1 00:00:15,370 --> 00:00:27,090 Speaker 1: Pushkin. Three and a half thousand years ago, in ancient Egypt, 2 00:00:27,490 --> 00:00:32,490 Speaker 1: the Princess of Munrah passed away. She was laid to 3 00:00:32,570 --> 00:00:36,490 Speaker 1: rest in an exquisite wooden coffin and buried in a 4 00:00:36,610 --> 00:00:40,610 Speaker 1: deep vault at Luxor on the banks of the Mighty Nile. 5 00:00:41,610 --> 00:00:45,650 Speaker 1: More than thirty centuries later, in the late eighteen hundreds, 6 00:00:46,250 --> 00:00:51,090 Speaker 1: four young English tourists, rich gentlemen all were offered the 7 00:00:51,210 --> 00:00:56,050 Speaker 1: chance to purchase a delightfully painted mummy case. They drew 8 00:00:56,090 --> 00:00:58,930 Speaker 1: lots to decide who had the right to buy the prize. 9 00:01:00,450 --> 00:01:04,050 Speaker 1: The man who won paid a small fortune and had 10 00:01:04,090 --> 00:01:08,450 Speaker 1: the coffin taken to his hotel. A few hours later, 11 00:01:09,250 --> 00:01:14,810 Speaker 1: he was seen walking out onto the Lone and Level Sands. 12 00:01:16,010 --> 00:01:20,290 Speaker 1: He was never to return. The second fellow was wounded 13 00:01:20,330 --> 00:01:24,330 Speaker 1: in a hunting accident. He lost his arm. The third 14 00:01:24,370 --> 00:01:28,010 Speaker 1: man lost everything in a bank run. The fourth was 15 00:01:28,050 --> 00:01:32,130 Speaker 1: struck with a severe illness, lost his job, and ended 16 00:01:32,170 --> 00:01:36,730 Speaker 1: his days selling matches on street corners. The coffin case 17 00:01:36,930 --> 00:01:41,410 Speaker 1: was purchased by another gentleman. His house caught fire and 18 00:01:41,530 --> 00:01:45,250 Speaker 1: he quickly donated the unlucky item to the British Museum. 19 00:01:46,250 --> 00:01:51,130 Speaker 1: The removal did not go smoothly, the removal wagon lost 20 00:01:51,130 --> 00:01:55,250 Speaker 1: control and hit a passer by. One workman fell and 21 00:01:55,330 --> 00:01:59,530 Speaker 1: broke his leg while carrying the casket. His colleague simply 22 00:01:59,690 --> 00:02:05,730 Speaker 1: died inexplicably. Two days later. Night watchman at the museum 23 00:02:05,770 --> 00:02:11,770 Speaker 1: frequently heard sobbing and hammering from inside the coffin. One 24 00:02:12,090 --> 00:02:16,410 Speaker 1: died on duty, the others refused to go near the 25 00:02:16,450 --> 00:02:20,970 Speaker 1: Egyptian room where the item was stored. A visitor who 26 00:02:21,090 --> 00:02:26,290 Speaker 1: treated the exhibition with scorn soon paid the price. His 27 00:02:26,490 --> 00:02:31,490 Speaker 1: child died of measles. The photographer took a picture of 28 00:02:31,530 --> 00:02:36,090 Speaker 1: the case, but when he developed the picture, he saw 29 00:02:36,330 --> 00:02:43,370 Speaker 1: only a tormented human face. The photographer went home, locked 30 00:02:43,450 --> 00:02:49,810 Speaker 1: his door, and shot himself. The British museum sold the 31 00:02:49,930 --> 00:02:54,210 Speaker 1: cursed object to a private collector, who soon regretted the purchase. 32 00:02:54,690 --> 00:02:58,210 Speaker 1: Eventually he found a buyer bold or foolish enough to 33 00:02:58,250 --> 00:03:03,330 Speaker 1: take it off his hands, an American archeologist who simply 34 00:03:03,410 --> 00:03:09,450 Speaker 1: did not believe in unlucky mummies. He paid top for 35 00:03:09,490 --> 00:03:12,650 Speaker 1: the coffin case and arranged to have it shipped across 36 00:03:12,690 --> 00:03:18,170 Speaker 1: the Atlantic to New York for safekeeping. The lid of 37 00:03:18,250 --> 00:03:22,530 Speaker 1: the coffin of the Princess of Munrah traveled on the 38 00:03:22,570 --> 00:03:26,850 Speaker 1: bridge of the finest ocean liner in the world, the 39 00:03:27,010 --> 00:03:32,730 Speaker 1: Pride of the White Star Line. The ship's name was 40 00:03:32,770 --> 00:03:41,170 Speaker 1: the Titanic. I'm Tim Harford and you're listening to cautionary tales. 41 00:04:03,810 --> 00:04:08,210 Speaker 1: In nineteen twenty two, a decade after the Titanic had 42 00:04:08,290 --> 00:04:13,730 Speaker 1: slipped beneath the icy waters of the North Atlantic, another archeologist, 43 00:04:14,410 --> 00:04:17,810 Speaker 1: the Englishman Howard Carter, was at the head of the 44 00:04:17,890 --> 00:04:21,530 Speaker 1: Valley of the Kings in the heart of ancient Egypt. 