What The Ale?
38. The Mummy's Curse
ghosts, cryptids, murder, conspiracies, beer, what? The ale. Hello, friends. Hello. Welcome to What The Ale. I'm Alana Ray. And I'm Mama J. And before you get into this lovely topic that you have for us, Mama, do you have any what the omer modes? My what the o is probably just, you know, we're having some house guests coming because my child is graduating high school. And just trying to get that house together and, you know, do all the research for things they want to do while they're here. And yeah, it's just a lot of work when you're having people stay with you for nine days. Yeah, no, I mean, I totally empathize. I feel like, yeah, having to be a host for anything, I mean, anything longer than like a weekend, I feel like is a lot. So well, and it's when the kids are in final, well, one of the kids in finals and then graduation prep and the other kid is about to start tech week for a show. So it's just really, really busy. And so I'm trying to like juggle, how am I going to make sure I spend quality time with the visitors? Because I really want to be able to do that. But like also manage all the responsibilities. And it's a lot. I'm really looking forward to them coming and it's going to be great. But yeah, it's just a lot. So I'm a little stressed, but it'll be okay. Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. What about you? Anything going on? Yeah, literally, we, I'm really glad we decided to record at four 15 and set up four o'clock because the fire alarm went out and I was standing outside for 20 minutes in my house dress with no bra on. Well, so we would not have been on. Oh, okay. They said that it was accidentally pulled. So I don't know if like a maintenance person did it or what happened, but someone pulled the fire alarm. Oh, maybe it was a kid. Couldn't have totally been a kid. But yeah, so I was dealing with that. I was literally about to text like, Hey, so we might have to push a few minutes because I'm outside. But they let us in. So it worked out. Okay. And are you drinking anything or? Yeah, I am actually having, I don't know if you've ever seen these before, but I got these little cellters called Vivis or Vivis. I'm not really sure, but they're like tequila shelters instead of like the vodka ones like high noon stuff. And I'm having a grapefruit one and it's lovely. Oh, that's nice. Well, I'm not drinking because it's only one 25 for me here. So, yeah, it's a little early for drinking. But I did over the weekend. I went down to San Diego to get my tattoo finished. And I did have an Australia down there for you because we went to a little bar around the corner from the shop. And they had a straight out on top. So that's what I had on Saturday. And I thought of you. Oh, yeah, I was gonna say for those of you who don't know, that's like one of the only beers that's like always on pap and Spain. We drank a lot of that while we were in Spain. Yeah. Well, cool. Well, I'm excited to hear about your topic if you're ready to get into it. All right. Well, Alana, I was trying to come up with a story because this will come out on your birthday. 26. I wanted to come up with a story that would be a subject that I know that you would like. And so, you know, I was racking my brain and all of these strong memories came up for me of you as a small child. And you were obsessed, like literally watched every documentary ever known to man, you know, about the legends of a particular king. Oh, yes. Do you know what I'm talking about? So I literally like I think that we watched every documentary that ever came out like you were so into it. We watched everything, you know, and obviously we've seen some of his stuff on when it was touring around. But yes. So I thought I would cover the story of the legend of the Mummy's curse. Oh, so are you just covering tooth and comment? Or are you looking at like, Oh, I'm particularly covering that because a lot of people associate with the curse. But we will talk about a little bit about other things too. So as you mentioned, the legend of the Mummy's curse, some people say it began after Howard Carter and crew made the discovery in the valley of the Kings near Lexor, Egypt in 1922 of the tomb of King Tutankhamun, also known as King Tut. And so this discovery really it started like a global fascination with Egyptian history. And I mean, really like all kinds of things because people were so intrigued by the artifacts and then, you know, interested in that Egyptian burial practices. So really, like all of the world was like just an on fascinated by everything King Tut. And so following the open of the burial chamber, which occurred on February 16 1923, people were just like really into all the beautiful relics. And I mean, I think you and I have seen the King Tut exhibit three times. I think twice in San Francisco and once in LA. Does that sound? Yeah, yeah, I've seen it. I've seen it four times because when I moved to Boston the first time, it was also here. So I've seen it. Oh, okay. But yes, I love it. And something I want to say about the King Tut tomb, I don't know if you're going to cover that. But something that was so remarkable was that it wasn't really touched by tomb robbers at all. And so it was pretty much preserved in its entirety, which is why it was so fascinating to people. