Did 'Mummy's Curse' Kill Egyptian Looters?

Archaeologist Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, reported on his website that looters broke into several of the museums.

Archaeologist Howard Carter and an assistant examine the coffin of Tutankhamen with little regard for the "curse." Time Life Pictures/Mansell/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images from Was there really a curse on King Tutankhamen's tomb? history.howstuffworks.com

(CHICAGO) - Thugs smashed their way into Cairo's Royal Egyptian Museum, the sanctuary of Egypt's priceless past. They sought to smash and grab their way to millions by plundering the royal gold of ancient Pharaohs including the artifacts of the god-king Tut.

Inside the museum they took a turn—a turn for the worse—and came upon the silent sarcophagus's of two fragile mummies. Without much thought the destructive punks ripped the heads from the mummies and kicked them around like soccer balls.

They never got their hands on the gold. The mummy's curse fell upon them.

Security guard al-Hamad Genadry told the Cairo press that when he discovered the two goons they were jabbering and drooling—talking in gibberish to the two severed mummy heads.

"They rolled about on the floor thrashing like curs. It was truly quite a remarkable sight," the 52-year-old museum guard said.

During the uprisings across Egypt that toppled Egyptian ruler Mubarak, bands of thieves roamed the cities taking advantage of the chaos. Some raided the nation's museums stealing, defacing or destroying fragile, priceless antiquities.

Archaeologist Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, reported on his website that looters broke into several of the museums.

Thieves smashed artifacts and stole ancient jewelry, Hawass wrote on his official blog. "A large group, armed with guns and a truck, entered the store, opened the boxes in the magazine and took the precious objects. Other groups attempted to enter the Coptic Museum, Royal Jewelery Museum, National Museum of Alexandria, and El Manial Museum."

Cairo doctors at the Ain Shams University Hospital, consulted about the thieves' condition, speculated that they may have breathed in some of the ancient dust impregnated in the mummies' burial wrappings. "It may be an infection of the brain. We are checking that," an unnamed doctor told reporters at the Cairo National Hospital. "It is, though, a most curious case."

Other doctors have confirmed that the two men have since succumbed to a mysterious malady. Autopsies are planned.

Mummies curses have been promoted by the European press for more than a century. The most famous cases involved the violation of royal Egyptian tombs, especially that of the young Pharaoh, King Tutankhamen.

The idea of a curse has fueled movies as far back as the famous Universal Studios series about a living mummy. Many more British and U.S. horror films have carried the mummy's curse idea forward to millions of viewers.

Although many place the "blame" upon 19th Century British journalists for created the idea of mummies curses, it is well known among Egyptologists that many ancient tombs were sealed with a royal curse: a warning to future grave robbers.

Lesser known is the fact that small cults still exist in Egypt that worship the ancient gods and ascribe to them great powers...

Catch the conclusion of this article at: helium.com

Terrence Aym is a Salem-News.com Contributor based in Chicago, who is well known nationally for his stirring reports on the top ranked site, helium.com. Born in Minnesota, Terrence Aym grew up in the Chicagoland suburbs. Having traveled to 40 of the 50 states and lived in 7 of them, Aym is no stranger to travel. He's also spent time in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Western Africa. An executive for many years with Wall Street broker-dealer firms, Aym has also had a life-long interest in science, technology, the arts, philosophy and history. If it's still possible to be a 'Renaissance man' in the 21st Century, Aym is working hard to be one.

Aym has several book projects in the works. Media sites that have recently featured Aym, and/or discussed his articles, include ABC News, TIME Magazine, Business Insider, Crunchgear.com, Discover, Dvice, Benzinga and more recently, his work has been showing up in South Africa and Russia.