| 26
November of 1922 the Howard archaeologist Carter,
holding a candle between the hands shaking for
the emotion, penetrated through one small obtained
opening in the door in the tomba of Tutankhamon.
That that saw left it abashed: "Ovunque,
the luccichio of the gold". The colleague
Lord Carnarvon and it, had made the most extraordinary
discovery of the history of archaeology. Some
day after came traced a clay tablet with a geroglifica
registration that it threatened: "anyone
Can the dead women rapire with its tetre wings
dares to disturb the sleep of the Pharaoh".
In you open them successive, Lord Carnarvon died
of one disease not identified. In 1929 - to single
seven years from the discovery - very ventidue
been involved it persons to varied tito in the
clamorous archaeological vicissitude were died
prematurely. "the maledizione of the Pharaoh"
began to holder newspapers, to hunting of the
sensational one, while the archeologi obviously
they denied. However, he is for less singular
imagining that therefore a long and luttuosa chain
of events constitutes only one simple coincidence.
Tutankhamon was son of "the great heretical"
Akhenaton (ca. 1375-1360 a.C.), the first monarch
monotheist of the history. It, abandoned the old
one understood them Tebe and all its templi, of
it had founded one new that had called Akhetaton
(the horizon of Aton), raising it in one locality
today called Tell el Amarna. Akhenaton adored
a single God, Aton, the Sun. But its people, than
felt more to its comfort to nell’adorare
concrete things like the ancient images of the
divinity animals, she did not love this new shape
of religion and therefore spiacque to nobody when
Akhenaton died in young age, perhaps assassinated
(does not go to you to trust the clergymen!).
To the throne it salted the Tutankhamon son, to
the age little more than a child, killed with
a blow to the head to the single age of eighteen
years. From the historical point of view, therefore,
the poor Tutankhamon does not have some relief,
is not sure a Pharaoh to remember. The only thing
that we know of its short reign is that it restored
the ancient cult, bringing back the understood
one them to Tebe. One does not know as it died,
if for one fallen accidental or at the hands of
an assassin. But the stranger part of the history
must still come. The head of the clergymen (rising
of real ciambellano) called Ay. To the dead women
of the young person, married quindicenne vedova
the Enhosnamon, was salted to the power. After
single four years an other usurpatore, general
Horemheb, had encircled the Pharaoh crown. To
the dead women of Tutankhamon it had been anticipated
from Ay and the thing had overwhelmed it of resentment
and hatred. As soon as become taken Pharaoh to
behave itself like a dictator. Come.primo.cosa
gave order to cancel from every monument and writing
the memory of Akhenaton and Tutankhamon and used
the material that was served for the great construction
of tempio the solar one of Tell el Amarna in order
to raise three pyramids in the city of Tebe. The
cortigiani that had been faithful to Ay and Tutankhamon
even had profanate and destroyed theirs tombe
from the new, terrible Pharaoh. Sin that Horemheb
forgot to make the thing more logical: to destroy
the tomba of Tutankhamon, finding, between the
other, its extraordinary one contained of treasures.
How never happened this? The first hypothesis
is that the situated one of the tomba was to all
disowned. But, very to think to us, it seems improbable.
After all, Horemheb was goes up it to throne only
four years after the dead women of Tutankhamon
and quand' also, in principle, the positioning
of the tomba had been secret, goodness knows how
many between clergymen and constructors still
while still alive could, say therefore, "to
be convinced" to reveal of the situated one.
