For most of the diggers of Tutankhamun's tomb, the nightmare that haunts them begins from the moment they enter the tomb: is it just a coincidence that they are either dead or sick one after another? 1April, 923 10, a funeral was held in a cemetery in Beacon Mountains, England. Beacon Mountain is a high mountain that passes through Hamsell in the northeast of England, where they buried Herbert Carnarvon. For the 50-year-old Earl of carnarvon, he can look forward to his home, Hechler Castle, as well as his own property.

Mysterious death

A German historian named Philip Vandenberg wrote a book about ancient Egyptian tombs. The book talks about the "Pharaoh's curse", a creepy strange thing. Anyone who dares to break into Pharaoh's resting place and disturb their peace will eventually be killed by Pharaoh's curse. Anyone who had contact with the tombs of ancient Egyptian rulers, no matter what way they took or what motivation-in other words, whether for scientific investigation or to make a fortune by robbing tombs, Pharaoh always treated them equally. The Pharaoh buried in the ancient tomb of Egypt has become a mummy. Obviously, they don't kill people. However, Vandenberg, a historian, gave many examples to prove that there were indeed many archaeologists who died of strange diseases after coming into contact with Pharaoh's mausoleum. Vandenberg said at the beginning of his book "The Pharaohs' Spells" that he and Dr Jamal Mailer, the curator of Cairo Museum, were sitting by the swimming pool of a hotel in Cairo, talking about the Pharaohs' spells. The doctor said: "There are often some strange phenomena in life that have not been explained so far." "So, you don't believe in Pharaoh's spell?" The author asked him. Mehrel hesitated and said, "If you add up all these mysterious deaths, you are likely to believe in these spells, especially in ancient Egyptian classics, where spells like this can be found everywhere." He gave a wry smile and then said, "I don't believe in this evil. I've been dealing with pharaoh's tombs and mummies all my life. Look, am I still alive? "Just four weeks after that conversation, Mailer died suddenly at the age of 52. According to the doctor's judgment, he died of a heart attack. On the same day of his death, a group of workers came to Cairo Museum to pack a batch of precious cultural relics. These cultural relics were unearthed in the tomb of the famous Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun in 1922 Valley of the Kings. Among them, the Tutankhamun aristocrat originally wore a 2.5-pound gold mask on his head. Strangely, the day May was strangled was also the day Tutankhamun was disturbed. Of all the pharaohs' spells, Tutankhamun's spell is the most prominent. It is said that an archaeologist died mysteriously before his tomb was discovered, but it did not attract people's attention. I'm afraid Mr. Mailer's sudden death will not attract people's attention if it is not the following circumstances. The thing is this: It was later discovered that at least 40 archaeologists died suddenly because of Tutankhamun's mausoleum. In this way, in 1923, the bizarre deaths of Herbert and Count carnarvon, the funders and diggers of the famous archaeologist Tutankhamun's tomb, aroused people's curiosity, and the "Pharaoh's spell" began to spread in the scientific community and caused shock.