45 00:04:22,130 --> 00:04:27,170 Speaker 1: He was patiently encamped outside what he described as a 46 00:04:27,290 --> 00:04:34,250 Speaker 1: magnificent tomb with seals intact. It had been a long wait. 47 00:04:35,250 --> 00:04:38,970 Speaker 1: Not just the three weeks for Carter's patron and financier, 48 00:04:39,250 --> 00:04:44,090 Speaker 1: Lord Carnarvon to arrive, not just the fifteen years of 49 00:04:44,250 --> 00:04:49,130 Speaker 1: excavating different sites around the valley with limited success. No 50 00:04:49,850 --> 00:04:57,450 Speaker 1: someone or something had been waiting still longer, for more 51 00:04:57,490 --> 00:05:04,770 Speaker 1: than three thousand years. Deep inside that tomb, behind a 52 00:05:04,810 --> 00:05:09,370 Speaker 1: sealed door, a corridor filled with rubble, another sealed door, 53 00:05:09,370 --> 00:05:12,810 Speaker 1: a chamber full of treasures, and yet another sealed door, 54 00:05:13,850 --> 00:05:20,010 Speaker 1: was something that nobody had dared to disturb for millennia, 55 00:05:20,290 --> 00:05:24,570 Speaker 1: and perhaps with good reason. Everyone knew the story of 56 00:05:24,610 --> 00:05:29,450 Speaker 1: the Unlucky Mummy and the Titanic. Such tales were popular 57 00:05:29,530 --> 00:05:35,970 Speaker 1: in late Victorian and Edwardian society. A famous psychic, Count Hayman, 58 00:05:36,770 --> 00:05:42,290 Speaker 1: sent a telegram with a warning Lord Carnarvon not to 59 00:05:42,490 --> 00:05:48,010 Speaker 1: enter tomb. Disobey at peril. If ignored, will suffer sickness, 60 00:05:48,530 --> 00:05:54,450 Speaker 1: not recover, death will claim him in Egypt. And yet 61 00:05:55,090 --> 00:06:00,610 Speaker 1: Lord Carnarvon had come after weeks of further digging. He 62 00:06:00,650 --> 00:06:04,850 Speaker 1: now stood at the shoulder of Howard Carter, who, after 63 00:06:04,930 --> 00:06:08,410 Speaker 1: patiently working on a small hole into the burial chamber, 64 00:06:09,090 --> 00:06:13,090 Speaker 1: were to candle to the hole and peered in. At 65 00:06:13,130 --> 00:06:18,130 Speaker 1: first I could see nothing, Carter later recalled, But presently, 66 00:06:18,170 --> 00:06:21,370 Speaker 1: as my eyes grew accustomed to the light, details of 67 00:06:21,410 --> 00:06:25,810 Speaker 1: the room emerged slowly from the mist, strange animals, statues, 68 00:06:25,930 --> 00:06:29,690 Speaker 1: and gold everywhere, the glint of gold. For the moment 69 00:06:29,930 --> 00:06:33,330 Speaker 1: I was struck dumb with amazement. And when Lord Carnarvon, 70 00:06:33,610 --> 00:06:38,650 Speaker 1: unable to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, can't 71 00:06:38,650 --> 00:06:41,370 Speaker 1: you see anything? It was all I could do to 72 00:06:41,410 --> 00:06:50,890 Speaker 1: get out the words, yes, wonderful things, wonderful things. Perhaps 73 00:06:52,690 --> 00:06:57,210 Speaker 1: these treasures were there to guard and sustain the mummified 74 00:06:57,250 --> 00:07:02,490 Speaker 1: body and the golden burial mask of the young pharaoh Tutankhamen. 75 00:07:03,610 --> 00:07:08,490 Speaker 1: The story was a sensation. The world's press had gathered 76 00:07:08,530 --> 00:07:11,410 Speaker 1: in Kira and were jostling for access to the tomb 77 00:07:11,770 --> 00:07:16,090 Speaker 1: or to Carter or Carnarvin. The Times of London lauded 78 00:07:16,090 --> 00:07:20,610 Speaker 1: it over the other papers, having paid handsomely for exclusive access, 79 00:07:21,330 --> 00:07:24,970 Speaker 1: But every newspaper was there, and every newspaper had an angle. 80 00:07:26,130 --> 00:07:31,010 Speaker 1: These rival newspapers reported that Carter and Carnarvon had deliberately 81 00:07:31,090 --> 00:07:34,930 Speaker 1: destroyed a terrible warning over the tomb because they were 82 00:07:34,970 --> 00:07:39,370 Speaker 1: afraid that the locals would refuse to dig that warning. 83 00:07:39,370 --> 00:07:45,770 Speaker 1: Red death shall calm on swift wings to whoever toucheth 84 00:07:46,050 --> 00:07:52,130 Speaker 1: the tomb of the pharaoh. Reports too, that Carnarvon had 85 00:07:52,130 --> 00:07:56,330 Speaker 1: received a tiny injury in the tomb. A stinging or 86 00:07:56,450 --> 00:08:00,850 Speaker 1: biting insect had pierced the skin on his cheek just 87 00:08:01,130 --> 00:08:04,770 Speaker 1: as he had entered the presence of Teuton. Carmen and 88 00:08:04,930 --> 00:08:08,170 Speaker 1: Count Hayman was not the only person to have warned 89 00:08:08,210 --> 00:08:13,930 Speaker 1: about the consequences of Lord Carnarvan's arrogance. One eyewitness turned 90 00:08:13,930 --> 00:08:17,410 Speaker 1: to the fellow standing next to him I give him 91 00:08:17,450 --> 00:08:23,690 Speaker 1: six weeks to live. Nearly six weeks later, Lord Carnarvan's 92 00:08:23,730 --> 00:08:26,930 Speaker 1: family were rushing to be at his side in Cairo. 93 00:08:27,890 --> 00:08:31,890 Speaker 1: He was gravely ill. A wound on his cheek was infected, 94 00:08:32,210 --> 00:08:36,290 Speaker 1: and the malady was spreading through his body. The Express 95 00:08:36,290 --> 00:08:41,210 Speaker 1: newspaper reported that at the moment that Lord Carnarvan breathed 96 00:08:41,330 --> 00:08:47,050 Speaker 1: his last feeble breath, the lights in his hotel went out, 97 00:08:47,970 --> 00:08:53,730 Speaker 1: plunging all into darkness. Death had claimed him. In Egypt, 98 00:08:54,690 --> 00:08:59,530 Speaker 1: it was another pharaoh's curse, and it had claimed its 99 00:08:59,690 --> 00:09:10,770 Speaker 1: first victim. Cautionary tales are true stories of disaster and 100 00:09:10,970 --> 00:09:13,770 Speaker 1: lessons for us all to learn lest we make the 101 00:09:13,850 --> 00:09:18,450 Speaker 1: same mistake ourselves. But what lesson should we learn from 102 00:09:18,530 --> 00:09:22,610 Speaker 1: stories about the Unlucky Mummy or the curse of Tuton Carmen. 