He comes spontaneous to suspect that Horemheb
has not moved, leaving it inviolata, for some
other serious reason... Howard Carter, the man
who to the fine ones was successful to trace the
tomba, had arrived in Egypt from young person
- it was been born in 1873 - and still in its
vent' years had become head inspector of monuments
for the Egypt High and the Nubia. Entering in
action on its suggestion, in 1902 a facoltoso
American of Theodore name Davis, financed a series
of diggings in Goes them of the King the year
before the breakers of tombe, organizes to you
in bands, had attacked armed the lookouts who
watched the hardly discovered access to tomba
of Amenhotep II - thirsty Pharaoh of blood, great-grandfather
of Akhenaton - succeeding to carry via all the
gold and the jewels. Carter, for nothing frightened,
had put itself on their traces and it had made
them to capture, earning one pessima reputation
near the NATO to you. In short, therefore it had
been found to spasso, it is worth to say without
more a job. Theodore Davis had engaged it as designer
and thanks to he interesting discoveries were
successful to pick some, between which the sepolcri
of Horemheb, of great Queen Hatshepsut and the
grandfather of Akhenaton, Thutmose IV. During
this period a singular fact to the history of
the maledizione of the Pharaoh happened relative.
Joe Linden Smith, an other expert accustomed designer
to work on the field with the excavators, had
one moglie ventottenne much pretty one, of Corinna
name. Between their more intimate friends there
were Arthur and Hortense Weigel. It was an English
archaeologist, she, like Corinna, one young American.
A day, while they were coming down in Goes them
of the Queens, Smith and Weigel had noticed a
natural amphitheater that in their imagination
would have been lend to wonder for the rappresentazione
of a teatrale work. They decided, on the moment,
to represent the "mystery of theirs commedia"
and to invite the archaeological community of
Luxor. But the purpose did not only consist in
the pure entertainment. The two shared one deep
admiration for Akhenaton and the developed artistic
production under its reign, the much nearest one
the rappresentazione of the nature that not characteristic
the art excessive stilizzata of other periods.
The primary scope of that putting in scene wanted
therefore to be rising of invocazione to the dèi
so that they raised the spirit of the poor Akhenaton
from the terrible maledizione that had condemned
it for the eternity. Being to the tradition, Akhenaton
Pharaoh was died 26 January of the year 1363 a.C.
Smith and Weigel decided to represent their 26
teatrale job January of 1909 and for that date
they circulated invites to it. 23 January was
the day of the definitive test. The God Horus
- interpreted from Hortense - appeared as for
magic and it was put to speak with the errante
spirit of Akhenaton, promettendogli of esaudire
a its desire. The spirit ready answered of wanting
see again the Tiy. mother Convened with a cerimoniale
ritual, Tiy appeared on the scene in order to
tell all its sadness in seeing the spirit of the
adored son condemned to the eternal solitudine.
Akhenaton answered that also in that one its miseranda
condition it was of comfort the thought of the
only and single God, Aton, and sped up the mother
to intonare a hymn in honor of the God... But
not hardly Corinna had begun to recite the votiva
prayer, had levato a wind therefore strongly to
cover its also stentorea voice. Then it was burst
a thunderstorm that had swept sand and stones
with a such violence terrorizzare the egizi workers,
convinced that the dèi were venting theirs
ira against who had dared parodiarne the life.
The test had been suspended and the improvised
actors had been forced to repair in the field
base, gained in the tomba of Amet-Hu, one of the
powerful governors of Tebe. In the night, Corinna
had begun to complain itself for a bruciore fort
to the eyes, while Hortense had been disturbed
from cramps to the stomach. Both were visited
from the same dream. They are found in the neighbor
tempio of Amon, to the cospetto of the statue
of the God, which, for prodigio, it had been made
living and with a blow of its flagellum it had
hit the eyes of one and the chest of the other,
to the height of the stomach. The morning Corinna,
more than ever suffering, had been made to ricoverare
to the hospital of the Cairo, where the oculista
that had visited it had diagnosed them the more
infectious trachoma - the so-called one oftalmia
of Egypt - than never was capitato to it to meet.
Ventiquattro hours after, had been Hortense to
be subordinate to a difficult surgical participation
to the stomach, in the course of which it had
been found in life danger. Naturally, the rappresentazione
more had not had place. He is Carter who Carnarvon
had been invites to you. In that moment Carter
it worked to the service of Davis. But to leave
from 1914 Davis it changed idea. Convinced to
have embezzled to the sand of the desert all that
that could and be had searched carefully it they
of the King Goes as she could better not herself
have made, determined to abandon the searches
and the diggings. Carnarvon found its concession.
