CAIRO: Egypt’s string of disasters that saw the vital Suez Canal entirely blocked and scores of people killed in multiple incidents, has been put down to angered pharaohs by some who think the country has been cursed by the ancient mummies.
For many it was more than just a coincidence that all these travesties happened around the same time as when Egypt decided to transfer 22 royal mummies to a new museum and have said it must be down to what they have called “the curse of the Pharaohs” phenomenon.
The anticipated transfer was the major topic of discussion before the Ever Given container vessel blocked the Suez Canal – a major international shipping route. The incident was shortly followed by a massive train crash in Sohag that killed at least 19 people and left scores more injured.
Crew use excavating equipment to dig out the Ever Given. (uncredited)
The next day a building collapse in Cairo’s Gesr Suez district killing a further 18 people and leaving many homeless. Later, a fire broke out at shops adjunct to Zagazig railway station and another small fire erupted inside Al-Azhar tunnel. Elsewhere, an under-construction bridge column collapsed in Mariotya.
Many people have said it was unusual for all these incidents to occur one after the other, and that there must be a bigger reason to why they have happened – rather than just a run of devastatingly bad luck.
Rescurers work at the site where a building collapsed in Gesr al-Suez, Cairo. (Reuters)
So rather than taking a logical, scientific explanation, an inscription at an ancient tomb was widely circulated online as a possible reason behind the incidents.
“Death will come on quick wings for those who disturb the king’s peace,” reads a curse written on King Tut's tomb.
One Facebook user shared the inscription and wrote: “Please, do not move the mummies from their place, this is better... Beware of the wrath of the pharaohs”.
Two Trains collision accident! Many people killed !! Close the Suez Canal!! House collapse. !! Many people killed too. Al Azhar tunnel fire !! Is this the curse of the pharaohs?? #.moving mummies # نقل المومياوات #hard times in Egypt. pic.twitter.com/Sd9XeicVsp
— TAREK (@TarekhamadTh) March 27, 2021
I have a feeling that the catastrophes that have been happening في مصر over the last few days are all happening because of نقل المومياوات scheduled on the 3rd of April#KeepTheMummiesWhereTheyAre
— HM (@thefamoushesham) March 27, 2021
A curse or bad luck?
The ancient phenomenon suggests that a curse would be cast upon anyone who disturb the mummies of ancient Egypt.
Renowned Egyptologist Zahi Hawass commented on the matter saying the supposed curse of the pharaohs cannot have any relation to the events happening in the country.
Hawass went on to say that there was no such thing as “the curse of the pharaohs” during to a televised interview.
Hawass said the event of transferring the mummies to a new museum will be watched worldwide and is going to be “the country’s biggest promotion”, as quoted by the Daily News Egypt.
The parade of 22 royal mummies will be transferred from the museum in Tahrir Square to their new permanent display at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. The event is scheduled to take place in Cairo on April 3.
In this Friday, March 26, 2021 file photo, Egyptians gather around mangled train carriages at the scene of a train accident in the southern Egyptian city of Sohag. (AP)