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so, yeah, but I mean, you know, we've seen a lot of the stuff that they have on display, you know, when the King Tut exhibit rolls around. And I mean, this stuff is just incredible. It's like beautifully crafted, super intricate attention to details. So, I mean, it really is mesmerizing to see. I mean, when you're there, I mean, it's just, I don't know, can you describe how you feel when you see it? I mean, it's just, it's pretty incredible. I mean, it's so amazing. Like, it reminds me the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has a whole like Egyptian wing and like just even those artifacts alone are just so cool. I mean, even saying how intricate like, I mean, I know, you know, there's a lot of, you know, debate about should we send mummies back to their homes and things, but like, there are some mummies where you actually see the wrappings and how intricate it is or you see things like that. And it's just mesmerizing to me and like getting to see even like the jewelry or like, they have like preserved gowns and things and it's just so, so cool. Yeah. I mean, I love to see the jewelry. I mean, the attention and detail or like the jewelry boxes or, you know, but the tombs themselves, the sarcophagi, I mean, they're just so beautiful. And so, you know, I know you and I have always talked about taking a trip to Cairo and like doing all of that. So I would still love to do that someday. But, you know, for now, we've just had to settle for when it goes on tour and it's definitely worth a look if you haven't seen it. Yes, I can't really recommend this is the last time it's going on tour. So if it's coming towards you, you need to go before it gets in the big museum. Yeah. So, yes, which is when we will have to go is when everything isn't Cairo and we can see it all. Oh, yeah. Okay. So I'm going to talk about, you know, the curse started. Well, and there's debate about when the curse actually started, which I'll get into, but the curse started because there were some deaths associated with the excavation of King Tut's tomb. So the first one I'll cover is George Herbert. And he was the fifth Earl of Carnarvon. Is that sound right? Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. Come on. And so he was the man who like financed the excavation of the tomb. And he is the first one that they say succumb to this curse, you know, if you want to call it a curse. So he, while shaving, he accidentally tore open a mosquito bite and he ended up dying of blood poisoning shortly after that happened. Mm hmm. And this occurred a few months after the tomb was opened. And this happened only six weeks after the press started reporting that there could possibly be a mummy's curse. And you know, they were reporting it as if it could, you know, this could afflict anybody that was associated with disturbing a mummy. And so when he died, and then all of the lights in his house, according to some accounts, and all of the lights in Cairo mysteriously went out. And so people were like, Oh, see the mummy's curse is real. And this is a thing. Hmm. Was he living in Cairo at the time? You know, I didn't look at that. But I mean, it was six weeks later. So I think he would have probably still been there. Yeah, that was a lot of work. And then the second person that I'm going to cover is Sir Bruce Ingham. And he was a friend of Howard Carter, who's the archaeologist who, you know, is credited with discovering the tomb. And apparently Howard gave Bruce a paperweight as a gift, you know, something that he had taken out of the tomb. And this paperweight was actually a mummified hand wearing a bracelet. And some accounts say that the bracelet was inscribed with the phrase, her to be he who moves my body. Oh, so I don't know if that's accurate or not. But that's what some stories say. And Bruce did not die from the mummy's curse, but his house burned to the ground not long after receiving this gift. And then as he was trying to rebuild his house was hit with a flood. Oh my gosh. And so it is said that he then returned to the gift. And nothing else happened to him. Wow. I mean, to be fair though, I mean, so much of, you know, Egyptian lore is like the reason why their tombs are so intricate is so that they're able to transition to the afterlife and like have a whole sort of experience. So yeah, I can see there being some curses associated my hand as a paperweight. Yeah, I mean, sure, like use an amulet or something, but you're going to use my actual hand now. Okay. And then there was a wealthy American financier and he was also a real road executive. And he had visited the tomb in 23. His name was George J. Gold. Okay. And he became sick, like almost immediately after visiting the tomb. And his illness, you know, he just like even when he left Egypt, his his illness never really, you know, he just didn't get better. And then it turned into pneumonia. And he died a few months later of pneumonia. Okay. And then the George Herbert's brother or half brother, they say that he suffered from King Tut's curse, because he was like born with like a degenerative eye condition and he became totally blind later in life. And a doctor suggested because he had like rotting teeth. And they were saying that the rotten teeth were probably impacting his vision. So he decided to have like every single tooth pulled in order, you know, like his hope was like, okay, my teeth are rotten. If I like remove all of that rot, then I'll regain my vision. So that's what he decided to do, which seems like a drastic thing. But you know, his sight did not return. And he ended up dying of sepsis. Oh, wow. So everyone just had blood poisoning. Yeah. Okay. And his death was only five months after the death of, you know, his brother. So people were saying they think that was related. Okay, interesting. And then, yeah, yeah, it didn't say if he like gave him any artifacts or anything like that. But yeah, so I don't know. And then he was Evelyn White. This was a British archaeologist who visited the tomb and he did