He knew that Davis was convinced to have already
traced the tomba of Tutankhamon in an interment
to sink to the inside of which plates had come
to the light gild to you and some other valuables;
but, he is he that Carter, thought it various
and was sure that the funeral equipment of a Pharaoh,
for how much young person, could not limit itself
to therefore little. Sopraggiungere of the war
delayed the beginning of the diggings until 1917.
Had the way, Carter therefore had begun to dig,
with precision and certosina meticolosità,
rimovendo tons and tons of detritus and sand moved
also from the previous searches. In 1922 Carter
he thought to too much have already profuse money
in the enterprise, and that He goes it them of
the King he would have offered nuller than interesting.
But Carter had insistito, still asking a last
possibility. Therefore 1° the November of
1922 had given to the way to a new digging, tracing
a ditch in direction south regarding the tomba
of Ramesse IV. 4 November the excavators rinvennero
a step, right under the level of the foundations
of some huts that same Carter had carried to the
light the previous one you open them. Before evening
they were the twelve steps dissepolti, a perron
that lead to one sealed stone door. To this point
Carter it had given order to stop the jobs and
had immediately put Carnarvon in alarm, contacting
it in England. After two weeks the companion and
associate were of new in earth of Egypt. With,
the two had made road through the income threshold,
in a gradually increasing atmosphere of excitation,
having intuito that they were penetrating in a
sepolcro conserved integral and inviolato. To
approximately nine meters from the first door
of it they had met an other. With shaking hands,
Carter had gained one small fracture in the angle
up of the slab and had tried launch one look to
here. The flebile light of the torch made it to
catch a glimpse the shapes of strange animals,
golden statues, monili, objects. And then a wagon,
figures in natural dimension, lettucci gilds to
you and inlays to you, quite a real throne all
of gold. But not there were mummie, from the moment
that, like was discovered after, this was only
the tombale antechamber. It was but in this room
that came traced the tablet with already cited,
terrible monito: "anyone Can the dead women
rapire with its tetre wings dares to disturb the
sleep of the Pharaoh". After to have been
deciphered from Carter, unfortunately, the tablet
was disappeared: serpeggiavano already gossips
in merit between local the excavating superstiziosi.
Like if it were not enough, also on a statue of
the God Horus similar what was read one, a strict
warning that it announced in the God I add protecting
of the tomba. 17 February 1923 folto a group of
eminent personalities came invited to assist in
direct situated R-all'.apertura of the funeral
one. They wanted two hours to us in order to open
a sufficient passage to allow a man to slip itself
into the burial room. To this point only an light
stone diaphragm divided the discoverers from the
most extraordinary and narcotic sarcofago that
the world has never known. They decided to send
back the ulterior operations to other date, perhaps
ipnotizzati from the already great wonders that
they had uncovered. And therefore Carnarvon did
not succeed to see it. In you open them fell become
ill. Waked up a mattino, scottava as one stews.
A mysterious fever to 40° had attacked it
in order to continue to afflict it for twenty
days. The doctors spoke endured about infection.
Perhaps, shaving itself, one hurt had been procurato
that the sand of the desert had infected, or had
been stung from some bug. They went to call Carter,
but to the two of mattino the friend and connects
was died. When the family was reached the bedside,
convened of urgency from a nurse, to unexpected
the all the lights had been extinguished and had
been necessary to ignite candles and torchs. Then
the current was returned and the following day
had been known that the incident had been provoked
from a black-out that had put to buio the entire
city of the Cairo. In some versions of the story
of the dipartita one of Carnarvon one says that,
in truth, it was not never known because it was
lacked the light just in that precise moment;
however, nobody never has taken the briga to investigate
near the company electrical worker of the understood
one them in order to deepen the inquiry. Being
to the testimony of the son of Carnarvon, that
evening was happened also an other strange fact,
to migliaia of distance kilometers: while its
landladies died in earth of Egypt, in England
the dog of Carnarvon, after to have to along guaito
and howl, he had been lost heart died to the ground.
