Fun on Friday: Cursed Gold!

Would you open up a box of cursed gold?

Some archeologists in Germany decided it would be a good idea. 

Professor Peter Pfalzner and his team at the University of Tubinge opened up a wooden crate filled with gold artifacts found in King Tutankhamun’s tomb. The gold was sealed up in the wooden box soon after discovery. It hasn’t been opened since.

Some people believe there was a curse on the tomb.

British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered King Tut’s tomb in 1922. Shortly after, a number of people involved in the expedition started keeling over. This fueled rumors that an ancient curse was felling people who dared disturbed the Egyptian king’s final resting place.

Egyptologist James Henry Breasted worked with Carter soon after the first opening of the tomb. He told a creepy story that added to the curse rumors. He said Carter sent a messenger on an errand to his home. As he was coming up to the house, the messenger said he thought he heard a “faint, almost human cry.” When he got to the door, he saw a birdcage. Inside, a cobra had just eaten Carter’s canary. The cobra is the symbol of Egyptian monarchy.

Incidentally, Carter lived another 17 years. He died of lymphoma. He was 64 years old. Now, if I were an Egyptian curse (which I have to admit would be kind of cool), Carter would have been my first target. But apparently offing the dude’s bird was enough.

Nevertheless, believers have connected at least eight deaths to the curse. The first was Lord Carnarvon. He financially backed the excavation team. A mosquito bit him, and after he nicked the bite with a razor while shaving, it got infected. Lord Carnarvon died of a blood infection just 4 months and 7 days after the opening of the tomb.

A number of pop culture figures at the time helped drive the curse narrative. Just a couple of weeks before Carnarvon died, the New York World Magazine published a letter written by Marie Corelli. She quoted an obscure book that confidently asserted “dire punishment” would follow any intrusion into a sealed tomb. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Homes fame also referenced the curse, saying “elementals” created by Tut’s priests to guard the tomb caused Lord Carnarvon’s death.

So anyway, archeologists sealed up this crate full of gold artifacts and never opened it again – until Pfalzner manned up and said, “Vee are not scared of zee curse. Vee shall open up this bad-boy up!”

OK, he probably didn’t say that. But you have to admit the guy showed a little moxie – messing with a curse and all. The Sun put it in pretty blunt terms.

Now nearly 100 years later, one idiot has decided it would be a good idea to open one of the chamber’s chests of gold.”

What Pfalzner (the idiot) and his team found inside was actually quite significant. The crate held almost 100 decorative fittings for bow cases, quivers and bridles. Scientists say some of the imagery was not Egyptian and likely came from as far away as Syria. Pfalzner said he was stunned.

Presumably, these motifs, which were once developed in Mesopotamia, made their way to the Mediterranean region and Egypt via Syria. This again shows the great role that ancient Syria played in the dissemination of culture during the Bronze Age.”

So Pflazner’s defiance of Tut’s curse actually reaped some scientific rewards.

By the way, as far as we know, Pflazner is still alive a kicking. But I can guarantee you this – he will die! You heard it first here. And when he does, you know who I’m blaming!

Here’s something else I can guarantee. SchiffGold only sells curse-free gold. Now is a great time to invest in the yellow metal. Talk to a SchiffGold precious metals specialist today by calling 1-888-GOLD-160. You can have gold today. No rummaging through cursed tombs necessary.

Fun on Friday is a weekly SchiffGold feature. We dig up some of the off-the-wall and off-beat stories relating to precious metals and the economy, and share them with you – with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Click here to read other posts in this series.

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