Lucky canary

In the eyes of many people, the death of Count carnarvon is a very strange thing: the only sign is that five months ago, he discovered the tomb of King Tutankhamun and his preserved jewels to ensure the prosperity of the afterlife. Carnarvon's death came so quickly and mysteriously that sensitive popular novelists set off a wave of horror novels: the young King Tutankhamun sought the curse of his grave digger, Tutankhamun. The connection between Canavon and the royal tombs of ancient Egypt can be traced back to 15 20 years ago. 190 1 year, when he was driving in a hot spring in skwoba, Germany, he unfortunately overturned. A serious car accident damaged his chest, making him semi-disabled from now on. Because of breathing difficulties, the doctor advised him to spend the winter in warm and dry Egypt to avoid the suffocating fog in Britain. In this way, carnarvon came to Rosso. This place was a famous new tourist attraction at that time. It not only provides convenience for hotels and various tours, but also organizes groups to visit the excavation of the Valley of the Kings. Because he loved this trip to Egypt very much, Count Carnarvon came to Egypt every year and even tried to conduct archaeological excavations himself. From 65438 to 0907, howard carter became the technical consultant and project leader of carnarvon Company. Carter came to Egypt at the age of 17 and became the convener of archaeologists. In addition, he also works in the historical relics service department, supervising the excavation of the Valley of the Kings. Now, carnarvon pays Carter an annual salary of 400 pounds, and their goal is to find valuable cultural relics in some ancient tombs that have been regarded as useless. During the next 15 years, including the turbulent World War I, Carter continued to study Carnaveen. He came across a very interesting ancient tomb. That is, the noble cemetery in Thebes, its value is estimated at around 4000 dollars. But it was difficult to make up for the cost of excavation, but Carter succeeded in persuading Canavon. From 19 12 to 1922, after hard excavation, Carter and carnarvon found nothing. Therefore, Carter made a special trip to Highbury, England to visit carnarvon, persuaded him to dig another season, and took a canary from carnarvon. When Carter returned to Luxor at the end of 10, his Egyptian colleagues told him that canaries would bring good luck. 1 65438+1October1,they began to dig the last untouched area of the Valley of the Kings-a 22-acre triangle. 165438+1October 4th, they found a stone ladder with16 steps leading to the underground. 165438+1October 5, they confirmed that this is a sealed ancient tomb. The plaster wall is covered with the seal of the cemetery guardian and a little-known Pharaoh: Tutankhamun. Excited Carter asked the workers to close the tomb and temporarily stop the excavation work. He sent the following telegram to carnarvon: "An amazing discovery has finally been made in the valley: an extremely spectacular tomb. I have sealed the grave, waiting for you to come. Congratulations on the pillow. " After receiving the call, Carnarvon immediately left England with his daughter Evelyn. 165438+1On October 22nd, Mount Kana reached the Valley of the Kings; 165438+1October 26th, they cleared all obstacles and reopened the tomb entrance. Entering the first door, there is a ramp-like passage in the door, which is full of rubble. At the end is another door, like the first door, sealed with a wall and stamped with the same seal. After the rubble was cleared, Carter removed some stones from the second stone gate with trembling hands and put a candle in the hole. At first, the heat in the tomb made the candlelight flicker. Later, some strange animal images and statues appeared, glittering everywhere. Carter froze and said nothing. Many years later, Carter clearly remembered that carnarvon asked him anxiously, "Did you see anything?" Carter was still dumbfounded and could only answer, "Yes, I saw something magical." That night, they carried out a very secret operation. There is a passage in Tutankhamun written by Thomas Hou Wen: "This is a story that cannot be told." Carnarvon, Evelyn, Carter and their assistants sneaked into the grave and groped their way into the inner room. They found a gold coffin for King Tutankhamun's mummy. Later, people were very surprised when they saw the king wearing a close-fitting golden skirt and headdress. A golden crown inlaid with diamonds and various precious stones sets off the dignity of the king and his wife abroad; The coffin is made of gold, which requires eight people to lift its weight. The glittering mask on the mummy, lifelike eyes made of obsidian and Shi Ying, headdress and beard for dressing up make the dead king look like Osritt the Great in charge of death. Carter and carnarvon now know exactly what they found-the last few undiscovered tombs of King Tutankhamun in ancient Egypt. In the next few days, they began to plan to open the outer room, pack their things and proudly announce their great discovery to the world. The excited workers suddenly encountered a worrying thing. At Carter's home near the mouth of the canyon, the canary representing "luck" was swallowed by a cobra. They are familiar with the old local legends. According to legend, the Egyptian royal family was protected by a cobra-but they had to continue to develop the royal mausoleum. Henry Hyde, an early digger, once described the Valley of the Kings like this: "In the depths of the mountains, it is a winding and narrow canyon extending from the cracks in the desert; This desolate canyon is surrounded by surrounding mountains and is full of the shadow of death. The canyon looks gloomy, only some greedy people leave footprints on the rocks. Dim headlights suggest the existence of life, but more like the ghost of the dead. "When thousands of tourists came to the Valley of the Kings to visit the population of Tutankhamun's tomb, this desolate scene changed. Many tourists even hope to allow them to enter the ancient tomb. A local newspaper once described the scene at that time: the passage to the canyon was crowded with all kinds of vehicles every day.

