The Truth About the Curse of Egyptian Mummies

A leading Egyptologist has claimed that the story of a mummy venting its anger on those who violate its eternal resting place is largely a product of Hollywood fantasy.

Egyptian mummies are often associated with curses. Photo: Ancient Origins.

According to Xinhua, the conference, which gathered leading experts in the field of Egyptology from around the world, took place in mid-March in Swansea, Wales, and examined the existence of curses and demons.

Dr Kasia Szpakowska, associate professor of Egyptology at Swansea University, Wales, and one of the conference coordinators, confirmed that curses, demons and warnings associated with many burial sites in Egypt do exist. But when they become the subject of Hollywood movies, the truth is often exaggerated into fantasy elements to spread fear among viewers.

About 90 experts from many countries, including Egypt, the land of the pharaohs, attended the international conference and explored the extent and form of manifestation of the imaginative entities that the ancient Egyptians believed brought both good and evil.

"When we talk about entities that stimulate the imagination, you can call them supernatural forces. In both the ancient and modern world, invisible entities often represent or are believed to cause disasters and unexplained psychosomatic illnesses. Across cultures, they have many names such as goblins, imps, fairies, ghosts, demons, little gods, monsters, and angels," said Szpakowska.

"In Hollywood movies, there are always curses and mummies coming back to life. In general, the ancient Egyptians did not believe that mummified corpses could be resurrected. They believed that the dead would go through the stepping stone of death to be reincarnated in the afterlife, healthy, whole and carrying the best of their previous lives," Szpakowska explains.

According to Szpakowska, the ancient Egyptians did create curses and warnings, but not as portrayed in Hollywood movies.

Speakers at the conference included Wael Sherbiny, a researcher famous for discovering a 4,000-year-old 2.5-meter-long artifact containing magic inscriptions and descriptions of gods, the longest and oldest leather manuscript from ancient Egypt. Stuart Tyson Smith, a consultant on The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, was also present at the conference.

While demons may have been familiar to the ancient Egyptians, finding information about them today is difficult, says Dr. Szpakowska.

"Currently, there are no resources for scholars or interested people to consult for more information about these entities. There are several encyclopedias about gods and kings, as well as specialized sources about divine names and their meanings. To fill this gap, our project aims to create a database about these entities," said Szpakowska.

The first database of demons and imaginary entities is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

According to VNE

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