103 00:09:23,850 --> 00:09:28,050 Speaker 1: First let's establish what exactly is said to have happened 104 00:09:28,130 --> 00:09:33,050 Speaker 1: to Carnarvon and Carter's expedition. The first indication of trouble 105 00:09:33,210 --> 00:09:37,650 Speaker 1: was a little on the nose, the death of a canary. 106 00:09:37,810 --> 00:09:41,690 Speaker 1: Howard Carter's beloved pet canary had been eaten by a 107 00:09:41,810 --> 00:09:46,370 Speaker 1: cobra the day Carter began to excavate the tomb the 108 00:09:46,450 --> 00:09:49,450 Speaker 1: cobra was well known as a symbol of the power 109 00:09:49,490 --> 00:09:55,690 Speaker 1: of the pharaohs. Another symbol was the jackal, representative of Anubis, 110 00:09:55,730 --> 00:09:59,890 Speaker 1: the Egyptian god of the dead. In his diary, Howard 111 00:09:59,930 --> 00:10:05,890 Speaker 1: Carter recorded the unsettling site of two black jackals, the 112 00:10:06,090 --> 00:10:09,690 Speaker 1: very image of Anubis. He noticed that it was the 113 00:10:09,770 --> 00:10:13,810 Speaker 1: first time he had seen a blackjackal despite thirty five 114 00:10:14,010 --> 00:10:18,770 Speaker 1: years working in Egypt. Carter's canary wasn't the only pet 115 00:10:18,810 --> 00:10:24,050 Speaker 1: to suffer. Lord Carnarvan's dog howled in sorrow and then 116 00:10:24,050 --> 00:10:28,610 Speaker 1: expired at the same moment that Carnarvon himself did, which 117 00:10:28,650 --> 00:10:31,610 Speaker 1: is all the more remarkable since Carnarvon was in Cairo 118 00:10:32,090 --> 00:10:35,370 Speaker 1: while the dog was in high Clear Castle in southern England. 119 00:10:35,810 --> 00:10:38,290 Speaker 1: High Clear is better known these days as the filming 120 00:10:38,370 --> 00:10:43,290 Speaker 1: location for Downton Abbey. If it had just been Carnarvern 121 00:10:43,410 --> 00:10:46,930 Speaker 1: and a menagerie, that would be one thing, But the 122 00:10:46,930 --> 00:10:52,650 Speaker 1: Pharaoh's thirst for revenge was not easily slaked. Soon Howard 123 00:10:52,690 --> 00:10:56,130 Speaker 1: Carter was showing signs of illness too, and the list 124 00:10:56,170 --> 00:11:00,210 Speaker 1: of people struck down by the curse grew and grew. 125 00:11:01,250 --> 00:11:04,890 Speaker 1: A railroad baron from pneumonia after visiting the tomb of 126 00:11:04,930 --> 00:11:09,770 Speaker 1: Teuton Carmen in nineteen twenty three. The same year Lord 127 00:11:09,850 --> 00:11:14,370 Speaker 1: Carnarvan's half brother. A year later, a close colleague of 128 00:11:14,450 --> 00:11:19,450 Speaker 1: Carter suffered a breakdown and retired. A noted radiologist, after 129 00:11:19,490 --> 00:11:25,250 Speaker 1: performing an X ray of Teutoncarman's sarcophagus, died mysteriously. Also 130 00:11:25,490 --> 00:11:29,690 Speaker 1: in nineteen twenty four, a leading British diplomat was assassinated 131 00:11:29,690 --> 00:11:34,210 Speaker 1: in Cairo again in nineteen twenty four. A respected French 132 00:11:34,330 --> 00:11:40,610 Speaker 1: egyptologist died in nineteen twenty six after stumbling near Teutencarman's tomb. 133 00:11:41,450 --> 00:11:46,210 Speaker 1: Carnarvan's secretary survived a little longer. He died in his 134 00:11:46,290 --> 00:11:51,650 Speaker 1: sleep in nineteen twenty nine in circumstances also said to 135 00:11:51,690 --> 00:11:55,930 Speaker 1: be mysterious, and The Times of London noted that he 136 00:11:56,050 --> 00:12:00,490 Speaker 1: is believed to have been troubled by the legendary curse 137 00:12:01,050 --> 00:12:06,570 Speaker 1: of the Pharaohs. The man's father, Lord Westbury, killed himself 138 00:12:07,010 --> 00:12:12,130 Speaker 1: three months later. His suicide note included the line I 139 00:12:12,210 --> 00:12:18,610 Speaker 1: really can't stand any more horrors, but the horrors kept coming. 140 00:12:19,890 --> 00:12:24,130 Speaker 1: Lord Westborough's hearse knocked down a boy of eight on 141 00:12:24,170 --> 00:12:27,610 Speaker 1: the way to the cemetery. The boy had died to 142 00:12:27,650 --> 00:12:31,650 Speaker 1: satisfy the honor of a three thousand year old Egyptian. 