help like excavate the site. And then by 1924, you know, after seeing that, well, and so this is where there's different accounts. There are some accounts that say that there were two dozen fellow excavator excavators that died. And then, you know, some accounts say only six people died. But it is said that he became really like, I don't know, he believed the curse like he became overwhelmed, thinking that it was going to get him. And so it is said that he died by suicide, but not before writing. And some stories that he wrote this in his own blood. I have succumbed to a curse which forces me to disappear. Huh. Okay. So depression, I hope is this. I don't know, but that's the people are saying he's part of the curse. All right. I mean, that's one way to explain it away, I guess. Yeah. Okay. And then Aaron and Burr was an American Egypt Egyptologist. And he was friends with a lot of the people that were there when King Tut's tomb was opened. And, you know, so he was like involved that he wasn't there when I actually was open. But he died in 1926 when his house embarked Baltimore burned down. And this was less than an hour after he and his wife hosted a dinner party. And apparently he, like, there was time for everybody to get out, but his wife encouraged him to go in and save this manuscript that he was working on about Egypt. And so when he went in to get the manuscript, she like grabbed their son and got out. And then the maid also, the housekeeper also died in the catastrophe. So he, you know, Aaron and Burr never made it out. But the name of his manuscript, according to rumor, is the Egyptian book of the dead. Hmm. And he was, was he like transcribing the book of the dead or was he writing his own sort of story about it? Interesting. Okay. Hmm. Strange. And then it seems like a lot of these people are related, you know, in some way to George Herbert. So this guy was Richard Bethel. And he was the secretary for Herbert. And he was the first person behind Carter to enter the tomb. Now he didn't die until 1929. You know, so this is, you know, I mean, they found the tomb in 22. They opened the actual like death chamber in February 23. He didn't die until 29, but they say it's under suspicious circumstances. And so he was found smothered in his room in an elite London gentlemen's club. Suspicious. Yeah. And then the nodding him evening post said quote, the suggestion that the honorable Richard Bethel had come under the curse was raised last year when there was a series of mysterious fires at his home where some of the priceless finds from Tutankhamen's tomb were stored. But obviously there's no proof that there's a connection between those artifacts and his death. But I thought that was interesting that the, you know, the nodding him post wanted to make it clear that that was a rumor that these fires had to do with these objects. Hmm. Okay. Interesting. Okay. And then there's Sir Archibald Douglas Reed. And he was somebody who was not there at the excavation. But he was the radiologist, the x-ray Tut before the mummy was given to the museum authorities. Okay. And he got really sick the next day after conducting the examination and x-rays on the body. And he died three days later. Oh, wow. Did they say how he died? It didn't say. Just that he got sick in bed. Strange. I mean, I knew, I knew Lord Carnarvon passed. And I knew there was one other guy I knew who passed. But a lot of these are people I didn't realize had also passed. Yeah. And then there's James Henry abreasted. And he was another Egyptologist and was also a member of Parker's team when, and he was, so he was there knowing the tomb was open. And they say that when he returned home, he found that his pet canary had been eaten by a cobra and that the cobra was still living in the canary's page. And people were saying since the cobra is a symbol of the Egyptian monarchy. And a motif that kings wore on their headresses to represent protection. And you know that that was clearly a sign that this had to do with the curse. Interesting. Okay. But James himself, he didn't die until 1935. You know, but and so, but his death did occur immediately after another trip to Egypt though. So, you know, he didn't die, you know, right when the tomb was, you know, excavated or any of that, but he didn't die after another trip to Egypt. I wonder if that's like some sort of eerie warning, like stay away, like stay in your own lane, man. And then he returned and they were like, we warned you. Yeah. That could be. I mean, yeah, I don't know how to cut cobra in a cage. That's pretty. Yeah, that's pretty interesting. If he's from England, how did a cobra get to England is my question? Because cobras are not native outside of like Africa as far as I understood, right? Well, I don't know. But people keep cobras as pets. People, you know, people trade in all kinds of weird things. So that's true. Yeah. Or did somebody like put it there? I don't know. Yeah. Either way, that's still very threatening. And then Carter himself never had any mysterious illnesses or, you know, he didn't have any fiery disaster journey of that. And he, he died of lymphoma at the age of 64. You know, so he would think that he would be like one of the first victims if there was a curse because, you know, he was the one that was like leading all of this. Right. He died like 20 years later or something, you know, of lymphoma. So. Yeah. Okay. So that's, I mean, to me, that doesn't sound really good, you know. Yeah. But again, you would think that he would be like one of the main ones that would be cursed. But yeah. Yeah. And then there's. Oh, sorry. Oh, I was gonna say there's a few others that like, you know, I only found this in one