Did an Egyptian Mummy’s Curse Sink the Titanic?
What do the Expert say?
This story was published by the Crime Readers’ Association in their October 2022, newsletter. I have a similar article like this on medium and the link is below, but this has additional information and is more concise.
In the Egyptian Room on the second floor of the British Museum, there is a mummy’s case numbered EA 22542. Various unclear accounts exist on how it came there and why it is empty. The museum’s leaflet states that the mummy was probably left behind in Egypt. However, others say differently. Over 3,500 years ago, Egyptian Princess (or high priestess) Amen-Ra was buried in Luxor, the ancient city of Thebes. In the 1800s archaeologists and possibly graverobbers discovered her mummy. Details are nebulous on how it was bought, but one version says some Englishmen purchased it from an Arab at a party hosted by an English lady. Another version states that three (or four) young Englishmen visited the excavations at Luxor and drew lots for the mummy and the ornate coffin. The winner paid several thousand pounds and had it transported to London. Trouble began immediately. The buyer’s arm was amputated when he was accidently shot during a quail hunt on the Nile. While sailing to England, his two friends died or, some claim, lost everything and became destitute. In London, the mummy created havoc for every new owner, destroying anything breakable in rooms it was placed in; pets went insane, and family members were injured or died instantly. A private collector who bought and stored the mummy in his attic was warned by Madame Helena Blavatsky, a world-renowned spiritualist, that evil emanated from it. After it was donated to the British Museum, night watchmen witnessed or heard strange occurrences and sounds. Even workers and visitors experienced tragedies or death. A photojournalist, who photographed the case, shot himself after seeing a horrifying face in the photograph.
Bertram Fletcher Robinson, noted politician, sportsman and literary figure, against the advice of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and others, spent months researching these tragedies, but died before completing his investigation, supposedly of typhoid fever. The mummy (minus the case) was sold to an American museum and put on a ship, making its maiden voyage. On 15 April 1912, along with 1,517 souls, it went down with the Titanic, after it struck an iceberg. In 1985, Charles Hass, president of the Titanic Historical Society found no mummy listed on the ship’s cargo manifest. Therefore, how did this rumour start?
In the Georgian era, Egyptomania, and later spiritualism, gripped Europe. People were fascinated by mummies and curses. So, when survivors like Federic Kimber Seward reached New York and mentioned that William T. Stead, a journalist who wrote the first articles about the curse, regaled passengers about the cursed mummy, people got confused thinking it was on board and caused the disaster. Stead, unfortunately, perished in the sinking. Captivating theories abound explaining why the Titanic sank, but the curse of Amen-Ra adds a mysterious supernatural element to them. The Titanic tragedy is depicted in my novel Fateful Decisions, where a kind gesture that saves two lives is repaid decades later. Although I don’t mention mummies in the novel, I thought this obscure and spooky theory about its sinking was worth sharing… To read more about Trevor, hop over here.
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