place where they once were, at some point it began to seem to me that the embalmed body gives signs of life - her eyes expressed so much hatred that the blood cooled in my veins ... In the end, this thriller decided to resell the sarcophagus to a London businessman who wanted to replenish his collection of Egyptian artifacts. The seller's body was soon found in a dark alley with a knife in his heart. And the buyer began to live in a black strip: three of his relatives died in a traffic accident, and the house was burned to the ground (the sarcophagus was not damaged). The businessman realized that these incidents were somehow connected with the mummy, which was obviously spelled on, and hastened to present it to the British Museum.
Muddle at the British Museum
On the way to the museum, under the wheels of a cart carrying a sarcophagus, a passerby fell into some kind of infirmity and suffered serious injuries. Then one of the workers, who was bringing the cargo to the museum, tripped on the stairs, fell down and broke his leg. His friend, who was in good health, suddenly died a few days later.
The sarcophagus was placed in the Egyptian hall of the museum. And then the indignant spirit of the princess showed itself in full measure. Night watchmen repeatedly heard how in the coffin someone moans, sobbing and desperately beats in the lid. The sounds of the afterlife lolled the soul and drove it mad. And in the morning the museum workers, entering the Egyptian hall, found out that many exhibits were moved from their places or scattered throughout the hall. When one of the guards died on night duty, his partner hurried to quit. And then one of the cleaners, dusting the sarcophagus, let herself be mockingly spun around with a rag in front of his face - and soon her son died of measles.
The museum's management decided not to test their fate anymore and to move the mummy to the reserve. However, after that one of the movers fell seriously ill, and the keeper in charge of transporting the sarcophagus was found dead at the desk.
There were rumors in the capital about the evil spirit that had settled in the British Museum. One thrifty reporter decided to earn money on the photo of the terrible sarcophagus. Having shown the film and printed the photo, he found that it looked like a monstrous face. The shaken young man shot himself in his home that same evening.
to be continued in the next part...