source, but there's a few others that say that they were included in the curse. It was Prince Ali, Kemal of Egypt. And he was shot dead by his wife in 23. And then Sir Lee Stack, the governor general of Sudan, was assassinated in Cairo in 24. And you know, he was also a part of the excavation stuff. Author Arthur Mays of Carter's excavation team was he died of arsenic poisoning in 28. Oh, and then Richard Bethel, who I mentioned before, you know, that was found like he died in his bed, but like smothered. His father committed suicide in 1930. Now I will say, most people that, you know, worked on the tomb or were there for that visited the tomb, whatever. Most of them, you know, don't really believe in the curse. And you know, most of them obviously did not die. They said that there was like 26 members of the actual members of the team that were there and only six of them died. And again, all of them died in like very different ways. So, you know, it's hard to say if it was like a curse, but right now I wanted to go over, you know, there's one Egyptologist named Dominic Montserrat. And he like really did some deep diving and to when did the legend of the curse begin, you know, because a lot of people said it started right after King Touch tomb was found. But he found that there was a club in the UK and London, and where they did a strange strip tease where, you know, they had these mummies that, you know, would strip out of their wraps. And but the whole story behind this dance was that it was like a mummy's curse and the mummy was coming back to life for revenge. And so he says that that's when the first like legend of the mummy's curse was like talked about and people would start telling tales of like a mummy's revenge. And you know, it was like when they found King Touch tomb, they, you know, started talking more about it, but that it had already been a thing, but not a real thing, you know, it was a thing related to this strip tease. Okay, interesting. And then apparently, the author of Little Women, Louisa Mayalcott, she also had written a book called Lost in a Pyramid or the Mummy's Curse. And that happened before, you know, any of this started. So they were saying, yeah, the idea of the Mummy's curse was there before any of this, you know, the excavation or any of that. Okay. So, you know, but that but Montserrat is just arguing that because there were stories of the curse before that were, you know, just based on like fun stories or a strip tease or whatever, that clearly, you know, King Touch curse is not real. And then there was another Egyptologist. And she was at the American University in Cairo. And she was also a National Geographic Society grantee. And her name was Salima Ikram. And she said that there was like ancient Egypt practices, you know, and you know, they considered it like a primitive security system where they would write some like, you know, inscribe some threatening things so that people would like leave the resting place alone. Right. So she says that some other early, you know, even non pyramid tombs or like other walls in Giza, you know, would have things inscribe that were curses and they were just meant so that people wouldn't desecrate or rob the royal resting places. Okay. I mean, that makes sense to me. Yeah. And she said they, she said they tend to threaten desecrators with divine retribution by the counsel of the gods or by death, or were a death by crocodiles or lions or scorpions or snakes. So that's a quote from her. Okay. Well, that makes sense, especially like, as I said, like King Touch tomb was one of the few that like wasn't attached by grave robbers. So there was like something that was like, there's a curse inside, don't come in here. Like, that makes sense to me. Yeah. One, you know, when I read from her, it didn't say specifically that King touch tomb had that, but just that that was like kind of a common thing in Egypt. Okay. That's good to know though, for sure. Yeah. And then there are other people that have suggested that like the, the curse had to do with like pathogens or, you know, dangerous and deadly things that would impact, you know, people with a weakened immune system. So, you know, they were saying that like, because mausoleums, how is not only dead bodies of humans, but animals and foods, um, you know, that were left for them for the afterlife. And so, you know, there's just a lot of things that are rotting and, um, you know, Jeremy and all of that stuff. So they were saying there could be like ancient mold on the mummies. Um, and so that could cause congestion or bleeding in the lungs and lung associated bacteria could cause things like pneumonia, pneumonia, or strep. Okay. And that those kind of things can, you know, grow on the walls of these tombs. That also makes sense. I mean, you've seen like, especially like looking at like, I don't know, science now, they're like taking pieces of glaciers and finding like millions of years old things from like the ice age that are like viruses from way back when, right? Like it makes sense to me that there would be some germs. Yeah, there would definitely be germs. But then there was this other guy and this is a professor of epidemiology. His name is F. DeWolf Miller. And he said that the conditions like in Egypt, you know, outside of the tomb were, you know, pretty bad. He was saying like it wasn't very sanitary in the 20s and, you know, that an underground tomb, um, you know, even if it had some kind of microorganisms or things like that. Um, he was saying that, you know, he felt like it was more unsanitary outside of the tomb just being in Egypt. And so he was saying for him, it just seems like, you know, even if you weren't