Note: This is a mystery (puzzle) cache. The cache is not at the published co-ordinates, you need to solve the puzzle to find the true location of the cache.
When, in November of 1922, Howard Carter discovered the Tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings the world was really very different then it is today. It was not a time of instant, live television coverage by investigative reporters. Rather, the world of media still belonged to newspapers, and information traveled much more slowly, and less reliably. It was a more superstitious time, and the media was fully adjusted to take advantage of the attribute to sell their publications. It was a time when reporters often simply made up facts in order to sensationalize their stories, and in print, people believed them.
The treasures that Howard Carter discovered in Tutankhamun's tomb were factually sensational, and so the media went into a frenzy covering the event, and the world paid attention.
In late March of 1923, a novelist named Mari Corelli (Mary Mackay) published a warning that there would be dire consequences for anyone who had entered the sealed tomb. Perhaps this revelation was inspired by the fact that on the day Howard Carter opened the tomb, his pet canary was swallowed by a cobra. Cobras, as the goddess Wadjet, were the protectors of the Pharaoh.
Lord Carnarvon financed Howard Carter's explorations. He had been in poor health for over 20 years following a motoring accident. When he died of pneumonia in Cairo on April 5th, 1923, only a few weeks after Mari Corelli's warnings, newspapers and other media throughout the world simply went crazy. As often as not, they made up the facts as they went along. Even Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes and himself a believer in the occult and at this time a very popular writer, announced that Lord Carnarvon's death could have been the result of a "Pharaoh's curse".
However, other facts were simply invented by the press. One newspaper printed a curse reportedly found in the tomb:
"They who enter this sacred tomb shall swift be visited by wings of death."
There was no such curse, but there was one inscription found on an Anubis shrine that stated: "It is I who hinder the sand from choking the secret chamber. I am for the protection of the deceased". This was correctly reported to the public, but one reporter added his own words to the inscription: "and I will kill all those who cross this threshold into the sacred precincts of the Royal King who lives forever."
In addition, newspapers appear to have arbitrarily killed off many of the people surrounding the tomb's discovery. According to one list, 26 people associated with the find died within a decade of its discovery. In reality, only six people died during this first decade, while many others lived to an old age.
Even as late as the 1970's the curse seems to have remained active. While the exhibits were on tour and in San Francisco, one policeman guarding Tutankhamun's gold funerary mask claimed he had a mild stroke because of the curse. A judge dismissed this claim, but visits around today's internet still provide some wildly inventive information. Some web sites allude to the fact that, by 1969, only two members of the original excavation team had avoided the curse. Of course, being some 46 years after the tomb's discovery, even the youngest professional members of the team would have probably been in their seventies or beyond!
But then again....
Today, archaeologists wear protective gear when unwrapping mummies. In 1999, Gotthard Kramer, a German microbiologist from the University of Leipzip, suggested that there might be some truth to the mummies curse. Studying 40 different mummies, he identified several potentially dangerous mold spores. He believes that when tombs were first opened, fresh air could have disturbed these spores, blowing them into the air, and perhaps, creating health problems.
The Curse as a Blessing
In reality, the curse of the mummy probably did more good than harm. Many early movies were made about the curse, in addition to the widespread media coverage. Even today, movies continue to be made with at least an underlying sense of the curse. All of this has bought several revivals of interest in Egyptology to the world, and there is no doubt about the blessings that the curse has bestowed on Egypt's tourist industry.
Legend or not there is however no curse upon this cache or your quest for the fabulous treasures that lie within. In fact, even from beyond the grave this 3500 year
old Egyptian will show you the way.
Make sure to take one of the paper slips provided which gives the distance from this cache to "Ancient Egypt - Top of the Pyramid"