The newspapers did not wait for other. They left
newly to loads with the history of the "maledizione
of the Pharaoh". Part of the guilt of all
this fuss was but to debit to the poor Carnarvon.
It in fact had yielded the exclusive right rights
the reports of its extraordinary archaeological
discoveries to the London newspaper "Times",
only modernized press. All the others, you deprive
of clear news and reliable, they had been forced
to invent the reportage, going to wedding every
qualvolta the truth gave dared to embroider to
the fantasy of the reporters. But not there was
just need to invent nothing, because the "maledizione"
continued to offer cues to say little chilling.
Little after the dead women of Carnarvon, Arthur
Mace, the archaeologist active American in the
opening of the tomba, fell in one be of physical
and psychological prostrazione that carried it
to the end. George Jay Gould, the son of the famous
financier American, come in Egypt after the passing
of Carnavorn, on I invite of Carter had oed to
visit the splendid one tomba. The day after had
been waked up febbricitante and in the night if
n' already it had gone. Same fate for Joel Wool,
an English entrepreneur, which, visited the tomba,
it was died for a mysterious fever while it was
re-entering in England. One fine shared, in 1924,
from dottor the Archibald Douglas Reid, an English
biologist who had subordinate the mummia of Tutankhamon
to i beams X, demolished from one inexplicable
weakness as soon as re-entered in native land.
Insomma, in the short one to turn of some month,
at least twelve persons been involved in some
way with the opening or the study of the tomba
died. With 1929 the number was salted to twenty.
In this same year Carter died, officially killed
from the puncture of a bug, while its personal
secretary, Richard Bethell, followed it to short,
broken from a collapse in the house bed. In the
1925 he had preceded them, demolished from an
infarct, professor the Douglas Derry, one of the
scientists who had executed the autopsy of the
mummia of Tutankhamon. An other of the eminent
students, professor the Alfred Lucas had made
company it, for the same appearing cause, hardly
some week of distance. In its book “La maledizione
of the faraoni” the writer Philip Vandenberg
does not list only the dead men sospette to connect
in way directed to the discovery of the tomba
of Tutankhamon, but he remembers to the reader
the great number of students, gets passionate
to you and egittologi died prematurely. It places
in prominence as many times the dead women are
announced from a prostrazione, rising of energetic
exhaustion - same Carter strongly suffered from
this shape of weakening, joined to one depression
- and asks itself if the antichi egizi clergymen
did not know poisons or spore of velenosi fungi,
in a position to conserving their mortal cargo
them in the course of the centuries, with which
protect the tombe from the intruders not appreciate.
Between the many thought sospette and premature
dead men, Francois Champollion, the decoder of
the Stele of Rosette is listed; the great Italian
egittologo Belzoni; the doctor of origin sveva
Theodore Bilharz (from which the name of the famous
disturbance like bilharzia); the archaeologist
Georg collaborating the most tightened Mòller
and than Carter, professor the James Henry Breasted.
