Daily Mirror, 2 September 1904
MUMMY'S CURSE.
Malignant Spell Attaches to an Ancient Coffin.
ROLL OF DISASTER. Is a terrible curse of the priestess of Amen-Ra, who died in Egypt 3,500 years ago, having effect in London to-day?
Absurd as the question may sound, there are many prosaic business men who within the last few days have been given good reason for answering it in the affirmative.
The mummy case which once contained the body of the priestess, who was also a princess, is in the British Museum, numbered 22,452 in the catalogue.
The history of the case, from its discovery to the time of its housing in the Museum, is one of death and disaster, and now, within the last few days, its spell seems to have been at work again.
The gentleman who bought it from its Arab finder in 1864 lost his fortune within a few weeks, and shortly afterwards died. Two of his servants, who had handled the coffin, died within twelve months. A third has lost his arm, owing to a gunshot wound.
Death and Disaster.On being transferred to London the case brought unmeasured misfortunes to its new owner. Then came a startling development, which suggested a connection between these disasters and the mummy case.
A photographer who attempted to make a picture of it got a negative, not of the cast of a face which is on the box, but of a living Egyptian woman, whose features wore an aspect of horrid malignity. Shortly afterwards that photographer died.
The case was then transferred to the British Museum. The carrier who removed it thither died within a week, and one of the men who helped to set it in its place broke his leg next day.
Such is the recorded history of the coffin cover until a few weeks ago. The latest of these extraordinary cases occurred quite recently, and we publish this account on the authority of Mr. W. A. Mansell, the well-known photographer, of 405, Oxford-street, W.
A gentleman interested in Egyptology desired a photograph of the mummy case, and a few days ago commissioned Mr. Mansell's firm to take one. As the case stands in an awkward angle, Mr. Mansell's son and his photographer visited the Museum together to confer as to the best means of performing the work.
Spell at Work Again.When returning home in the train Mr. Mansell, jun., smashed his thumb so badly that he has not been able to use his right hand since. The photographer got home safely, but only to find that one of his children had fallen through a glass frame and sustained dangerous injuries.
Nothing deterred, the photographer returned to the Museum next day, and photographed the case. Lifting his head suddenly as he took the picture, he struck against the frame of a glass case, and cut his nose to the bone. At the same time he dropped a valuable screen, which is rendered useless by the fall.
He succeeded, however, in taking an excellent photograph, which will be reproduced in tomorrow's Mirror.
Can scientists or spiritualists offer any possible explanation of this extraordinary series of disasters?
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Daily Mirror, 1 September 1904
CURSE OF THE DEAD.
Malign Influence of the Egyptian Mummy The curse of the priestess of Amen-Ra—the strange story of which was told in yesterday's Mirror—did not deter hundreds of curious persons from visiting the mummy-room at the British Museum yesterday; and many of them had obviously come for the sole purpose of inspecting the fatal coffin.
In the glass case which contains the relic there is also confirmation of one of the most curious details of the story. It is a copy of the original photograph taken of the mummy case.
Instead of the indifferent world-weary features that look out from the later photograph shown on our front page to-day, this picture shows the face of a living malevolent witch contorted into an expression of devilish menace.
Of this trick of the camera—if such it be—no satisfactory explanation has ever been made.
The story itself has attracted much attention from London mysticists, and yesterday some side-lights were cast upon the spell of the mummy case by a gentleman well known in theosophical circles.
"The belief that a curse is brought down upon the desecrator of the dead," he remarked, "is thousands of years old. It survives to-day, and, among other things, has helped to preserve the grave of Shakespeare from the prying eyes of the twentieth century Goth.
"Before this coffin lid was sent to the British Museum, Madame Blavatsky, the Theosophist, chanced to visit the house in which it was kept, and she was at once aware of some malign and disturbing influence at work. On being shown over the house madame was able to fix upon the mummy case as the source from which it emanated. She begged its owner to get rid of it at once, but, unfortunately, the advice was not then taken.