Patron saint of revenge

Before entering Tutankhamun's mausoleum, Carter found a ceramic monument that looked very ordinary. A few days later, the hieroglyphs on the stone tablet were translated by experts, and their contents were creepy: for those who disturb the peace of Pharaoh, death will spread its wings over his head. Scholars present at that time didn't care, just worried that the news would make migrant workers feel scared, so the tablet disappeared from the tomb and was erased from the written records. However, the Pharaoh's spell appeared in another form. On the back of a statue in the main tomb, the following words are given: As the guardian of the tomb in the middle gate of Tutan, I use the desert debt to drive out grave robbers. In ancient Egypt, only the Pharaoh (king), the representative of God, had the right to cast spells, so there were few spells. It is said that a spell card was found in the passage of a mausoleum in Midum, which read: The undead will strangle the grave robbers like goosenecks. There are two bodies left in the tomb, one is the mummy of the owner, and the other remains are pressed under the stone, and its hand reaches out to the ornaments on the mummy. This is the body of a thief who was hit by a spell. The first victim of the Pharaoh's spell was Count Cafuna. The cause of the incident is unbelievable. When Count carnarvon was about to open the pivot in Tutankhamun's tomb, he was suddenly bitten by a poisonous mosquito. Since then, the health condition of Kagan Peak has become very bad. He looks very tired. Teeth fall off, body temperature is extremely unstable, and high fever rises and falls. He seems to be stimulated by events that scare him. At the beginning of March, he moved to Cairo and his health improved. But soon he became ill again. His wife came to Cairo from England, and so did his son from India. On March 20th, carnarvon's wife informed Carter that carnarvon had septicemia, so Carter also went to Cairo. One morning, while having breakfast in a restaurant in Cairo, Canavon suddenly said, "I feel feverish." The doctor found his temperature as high as 40 degrees. The next day, carnarvon's temperature dropped a little, and on the third day it rose to 40 degrees. This situation lasted 12 days. According to the doctor, the reason for this is that carnarvon accidentally cut an old wound while shaving. On April 4th, carnarvon had been in a coma for a long time, and all his relatives and friends gathered at the Continental Hotel in Wu Sha. They are all quietly waiting for the last moment. At almost two o'clock in the morning, the nurse informed them that carnarvon had passed away, and the hotel lights flashed and went out. Even the whole of Cairo was cut off, and everyone fell into darkness. Five minutes later, the power supply was restored. Carnarvon's son recalled, "At ten minutes past two in the morning, the nurse came into the room and told me that my father had passed away. When I entered his room, all of a sudden the lights in the whole hospital went out. We asked the power companies, and they couldn't find a reasonable explanation for the sudden short-term power outage in Cairo. " At the same time, something even weirder happened: Canavan's fox dog in England also howled and died, scaring the Scottish janitor at Highbury Castle. Another incredible phenomenon is that Kavanan's group sister said in her memoirs: "He had a high fever before he died and repeatedly shouted:' I heard his voice, I want to go with him'." Since then, the Pharaoh's curse has passed without saying anything.

. .