143 00:12:32,090 --> 00:12:35,010 Speaker 1: The man who'd given Lord Carnarvon six weeks to live, 144 00:12:35,250 --> 00:12:38,930 Speaker 1: was to die. In nineteen thirty four, The Daily Express 145 00:12:39,210 --> 00:12:44,570 Speaker 1: noted that he had been killed by the curse. Finally, 146 00:12:45,290 --> 00:12:49,770 Speaker 1: in nineteen thirty nine, Howard Carter, the leader of the expedition, 147 00:12:50,050 --> 00:12:52,730 Speaker 1: the man who was the first to glimpse the mask 148 00:12:52,810 --> 00:12:57,250 Speaker 1: of Teuton Carmen in more than three thousand years, died 149 00:12:58,530 --> 00:13:01,810 Speaker 1: after picking off his pet, his patron, his friends, and 150 00:13:01,970 --> 00:13:06,850 Speaker 1: his colleagues one by one. The Pharaoh's curse finally came 151 00:13:06,930 --> 00:13:11,890 Speaker 1: for Carter, a man doomed to watch all around him die. 152 00:13:13,610 --> 00:13:18,570 Speaker 1: Even then, the curse was not lifted. After four decades 153 00:13:18,610 --> 00:13:22,050 Speaker 1: in a museum in Cairo, the Egyptian government arranged to 154 00:13:22,090 --> 00:13:25,610 Speaker 1: have Teuton Carmen's mask and treasures exhibited in Paris and 155 00:13:25,810 --> 00:13:31,610 Speaker 1: later in London. Numerous untimely deaths followed, in particular of 156 00:13:31,770 --> 00:13:37,370 Speaker 1: two successive directors of Egyptian antiquities. A Royal Air Force 157 00:13:37,450 --> 00:13:40,130 Speaker 1: crew took on the job of flying the treasures from 158 00:13:40,250 --> 00:13:44,170 Speaker 1: Cairo to London and paid the price. One of them 159 00:13:44,290 --> 00:13:48,930 Speaker 1: jokingly kicked the box containing the pharaoh's mask. I've just 160 00:13:49,050 --> 00:13:52,730 Speaker 1: kicked the most expensive thing in the world. Later, a 161 00:13:52,890 --> 00:13:58,410 Speaker 1: ladder broke underneath him for no apparent reason. That leg 162 00:13:58,530 --> 00:14:02,770 Speaker 1: was in plaster for five months. Another crewman lost everything 163 00:14:02,770 --> 00:14:06,810 Speaker 1: in a house fire. A third suffered two heart attacks 164 00:14:06,850 --> 00:14:10,210 Speaker 1: in his thirties, while two others died of heart attacks 165 00:14:10,210 --> 00:14:15,450 Speaker 1: in their forties, including flight engineer Ken Parkinson. His wife 166 00:14:15,490 --> 00:14:18,250 Speaker 1: said that he had had a heart attack every year 167 00:14:18,570 --> 00:14:21,370 Speaker 1: at the same time of year until the last one 168 00:14:21,490 --> 00:14:26,090 Speaker 1: killed him. Let's try to be rational about this. Could 169 00:14:26,090 --> 00:14:29,130 Speaker 1: there have been some toxic substance in the tomb that 170 00:14:29,290 --> 00:14:34,890 Speaker 1: caused death as possible. One explanation is that some strange virus, mold, 171 00:14:34,970 --> 00:14:38,650 Speaker 1: or bacteria evolved in there, ready to burst out and 172 00:14:38,730 --> 00:14:42,650 Speaker 1: wreak havoc. A second possibility is that the ancient Egyptians 173 00:14:42,730 --> 00:14:47,050 Speaker 1: were masters of poison and primed the tomb with toxic 174 00:14:47,170 --> 00:14:51,530 Speaker 1: paints or powders. Or perhaps the tomb was built out 175 00:14:51,530 --> 00:14:56,290 Speaker 1: of radioactive material, delivering a lethal dose to grave robbers 176 00:14:56,290 --> 00:15:02,330 Speaker 1: with a temerity to disturb it. All of these explanations 177 00:15:02,530 --> 00:15:06,930 Speaker 1: have been attributed to scientists, but there are some obvious subjections. 178 00:15:07,410 --> 00:15:12,330 Speaker 1: Radiation is easily de tected. If Tutankhamen's tomb was packed 179 00:15:12,370 --> 00:15:15,250 Speaker 1: with plutonium, I think we'd know about it by now. 180 00:15:15,970 --> 00:15:21,170 Speaker 1: The epidemiologist F. Dewolfe. Miller recently told National Geographic that 181 00:15:21,570 --> 00:15:25,010 Speaker 1: we don't know of even a single case of either 182 00:15:25,050 --> 00:15:30,410 Speaker 1: an archaeologist or a tourist experiencing any negative consequences from 183 00:15:30,450 --> 00:15:34,490 Speaker 1: either two molds or bacteria. He added that given the 184 00:15:34,530 --> 00:15:37,530 Speaker 1: sanitary conditions of the time in general, and those within 185 00:15:37,650 --> 00:15:41,650 Speaker 1: Egypt in particular, Lord Carnarvon would likely have been safer 186 00:15:41,970 --> 00:15:47,690 Speaker 1: in the tomb than outside. Anyway, no toxin could explain 187 00:15:47,930 --> 00:15:51,370 Speaker 1: all the mysterious deaths of all these different people across 188 00:15:51,410 --> 00:15:57,010 Speaker 1: the decades. But something else might, something as strange as 189 00:15:57,250 --> 00:16:02,450 Speaker 1: any fairnic curse. We'll find out more after the break. 190 00:16:11,250 --> 00:16:14,930 Speaker 1: Let's move from the realm of ancient curses to the 191 00:16:14,970 --> 00:16:19,370 Speaker 1: world of cutting edge science. Cutting edge that is, from 192 00:16:19,370 --> 00:16:24,650 Speaker 1: the perspective of seventeen eighty four. We're in Paris, the 193 00:16:24,770 --> 00:16:29,410 Speaker 1: Febrile decade before the Revolution and the guillotine. A strange 194 00:16:29,410 --> 00:16:34,810 Speaker 1: cylinder of polished oak with nautical fittings, ropes, brass wheels, 195 00:16:34,850 --> 00:16:38,170 Speaker 1: and iron rods stands in front of us in the 196 00:16:38,250 --> 00:16:42,770 Speaker 1: center of a room with an audience poor souls, wretched 197 00:16:42,890 --> 00:16:47,410 Speaker 1: invalids seeking healing. A brought