It had been just Breasted to report that Carter
had been attacked from the fever after to be come
down in the tomba, and to outline a clinical picture
of the friend and connects decidedly distressing:
concentration inability, ' "unexpected psychological
absence", extreme difficulty to nell’assumere
one any decision. Carter died to 66 years; the
book of Vandenberg takes to the movements from
one conversation between he and dottor the Gamal
Mehrez, general manager of the Department of the
Antiquities of the Museum of the Cairo. Mehrez,
a man of 52 years, on purpose expresses with firmness
its skepticism of the maledizione: "it watches
to Me. Pharaohs history of and mummie are been
involved with practically from when they are been
born. And still he has not succeeded nothing to
me. They are the living test that single draft
and only of mere coincidences ". He had not
never said it! Four months after he came demolished
from a cardiac attack. Even if the same Vandenberg
declares improbable the hypothesis of the coincidences,
when it tries to offer "a scientific"
explanation of the facts does not succeed to propose
nothing of convincing; it arrives also to the
point to accept the idea that the cause can be
the particular shape of the pyramids, in a position
to capturing negative cosmic energy for the human
body and that "the Egyptians knew like influencing
on the process of radioactive decay". We
believe that the same antichi, if they were present,
would be first to deny these absurdities. For
they a maledizione was given off from a magical,
able ritual to evoke and to ridestare one spirit
or guardiano demon, concepts survivors until our
days. The psychical investigator Guy Lyon Playfair
tells in its books the years passed in Brasi them
and describes the long searches in order to investigate
on phenomena of persecution from "poltergeist"
that they seemed to gush like result of a maledizione,
in other words, from an action that we could define
of "black magic". The investigators
are many tilt to think poltergeist - literally
"spirit joker" - one manifestation unconscious
of the mind of an adolescent not still "balanced",
able to make to fly the objects in natural way
through one "psicocinesi spontaneous".
Even if Playfair chip ax this solution for the
greater part of the cases, in some others seems
to leave to mean that the poltergeist it is primed
from the effective disturbing action of "disincarnati
spirits". These entities, blandite with I
affixed to you rituali magical, can "be convinced"
to perseguitare a person or provoking disturbs
alarming in its house. When this happens, an other
specialist, candomblé (the word inherited
from the magical cult of the tradition enters
then in scene African), which she has the task
to drive away the spirit and to bring back the
tranquillity. Concepts, these, legacies to the
spirits use you in order to complete infesting
actions, antichi like the man and that they support
the magical tradition from centuries. An other
investigator today, Max Freedom Long, have studied
to along the religion of the Huna, people of Hawaii,
convincing themselves that the sciamani - known
as kahunas - were able in order indeed to provoke
the dead women through it recite rituale of one
"prayer of dead women". It writes: "the
truth is inequivocabile. For a period at least
seven years, those from me passed to collect given
to doctors and epidemiologie near the Queen Hospital
of Honolulu, not have been year in which me it
is not imbattuto in or more cases in which the
victim that to dispetto of prodigar of all the
doctors died because of mysterious agents catalyze
from one powerful magical action to you, and ".
Long asserts that second the philosophy of the
kahunas, the man is composed from at least three
"I" or spirits: inferior I, that median
and that advanced one. The first one corresponds
roughly to that psychical structure that Freud
has identified in the unconscious one. It supervises
to the vital forces and seems to possess one fundamentalally
emotional connotation. The second corresponds
to the so-called "ordinary knowledge",
that one that regolamenta our living daily. The
third party, advanced I, can come near to the
super-conscious mind and possesses powers that
still today we are not in a position to knowing.
These three I am I accommodate you from the physical
body and if they separate some only to the moment
of the dead women. Understood but to times, than
that inferior he succeeds to come unhooked in
independent way from the others two. Therefore
making legacy to the earth is transformed in a
"spirit", of the sort of that they provoke
the disturbing phenomena of the poltergeist. Being
to the kahunas, inferior I its own memory has
one, dowry that that median one does not possess.
It is for that when the separation is involved
intermediate I, these become an entity derelitta,
therefore straight to ramble without costrutto,
transforming itself in what we call a ghost. Long
asserts that the "prayers of dead women"
always call in cause of the low spirits ",
suggestionabili and easy riducibili to obedience.
For the poor victim of the sortilegio, one true
begins and own torture: hand by hand that the
spirit embezzles it the vital energy, infiacchisce
always more. Long on purpose obtained the greater
part of the information of the hawaiani sciamani
- experiences remembered in a book - from a doctor
of name William Tufts Brigham that had studies
them to you to bottom for many years. It remembered
a particular case. A day had hired a group of
guides and hawaiani bearers in order to complete
a excursion in mountain. Between the portantini
there was a young person of 15 years that, of
blow, had fallen sick man, attacked from a intorpidimento
that salted to it from the feet with slow progression.