Deathwing

As soon as Kana Fenggang died, newspapers began to report the surprising inscription engraved on the population of the ancient tomb: "Those who touch the ancient tomb die"; Those who destroy the king's peace will be accompanied by death. Such a curse seems to have been widely accepted. There is a legend in the crowd: "Anyone who ignores the sanctity of the ancient tomb will be pestered by the great A Mu, and he will suffer from hunger, thirst, fainting and disease. ..... I will stop the sand from entering the dense stone. I am here to protect the dead. " Rumors are still spreading gradually, although few people really believe that the soul of a king who died for 3000 years can bring death to the twentieth century. Some scientists strongly condemned the so-called king's curse, thinking it was meaningless. Carnarvon's son insisted that he didn't believe in the curse, and he refused to explain it. But he also told Philip Vandenberg, the author of Pharaoh's Spell, that a woman came to Hechler Castle shortly after his father's funeral. Her name is Wilma. She said that the soul of her dead father was haunting her and advised him not to enter his grave. Soon after, a large number of archaeologists and tourists who visited the ancient tombs were either sick or dead. Although we can reasonably explain that some of them are old, some are already sick, and some people are attacked by dust, high temperature, excessive fatigue and many other factors because of their travel, and so on. Henry James. Professor brest, a scholar who once entered the inner chamber of the ancient tomb for research, experienced a persistent high fever, but insisted on working for the ancient tomb for 12 years until his death at the age of 70. But Professor Le Vermeer died on his first night in Russo to visit the ancient tomb. Coincidentally, he and Professor burris live in two adjacent rooms in the same hotel. When George Jay Gold, the son of an American financier, visited Russo, Carter accompanied him to visit Tutankhamun's mausoleum. The next day, he died of a high fever. Carter's assistant, A. C. Mais, gave up his job at 1924 after a high fever and died four years later. His mother and a nurse who took care of her were also killed by insects. Then Richard Bezr, another assistant of Carter, died of a heart attack in bed at the age of 45. His 87-year-old father jumped from the seventh floor of his home in London and died after learning of his son's death. Then, on the way to the cemetery, the carriage pulling his pivot suddenly knocked down a boy and trampled him to death. Macy, an archaeologist invited by Carter to help, fell into a coma for a long time for no reason and died in the same hotel where Carnarvon stayed. Another American industrialist, Omar, died of a high fever on his way home by boat after visiting the mausoleum. After visiting the site of Tutankhamun's mausoleum, a rich man in South Africa inexplicably jumped into the calm Nile from his yacht and drowned. Professor Aceh Bolt Reed, the first professor to untie Tutankhamun's shroud and X-ray his body, suddenly developed a high fever after taking some photos, and suddenly became extremely weak, so he had to return to London and died soon. Another archaeologist, Dr. Eplin Cholaj, committed suicide a few days after leaving Tutankhamun's tomb. He left the following words to the world: "I left this world because of Pharaoh's curse." The strangest thing is that one morning in 1929, Carnaveen's widow, Ms. Elizabeth, passed away, and the cause of death was intriguing. Like Carnaveen, she died of insect bites, even on her left cheek, just like her husband who died six years ago. After enumerating countless examples, Vandenberg returned to the spell that attracted the attention of the whole world:

For those who disturb Pharaoh's peace, death will spread its wings over his head. What kind of spell is this? What does this mean? Are these bizarre and mysterious serial deaths just a series of coincidences? Or is there some rule behind coincidence? Did the priests take precautions to guard the Pharaoh's tomb? Is there some kind of poison in the tomb, or microorganisms that spread bacteria, which Pharaoh used to protect the remains, and these microorganisms can continue to exert their power after thousands of years? Vandenberg's exploration of the so-called Pharaoh's death by spells goes beyond this. He believes that because the Pharaoh's spell is not limited to Tutankhamun's mausoleum, some archaeologists may die before this. So he buried himself in the vast archaeological records over the years and found several "facts" that the Pharaoh's spell was fulfilled again. Moreover, the protagonists of the tragedy have all spent many years in Egypt, which more or less involves the excavation of the Pharaoh's mausoleum.

One of the protagonists of the tragedy is the French legend champollion (1790- 1832). It is said that he showed amazing language skills when he was five years old. 180 1 year, champollion read an article about Napoleon's army discovering the Rosetta stone in the Nile estuary. There are three kinds of characters engraved on the tablet: one is an ancient Egyptian hieroglyph called Herogriffith, the other is a simplified form of Dimotkien Herogriffith, and the other is an ancient Greek. 12 years old, champollion made up his mind to solve the mystery of ancient Egyptian characters. 1September, 822 14, champollion received several pharaoh's inscriptions, and he immediately recognized several words. "I made it! Success! " He shouted happily at his younger brother Jacques, and then his hands in the air fell to the ground like lightning strikes, and he was unconscious for five consecutive days. When he regained consciousness, he talked about seeing some strange images in his coma and kept mumbling the names of several pharaohs he recognized. On September 27th of the same year, he announced to the Paris Academy of Sciences that he had unveiled the mystery of ancient Egyptian writing. He won the title of Professor of Egyptian Studies. 1827, he led a French expedition to Egypt under the sponsorship of the French king. His childhood dream came true, but he was also sentenced to death. 1832, he returned to France and suddenly suffered a stroke and was paralyzed at the age of 42. After enumerating many examples, Vandenberg said that by studying these examples, three causes of death can be obtained: fever, death in a coma; Stroke, blood circulation system collapse; Sudden cancer. However, Vandenberg has to admit that Carter, the main digger of Tutankhamun's tomb, is an exception, and his home is this tomb. He lived the longest among grave diggers and died at the age of 66. Why is Pharaoh so lenient to Carter, the culprit who harassed him, and death did not befall him? After a long-term study, Vandenberg could not solve this mystery, only believing that he was a famous exception.