in firmly fastened to the 198 00:16:47,490 --> 00:16:51,610 Speaker 1: cylinder by the ropes, then touch their diseased bodies to 199 00:16:51,650 --> 00:16:54,690 Speaker 1: the iron rods. They're ready to be healed by the 200 00:16:54,850 --> 00:17:01,170 Speaker 1: awesome scientific power of magnetism. To add to the sense 201 00:17:01,210 --> 00:17:06,210 Speaker 1: of occasion, a glass harmonica, a strange instrument invented by 202 00:17:06,250 --> 00:17:13,090 Speaker 1: Benjamin Franklin, plays is earie music. A contemporary account describes 203 00:17:13,130 --> 00:17:17,010 Speaker 1: how the patients would cough, spit, feel slight pain, a 204 00:17:17,130 --> 00:17:21,410 Speaker 1: warmth either localized or all over, and perspire. Others are 205 00:17:21,450 --> 00:17:27,490 Speaker 1: agitated by quick, involuntary movements. These effects build over several hours, 206 00:17:27,650 --> 00:17:32,690 Speaker 1: with crescendos of screams, sobs, hysterical laughter, and of course, 207 00:17:33,130 --> 00:17:36,930 Speaker 1: the arm monica. The climax occurs with the appearance of 208 00:17:36,970 --> 00:17:42,450 Speaker 1: the device's inventor, dressed in gold slippers and a silk robe, 209 00:17:42,450 --> 00:17:45,890 Speaker 1: waving a wand and laying on hands, provoking yet more 210 00:17:46,010 --> 00:17:53,610 Speaker 1: convulsions and hysterics. It's Franz Anton Mesmer, the man who 211 00:17:53,650 --> 00:17:59,530 Speaker 1: gave us the word mesmerize. Mesmer was a sensation in 212 00:17:59,690 --> 00:18:04,090 Speaker 1: pre revolutionary France. A seat at his magnetic device was 213 00:18:04,170 --> 00:18:08,090 Speaker 1: the hottest ticket in Paris. The charge was steep, but 214 00:18:08,130 --> 00:18:12,250 Speaker 1: there was no shortage of eager customers. Some were desperate 215 00:18:12,250 --> 00:18:14,970 Speaker 1: for healing, others were in it for the thrill and 216 00:18:15,010 --> 00:18:19,010 Speaker 1: the ability to describe their experiences later in the salon. 217 00:18:19,970 --> 00:18:25,090 Speaker 1: The Queen herself, Marie Antoinette, was a follower of Mesma, 218 00:18:25,930 --> 00:18:29,370 Speaker 1: so was a hero of the American Revolution, the Marquis 219 00:18:29,410 --> 00:18:34,130 Speaker 1: de Lafayette. But while Mesma himself claimed to be at 220 00:18:34,130 --> 00:18:38,930 Speaker 1: the very forefront of scientific thought and practice, the scientific 221 00:18:39,050 --> 00:18:44,770 Speaker 1: establishment was less impressed. Indeed, the Society of Medicine refused 222 00:18:44,930 --> 00:18:51,010 Speaker 1: even to debunk his treatments, ignoring him completely. But Mesmo 223 00:18:51,130 --> 00:18:55,290 Speaker 1: Romania could not be ignored for long, and soon the 224 00:18:55,490 --> 00:19:00,930 Speaker 1: King demanded a proper investigation into this strange sorcerer scientist 225 00:19:01,010 --> 00:19:06,770 Speaker 1: and his methods. That investigation would include France's finest scientists, 226 00:19:07,330 --> 00:19:11,970 Speaker 1: led by a distinguished foreign authority, none other than Benjamin 227 00:19:12,050 --> 00:19:17,530 Speaker 1: Franklin himself. Franklin's team conducted a test in which a 228 00:19:17,650 --> 00:19:21,210 Speaker 1: patient sat in front of a closed door. She was 229 00:19:21,250 --> 00:19:25,170 Speaker 1: told that a noted mesmerist was behind it performing his 230 00:19:25,370 --> 00:19:31,930 Speaker 1: magnetic treatments. The investigators described the results after three minutes. 231 00:19:32,290 --> 00:19:36,490 Speaker 1: She stretched both arms behind her back, twisting them strongly 232 00:19:36,570 --> 00:19:40,490 Speaker 1: and bending her body forward. Her whole body shook. The 233 00:19:40,610 --> 00:19:42,970 Speaker 1: chatter of her teeth was so loud that it could 234 00:19:42,970 --> 00:19:46,410 Speaker 1: be heard from outside. She bit her hand hard enough 235 00:19:46,410 --> 00:19:51,090 Speaker 1: to leave teeth marks. The mesmerist, of course, wasn't there. 236 00:19:51,930 --> 00:19:58,770 Speaker 1: The entire effect was in her imagination. Other tests showed 237 00:19:58,810 --> 00:20:03,690 Speaker 1: similar results. It seemed clear that mesmerism didn't work, which 238 00:20:04,090 --> 00:20:07,890 Speaker 1: it didn't, but Benjamin Franklin was sharp enough to note 239 00:20:07,890 --> 00:20:12,970 Speaker 1: an equally import stant fact. Even a completely phony cure 240 00:20:13,290 --> 00:20:17,490 Speaker 1: can have powerful effects on the mind. These patients were 241 00:20:17,530 --> 00:20:23,290 Speaker 1: having convulsions caused only by their own belief in mesmerism. 