"A member of my own family once owned a scarab of dull stone, taken from the breast of a mummified Egyptian priest. The thing always repelled me strongly, and I urged him time after time to destroy it. This he finally did, but not until he had suffered terrible bereavement and financial trouble.
"Occult literature is full of similar instances, vouched for by persons of the highest credibility. But how this evil influence comes from disturbing the remains of the dead is at present an insoluble mystery."
A CORPSE AS GUIDE.Noticing a hat and stick on the edge of a deep ravine in a village near Trieste (writes our Vienna correspondent) some shepherds attempted to let themselves down by a rope in search of the owner. The man whom they sought was lying dead, but close by they found a great grotto enormously rich in stalactite.
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Daily Mirror, 2 September 1904
Daily Mirror, 3 September 1904
SPELL OF THE DEAD.
Further Mysteries of the Egyptian Mummy Case.The strange story of the mysterious spell which is attached to the mummy case No. 22,542 in the British Museum has obviously fascinated many of our readers.
The curse of the Priestess of Amen-Ra and the accounts of the terrible fates that have overtaken people who have had anything to do with her coffin have led many readers to write to the
Mirror.
What Is the Meaning of It?Most of them seek for an explanation of the mystery, but it is impossible to give one that would at all satisfy any sane common-sense person. On the other hand, others scoff at the idea of there being any power at work that we do not understand, and suggest that the series of misfortunes are merely coincidences.
One of the most interesting letters on the subject is from a gentleman who asks that his name shall not be published. In a letter, dated Thursday,
he writes:-
As that mummy case remained in my care until it was presented at my request to the British Museum by the owner (a member of my family), and as I was the one who perceived the curious sequence of remarkable occurrences which befell almost all who came into touch with it, I trust you will excuse my telling you that the real facts are even more extraordinary than as told in the Mirror.
I have only learned what has taken place during the last few days from your journal this morning.
I shall, however, be interested to see in tomorrow's Daily Mirror whether the same astral form overshadows the cartouche in Mr. Mansell's photograph as it appeared in the negative of the photograph which I had taken after noticing several recurrences of strange coincidences.
The astral form in my photograph was that of a man, not of a woman, as stated in the Daily Mirror, and the face of the priestess was also visible. I do not consider her face to be malignant.
It may be mentioned that the photograph taken by Mr. Mansell, which was reproduced in yesterday's Mirror, showed the mummy case as it actually appears. There was nothing extraordinary about the photograph, though the misfortunes which overtook the photographers were certainly inexplicable.
In correcting our report about the strange photograph which made the woman appear alive, the writer of this letter seems to be under a misapprehension. There is such a photograph, and a copy of it is in the Museum by the side of the original mummy case.
The photograph, which he says he himself took, showing the astral body of a priest, is one of which our representative had not heard, and is a new and interesting addition to the mystery surrounding this story. The writer proceeds:
You ask for some explanation of the occurrences after the case left my house, among which were four serious accidents and four conflagrations.
He then suggests that the mysterious influence may come from the spirit of this priest, which appeared on his negative. The letter then continues:-
The body of the priestess, to whose mummy the case had been the covering, still rests in its native land, but the hand was brought to England.
That hand was unswathed in my presence, and when the fingers could be unclasped we found several grains of oats within, which were sown in a potful of mould. They soon sprouted, and I watched the shoots grow two feet and eventually yield grain.
"I. C. D." and "G. Birch" and others write suggesting that the disasters have been caused by a malign spirit, but Mr. J. T. Orton, a photographer, of Stamford Hill, boldly champions the cause of the sceptics.
"I have taken a photograph of the mummy case, he writes, "and no evil has befallen me. And to show you how easily the photograph which shows you the face of a living woman may have been produced, I enclose a 'faked' photograph in which the mummy face has been blocked out and a living being's face substituted."
We publish this composite photograph on page 9, but it may be pointed out that there was no reason why the other strange photographs should have been made to deceive.
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Daily Mirror, 3 September 1904