Two archaeologists who worked in the pyramids for many years died unexpectedly, so that even people who don't believe in spells associate their deaths with their work. One is George Resler, an American professor. He was engaged in archaeological work in the pyramid area in the 1920s and 1930s, and the most important discovery was the tomb of Khataipu Fowles, the mother of Khufu, next to the Great Pyramid. He also became the first person to broadcast in the pyramid in the history of 1939 broadcasting. 1942 In the spring, he suddenly collapsed in the pyramid. People carried him out of the tower and put him in a tent as a tool library. He never regained consciousness and finally died there. The other is a British archaeologist, Flindel Piccho. 194 1 year, he died unexpectedly in Jerusalem on his way back from Cairo. Vandenberg also introduced something he witnessed personally. 1972, he visited pyramid of khufu for the last time. In the crowd in front of Khufu's tomb, a Spanish lady suddenly screamed loudly and fell on the threshold, unable to move. After people carried her away from the crowd, her spasm suddenly disappeared. Vandenberg asked her how she felt. She said she seemed to have been hit by something. An Egyptian tour guide told him that this "blow" happened more than once. Vandenberg also revealed a secret. 1946 In May, Khrushchev, Chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers, visited Egypt and stayed in your hotel not far from the Great Pyramid. On the second day of his arrival in Cairo, when he was going to visit pyramid of khufu, he received an urgent telegram from Moscow, and the KGB asked him to "never enter the pyramids". Khrushchev obeyed. What are Soviet intelligence agencies afraid of? Are you worried about Pharaoh's spell? The Soviet Union gave no explanation. It is said that there are more strange phenomena in the pyramids than those mentioned above. For example, a reporter stayed in the tomb for a while and got sick after coming out. Dozens of students who entered the tomb died after being poisoned by electricity. Some western tourists fell to the ground and shouted, "Help! Help! I want to go out. " Some people died on the spot. After introducing the above situation, what exactly is Pharaoh's spell? Where is its answer? Vandenberg tried to find the reasons from the aspects of poison, bacteria and radiation in Egypt, Africa and Europe. He said:1961165438+1On October 3rd, Zaddin Taha, a professor of physics at Cairo University, held an unusual press conference. He has amazing news to announce, that is, he has found the secret of Pharaoh's spell, or at least found one of the reasons. For a long time, Professor Taha has made a physical examination of the archaeologists and staff of the museum. He found that many people were infected with a bacterium, which caused inflammation of the respiratory system. In fact, archaeologists have long noticed a strange symptom of "ancient Egyptian rash". The patient had difficulty breathing and red spots appeared on his skin, but no one paid enough attention to it. People suffering from this disease are limited to those who often deal with ancient Egyptian papyrus. At the press conference, Professor Taha introduced some dangerous infectious bacteria. A bacterium has lived in mummies, tombs and pyramids for three or four thousand years. Taha announced: "This discovery completely broke the superstition that some grave diggers died because of spells. They got sick and died at work. If anyone still believes in the supernatural power of the Pharaoh's spell, it is purely a fairy tale. " Taha finally said that these findings were observed under an electron microscope and may not completely solve the mystery of the Pharaoh's spell, because infectious bacteria are not the only cause of death of these scholars. Taha's research work could have brought more beneficial results. Unfortunately, shortly after the press conference, he himself became the victim of the Pharaoh's spell, which he denied. The incident happened on the desert road from Cairo to Suez. Taha and two assistants drove to Suez. 70 kilometers away from Cairo, the car he was driving suddenly turned to the left and hit an oncoming car. Taha and his assistant died on the spot. The autopsy showed that he had a heart attack.