242 00:20:24,090 --> 00:20:27,650 Speaker 1: Franklin also guessed that if these beliefs were powerful enough 243 00:20:27,690 --> 00:20:31,250 Speaker 1: to cause such reactions, they might also be powerful enough 244 00:20:31,370 --> 00:20:35,010 Speaker 1: to do some good. He wrote, if these people can 245 00:20:35,050 --> 00:20:39,290 Speaker 1: be persuaded to forbear their drugs in expectation of being 246 00:20:39,370 --> 00:20:43,370 Speaker 1: cured by only the physician's finger or an iron rod 247 00:20:43,450 --> 00:20:48,650 Speaker 1: pointing at them, they may possibly find good effects. And 248 00:20:48,810 --> 00:20:52,690 Speaker 1: Franklin was right. As Shancarva Dantum and Bill Mesler note 249 00:20:52,730 --> 00:20:57,890 Speaker 1: in their book Useful Delusions, what Franklin had observed is 250 00:20:57,930 --> 00:21:03,810 Speaker 1: now called the placebo effect. It's remarkably powerful. Researchers have 251 00:21:03,890 --> 00:21:08,130 Speaker 1: found that not only do fake painkillers relieve pain, but 252 00:21:08,330 --> 00:21:12,370 Speaker 1: fake expect if painkillers relieve pain more powerfully than fake 253 00:21:12,690 --> 00:21:19,330 Speaker 1: cheap painkillers. Doctors have performed placebo knee surgeries anesthetic incisions 254 00:21:19,370 --> 00:21:25,890 Speaker 1: but no actual surgery and found beneficial effects. The placebo 255 00:21:25,970 --> 00:21:30,450 Speaker 1: effect is potent, and so too is its evil twin, 256 00:21:31,290 --> 00:21:35,290 Speaker 1: the no sebo effect. Just as the placebo effect makes 257 00:21:35,290 --> 00:21:38,090 Speaker 1: you feel better because you think you're being helped, the 258 00:21:38,210 --> 00:21:41,570 Speaker 1: no sebo effect makes you feel worse because you think 259 00:21:41,570 --> 00:21:45,170 Speaker 1: you're being harmed. When a doctor says this is going 260 00:21:45,210 --> 00:21:48,330 Speaker 1: to hurt, it is more likely to hurt. When you're 261 00:21:48,370 --> 00:21:51,170 Speaker 1: given a drug or a vaccine shot and told about 262 00:21:51,170 --> 00:21:55,490 Speaker 1: side effects, you're more likely to experience side effects. In 263 00:21:55,530 --> 00:21:59,490 Speaker 1: clinical trials, people are often given a placebo that is 264 00:21:59,530 --> 00:22:02,690 Speaker 1: a harmless peel or injection that they think might be 265 00:22:02,730 --> 00:22:05,890 Speaker 1: an actual drug. It turns out that five percent of 266 00:22:05,930 --> 00:22:09,530 Speaker 1: these people then drop out of the trial because they're 267 00:22:09,570 --> 00:22:13,770 Speaker 1: experiencing what they think are side effects, ranging from pain 268 00:22:14,010 --> 00:22:18,250 Speaker 1: to depression to heart disease. It's a no sebo response. 269 00:22:19,010 --> 00:22:23,930 Speaker 1: A bad response to a fake pill. Could the no 270 00:22:24,050 --> 00:22:27,130 Speaker 1: Sebo effect help to explain some of the heart attacks 271 00:22:27,210 --> 00:22:30,650 Speaker 1: reported to be caused by the Curse of the pharaoh. 272 00:22:30,770 --> 00:22:34,930 Speaker 1: It might. I can't help but think of poor Ken Parkinson, 273 00:22:35,250 --> 00:22:39,090 Speaker 1: the flight engineer who helped transport Tuton Carmen's mask from 274 00:22:39,290 --> 00:22:43,370 Speaker 1: Cairo to London in nineteen seventy two, whose wife reported 275 00:22:43,890 --> 00:22:46,610 Speaker 1: that he had a heart attack at the same time 276 00:22:46,650 --> 00:22:51,010 Speaker 1: of year, year after year. Imagine what he must have 277 00:22:51,050 --> 00:22:54,490 Speaker 1: been thinking after three or four years of that. It's 278 00:22:54,490 --> 00:22:58,410 Speaker 1: the kind of thing that would cause some serious anxiety. 279 00:22:58,490 --> 00:23:02,090 Speaker 1: And that serious anxiety about a heart attack might turn 280 00:23:02,090 --> 00:23:07,330 Speaker 1: out to be a self fulfilling prophecy. So maybe tomb 281 00:23:07,450 --> 00:23:11,610 Speaker 1: toxins killed Lord can n Maybe the no sebo effect 282 00:23:11,650 --> 00:23:19,290 Speaker 1: gave Ken Parkinson repeated anxiety induced heart attacks. Maybe. But 283 00:23:19,690 --> 00:23:23,930 Speaker 1: there's another explanation for these eerie tales of the Curse 284 00:23:24,010 --> 00:23:30,250 Speaker 1: of the Pharaohs. Unlike tomb toxins, this explanation is everywhere. 285 00:23:30,650 --> 00:23:35,410 Speaker 1: It's all around us. We can't possibly escape it. And 286 00:23:35,530 --> 00:23:39,010 Speaker 1: to understand it, I want to tell you a very 287 00:23:39,130 --> 00:23:45,650 Speaker 1: different kind of spooky story. Once upon a time, a 288 00:23:45,770 --> 00:23:50,850 Speaker 1: man walked into a branch of Target near Minneapolis, furious 289 00:23:51,650 --> 00:23:55,930 Speaker 1: and demanded to see the manager. He was brandishing a 290 00:23:56,050 --> 00:24:00,490 Speaker 1: mailer that contained adverts for nursery furniture and maternity clothes, 291 00:24:00,730 --> 00:24:04,770 Speaker 1: alongside lots of smiling babies. My daughter got this in 292 00:24:04,810 --> 00:24:07,890 Speaker 1: the mail, he said. She's still in high school and 293 00:24:07,970 --> 00:24:11,770 Speaker 1: you're sending her coupons for baby clothes and cribs. Are 294 00:24:11,770 --> 00:24:14,890 Speaker 1: you trying to encourage her to get pregnant? The manager 295 00:24:14,970 --> 00:24:19,850 Speaker 1: was rather confused and apologized. A few days later, he 296 00:24:19,970 --> 00:24:25,730 Speaker 1: called to apologize again. Ah about that, said the no 297 00:24:25,890 --> 00:24:29,090 Speaker 1: longer angry dad. I had a talk with my daughter. 