It revealed to Brigham that was victim of the
curse of one prayer of dead women. To the end
it had been come to know that the kahuna of the
village, than ce it had it with the white men,
it had sended one prayer of died against the young
person because of its frequentation with a man
white man. For he, anyone worked with a white
man was condemned to become victim of a sortilegio
of dead women. But also Brigham godeva of reputation
of sciamano near the premises, which asked it
to take part. And it had accepted the challenge,
declaring that he would have fought it on the
same one slowly of the kahuna. Leaving from the
task that had been attacked from "spirits
bassi' ', Brigham had convinced the boy that it
was an innocent victim and that entirety would
be resolutions to defeat them, sending back to
the sender - that is to R-he who had hurled to
it against the maledizione - those same negative
forces that instead making he of the evil would
have destroyed the magical agent. The boy had
understood, and promised that he would have engaged
himself in order to recover. For beyond an hour
it strongly remained concentrated on that idea,
then, of blow, the tension and the suffering was
loosens to you. Finally it succeeded to move liberations
the legs and was well. When, some time after,
Birgham were returned to the village, it had found
the boy in optimal health. The kahuna instead
he was dead man, after to have announced to the
others of the village that the wizard white man
had hurled to it against the spirits of the evil.
We return, now, to the main topic of this understood
it. How not to recognize in the weakening suffered
from Carter and the many that came hit from the
maledizione of the Pharaoh the nefarious effects
of the prayer of dead women described from Brigham
and Long? However, in order to recognize it, it
does not seem at all necessary to establish a
connection directed between kahunas of Hawaii
and the magical religion of ancient Egypt. Because,
admitted that Playfair and Long are in the just
one, it is more than ever logical to imagine that
if "the low" spirit and phenomenon poltergeist
can be it uses you for of the operations of negative
magic, also the antichi egizi clergymen of it
made use in order to seal the tombe placing them
like "guardiani of the threshold". In
its book “Egitto segreto”, l’occultista
Paul Brunton describes to the experience of one
night passed in the Room of the King to the inside
of the Great Pyramid. It tells of the strange
feeling not to feel itself single, a feeling that,
little to the time, had been manifested like the
presence of "antagonist entities". "All
around me, it seemed crowded monstrous elementary
creatures, diabolic horrors of the underground
world, grotesque shapes, bizzarre, orribili, reluctant,
from the aspect rozzo... Of spell, as they had
been introduced, they were then passings ".
Endured after, Brunton reveals to have perceived
the clean feeling of being in company of a benevolent
being and having had the vision of two antichi
clergymen. According to Vandenberg, than filler
this news, the story could be solo fruit of the
fervent one and excited imagination of Brunton,
even if it hurries to remember that, when in 1972
also had he visited the Great Pyramid, one mrs.
of the group of unexpected was turned white, had
been felt badly and more it had not succeeded
to move. Ripresasi from the malore, had confessed
to it: "it has happened like if someone,
of blow, it had hit to me with force in order
makes me of the evil". Being to the guide,
"attacks" of the sort were rather common.
If, therefore, these malaises are the mere fruit
of the imagination, null it prohibits to think
that also with respect to the presumed maledizione
of the Pharaoh the same cause can be adduced.
After all, very to consider, Carnarvon later on
died of that seemed to be the puncture of a bug,
others of attacks cardiaci or cardiocircolatori
collapses, that is of causes that seem not to
have null in common with the negative forces that
are given off when the subject becomes victim
of one prayer of dead women. In the course of
a program of the BBC dedicated to this mystery,
Henry Lincoln, interested student of the hidden
one to along of the esoteric case of Rennes-le-Chateau,
have said: "by now they are convinced that
never that one has not existed that people call
maledizione of the Pharaohs". Better. All
adding is sure more reassuring to believe that
it is just therefore. |