part of the excavation, there were a lot of people that just died because of the unsanitary conditions. Yeah, I mean, that makes sense to me also. I mean, I have a friend that joined the Peace Corps and was somewhere in Africa and she got cholera just because of the condition she was living in, you know, like she's fine. But I mean, that is a thing because some places it's not sanitary, you're going to get a weird illness. And that's just what happened. Well, and the only one of the, you know, out of all of the ones that I mentioned, only one of them died, you know, of pneumonia-type illness, you know, none of the others did. So, um, yeah, that's a thing. And then, um, and then just to, you know, as the, you know, the curse was continuing to be published about and talked about. So I'll just share these a couple of other places where, you know, the legend showed up. So the times in London and New York World Magazine, um, published, um, speculations that were written by a bestselling novelist, Marie Corelli. Mm-hmm. And, um, the quote from her was the most dire punishment follows any rationed truder into a sealed tomb. Mm-hmm. And, you know, so they were publishing things that people were saying, you know, as if it was, like, fact. Okay. And then author Conan Doyle told the American press that an evil elemental spirit created by priests to protect the mummy could have caused, um, the deaths of these people. I would like to say Sir Doyle sometimes has some wild ass things. I know one of them. Yeah. So, you know, but you have novelist or, you know, people like that that are just kind of spreading the curse with no real, you know, proof for any of that. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. And then, um, and then, you know, so obviously, you know, there's no proof of the curse being found in the tombs and the deaths of these various members of Carter's team. Um, you know, they kept the story alive, you know, because the curse mummy idea was out there after the strategies and other books that were written. And then, you know, obviously, when these things started happening in a fascination with Egypt was growing because of the discovery of King Tut's tomb, they just continued those stories and, you know, embellish some of the stories. Um, and so, you know, it, you know, just kept the stories alive every time there was a new death or something odd circumstance of a fire or something that any, you know, that was related to anybody that was there. Um, you know, but again, no proof. And then Penn magazine, or I'm sorry, Penn Museum, uh, had a quote that said, "Curse be those that disturb the rest of the pharaoh." That, um, they that shall break the seal of his tomb shall meet death by a disease which no doctor can diagnose. And this was supposedly inscribed on an Egyptian royal tomb. They didn't say King Tut's, but, um, so that was just them saying, you know, there were things like that written there that would also feed the stories that, you know, the curse was a real thing and that you should watch out. Okay. Yeah. I mean, that definitely makes sense. Um, that, again, they were like warnings and maybe that's where it came from. But yeah, that's really interesting. Yeah. So do you think there's a curse or do you think it was scary stories so people would leave these people to rest? Or what do you think? Um, I kind of choose to believe there's not a curse. Um, and I think part of it is like, like we said, the like unsanitary conditions and some of these don't really seem linked or, you know, at the time, like we didn't really have antibiotics. So like, things like dying of pneumonia was super common. Um, but I do think like, you know, a big thing, at least to me about King Tut that like people don't talk about is like he's the son of like that pharaoh that like completely changed religions and fucked up a lot of things in Egypt. And because he was like the child of that pharaoh, like when his kind of regime was like overthrowned or whatever, like he, you know, was buried like a pharaoh and everything, but like they struck his name from the record. So King Tut wasn't even like a for real thing. People like found maybe like one artifact that maybe mentioned him. And then we're like, we have to find this king. Um, and that's how they found King Tut. So to me, like thinking about how important it is in like Egyptian culture for like names to be remembered so that you will live on them after life and stuff. Like to me, I would think King Tut would be grateful that, um, he was, um, bound. But anyway, that's just how I see it. But yeah. Yeah. So to me, it's just a fun story. Um, but you know, I, I think it's cool though, if they didn't describe those kind of things just to try to, you know, prevent people from robbing because, you know, none of that belongs to any of us. So, you know, we should leave the dead to rest and, you know, I, although I really appreciate seeing all the beautiful objects, you know, it's not right, you know, to go and rob somebody's grave. So, yeah. Yeah. I kind of like the idea of those earnings are for those kind of people. But it doesn't seem like there's much to the actual curse. Yeah. But it's still a fun story. It is a fun story. Well, so that's all I got for you. Well, thanks for sharing. I really like that one. Um, but friends, if you want to follow us on Instagram, you can do so at what they all pod. You can DM or email us any story ideas or anything like that. You can also follow us on Patreon. Um, and all the lovely things keep liking, subscribing. And outside of that, I just want to say I appreciate you, Mama. I appreciate you too, baby. And we appreciate you two friends. Bye. - Bye. - Bye. [BLANK_AUDIO]