298 00:24:29,490 --> 00:24:32,330 Speaker 1: Turns out there's been some activities in my house I 299 00:24:32,410 --> 00:24:37,890 Speaker 1: haven't been completely aware of. She's due in August. I 300 00:24:38,050 --> 00:24:44,530 Speaker 1: owe you an apology. This story, related by Charles Doohig 301 00:24:44,530 --> 00:24:47,730 Speaker 1: in The New York Times magazine in twenty twelve, is 302 00:24:47,770 --> 00:24:52,410 Speaker 1: the modern version of the Mummy's Curse. It's no longer 303 00:24:52,450 --> 00:24:57,730 Speaker 1: an ancient pharaoh who wields mysterious power over us. It's 304 00:24:57,770 --> 00:25:02,210 Speaker 1: an algorithm analyzing our shopping patterns, predicting what we'll do, 305 00:25:02,690 --> 00:25:07,450 Speaker 1: where we'll go, what will desire, all powerful and subtly 306 00:25:07,570 --> 00:25:13,250 Speaker 1: nudging us in the direct of corporate profit. Do Hick's 307 00:25:13,250 --> 00:25:17,010 Speaker 1: story went viral just as tales of the Mummy's Curse 308 00:25:17,050 --> 00:25:20,970 Speaker 1: had been shared a century earlier. People were in awe 309 00:25:21,050 --> 00:25:24,250 Speaker 1: of the way an algorithm could perceive a hidden truth 310 00:25:24,690 --> 00:25:31,410 Speaker 1: that even this teenage girl's own family could not. Well. Perhaps, 311 00:25:32,490 --> 00:25:36,890 Speaker 1: but while we're supposed to assume that everybody who received 312 00:25:37,010 --> 00:25:40,210 Speaker 1: one of those mailers was a pregnant woman, there's no 313 00:25:40,290 --> 00:25:44,090 Speaker 1: evidence in the story for that assumption. What if Target 314 00:25:44,250 --> 00:25:47,690 Speaker 1: sent the same mailer to every woman under the age 315 00:25:47,690 --> 00:25:53,010 Speaker 1: of forty five. What if Target sent coupons to absolutely everyone. 316 00:25:54,010 --> 00:25:57,370 Speaker 1: Maybe they did. From the perspective of the angry dad 317 00:25:57,410 --> 00:26:01,250 Speaker 1: and the pregnant daughter, the algorithm would seem just as 318 00:26:01,490 --> 00:26:06,650 Speaker 1: eerily good. What's going on here is what a statistician 319 00:26:06,690 --> 00:26:11,970 Speaker 1: would call selection bias. It's ubiquitous, and while it's easy 320 00:26:12,010 --> 00:26:15,450 Speaker 1: to understand that, it's often hard to solve. I can 321 00:26:15,530 --> 00:26:19,330 Speaker 1: name far more rich actors than poor ones, and far 322 00:26:19,410 --> 00:26:23,410 Speaker 1: more professional footballers than amateur ones. But that doesn't mean 323 00:26:23,650 --> 00:26:28,450 Speaker 1: most actors are rich and most footballers are professional. So 324 00:26:28,770 --> 00:26:33,930 Speaker 1: how many non pregnant people received coupons? I have no idea, 325 00:26:34,010 --> 00:26:36,530 Speaker 1: but I do know that if Target sends you some 326 00:26:36,690 --> 00:26:40,930 Speaker 1: maternity coupons but you're not pregnant, You're probably not going 327 00:26:40,970 --> 00:26:45,010 Speaker 1: to bother mentioning that to anyone, let alone mentioning it 328 00:26:45,370 --> 00:26:51,250 Speaker 1: to the New York Times magazine. You see selection bias. 329 00:26:51,970 --> 00:26:57,090 Speaker 1: It's everywhere. But could selection bias have shaped the way 330 00:26:57,130 --> 00:27:01,730 Speaker 1: we perceive the curse of the Pharaoh. We'll find out 331 00:27:02,370 --> 00:27:12,250 Speaker 1: after the break. Lord Carnarvon died not long after he 332 00:27:12,410 --> 00:27:17,570 Speaker 1: entered Tutan Carmen's tomb. It's a striking coincidence, if indeed 333 00:27:18,050 --> 00:27:23,050 Speaker 1: it is a coincidence. But to understand whether selection bias 334 00:27:23,170 --> 00:27:25,850 Speaker 1: might be at play, we need to ask how many 335 00:27:25,890 --> 00:27:30,410 Speaker 1: others have been involved in such excavations, and what does 336 00:27:30,410 --> 00:27:34,410 Speaker 1: it even mean to be involved. The mysterious logic of 337 00:27:34,570 --> 00:27:39,610 Speaker 1: Mummy's curse stories casts the net wide. A British diplomat 338 00:27:39,730 --> 00:27:43,130 Speaker 1: assassinated five hundred miles away from the tomb and two 339 00:27:43,250 --> 00:27:47,850 Speaker 1: years after it was opened. Does that really count? Or 340 00:27:47,930 --> 00:27:51,450 Speaker 1: remember the young boy whose connection to Tutancarmen was that 341 00:27:51,530 --> 00:27:54,010 Speaker 1: he was unfortunate enough to be in the path of 342 00:27:54,050 --> 00:27:57,530 Speaker 1: the hearse of the father of the secretary of Lord Carnarvon, 343 00:27:57,890 --> 00:28:01,610 Speaker 1: six years after the excavation. If the Pharaoh's curse can 344 00:28:01,650 --> 00:28:04,970 Speaker 1: be blamed for such deaths, we could draw plausible lines 345 00:28:04,970 --> 00:28:08,690 Speaker 1: of connection to countless thousands of people around the periphery 346 00:28:08,730 --> 00:28:14,290 Speaker 1: of the original dig. To analyze this rationally, we need 347 00:28:14,330 --> 00:28:18,090 Speaker 1: to compare the fates of people associated with the excavation 348 00:28:18,130 --> 00:28:22,130 Speaker 1: of the tomb with those who were not associated. An 349 00:28:22,130 --> 00:28:26,290 Speaker 1: epidemiologist named Mark Nelson has published a serious attempt at 350 00:28:26,290 --> 00:28:29,810 Speaker 1: this analysis. It was published in the British Medical Journal. 351 00:28:30,810 --> 00:28:34,930 Speaker 1: Doctor Nelson looked at forty four Westerners identified by Howard 352 00:28:34,970 --> 00:28:39,410 Speaker 1: Carter as being in Egypt during the dig. Twenty five 353 00:28:39,450 --> 00:28:43,410 Speaker 1: of them were potentially exposed to a curse by visiting 354 00:28:43,410 --> 00:28:49,290 Speaker 1: the tomb. Nineteen did not visit. He found scant evidence 355 00:28:49,370 --> 00:28:54,050 Speaker 1: of any curse. On average, people lived for another twenty 356 00:28:54,170 --> 00:28:59,410 Speaker 1: years after visiting the tomb. Howard Carter survived seventeen years, 357 00:28:59,410 --> 00:29:02,490 Speaker 1: slightly below the average, so it's not true that he 358 00:29:02,570 --> 00:29:06,050 Speaker 1: died quickly, nor is it true that his accursed fate 359 00:29:06,410 --> 00:29:09,850 Speaker 1: was to live to see all his friends succumb. The 360 00:29:09,970 --> 00:29:12,610 Speaker 1: only hint of a curse that doctor Nelson found was 361 00:29:12,650 --> 00:29:16,650 Speaker 1: that the average age of tomb visitors at death was 362 00:29:16,690 --> 00:29:19,650 Speaker 1: a little younger than the average age at death of 363 00:29:19,690 --> 00:29:24,330 Speaker 1: the companions who didn't visit. However, these companions were often 364 00:29:24,370 --> 00:29:27,610 Speaker 1: the wives of the excavators, and women do tend to 365 00:29:27,650 --> 00:29:31,050 Speaker 1: live longer than men. In any case, even the people 366 00:29:31,050 --> 00:29:34,410 Speaker 1: who visited the tomb lived on average until they were 367 00:29:34,450 --> 00:29:40,290 Speaker 1: over seventy. It's not exactly the stuff of nightmares. Lord 368 00:29:40,330 --> 00:29:44,610 Speaker 1: Carnarvon did die before his time, but in an age 369 00:29:44,610 --> 00:29:49,970 Speaker 1: before antibiotics, such things happened. He nicked that mosquito bite 370 00:29:50,010 --> 00:29:54,970 Speaker 1: while shaving, The cut became infected, and he developed pneumonia. 371 00:29:55,210 --> 00:30:00,010 Speaker 1: It's an unusual way to die, but not a mysterious one. Still, 372 00:30:00,690 --> 00:30:05,330 Speaker 1: there is one final reckoning. What of the prophetic warnings 373 00:30:05,330 --> 00:30:08,930 Speaker 1: that Carnarvon would die within six weeks? What of his dog? 374 00:30:09,410 --> 00:30:12,170 Speaker 1: What are the lights going out all over Cairo? And 375 00:30:12,330 --> 00:30:16,650 Speaker 1: what of one final chilling detail that the wound which 376 00:30:16,770 --> 00:30:20,730 Speaker 1: killed Carnarvon was in the same spot as a mark 377 00:30:20,810 --> 00:30:26,970 Speaker 1: on the cheek of King Tuton Carmen himself. The rather 378 00:30:27,730 --> 00:30:31,530 Speaker 1: underwhelming explanation for some of these stories is that they 379 00:30:31,530 --> 00:30:36,570 Speaker 1: aren't true. Remember that long before Howard Carter gazed upon 380 00:30:36,610 --> 00:30:40,810 Speaker 1: the mask of Tuton Carmen or Lord Carnarvan succumbed to pneumonia, 381 00:30:41,490 --> 00:30:46,170 Speaker 1: Edwardians had told each other ghost stories, and no ghost 382 00:30:46,290 --> 00:30:50,210 Speaker 1: story was more popular than a tale of the Mummy's curse. 383 00:30:51,130 --> 00:30:55,130 Speaker 1: Such tales sold newspapers. Given that most of the newspapers 384 00:30:55,170 --> 00:30:58,810 Speaker 1: had been shut out by The London Times's exclusive deal 385 00:30:58,850 --> 00:31:02,410 Speaker 1: with Carnarvin, what else would they print? Journalists made up 386 00:31:02,450 --> 00:31:06,610 Speaker 1: spooky stories, and the best such stories lived on. The 387 00:31:06,690 --> 00:31:09,610 Speaker 1: man who claimed he had given Carnarvon six weeks to 388 00:31:09,650 --> 00:31:12,770 Speaker 1: live six weeks before he died was writing for a 389 00:31:12,850 --> 00:31:16,770 Speaker 1: rival newspaper. He only published the details of his prophecy 390 00:31:17,010 --> 00:31:22,050 Speaker 1: several months after Carnarvan's death. The Daily Express reported that 391 00:31:22,090 --> 00:31:25,330 Speaker 1: the lights went out in the hotel when Lord Carnarvon died. 392 00:31:26,170 --> 00:31:29,290 Speaker 1: Perhaps they did. It would hardly be astonishing to have 393 00:31:29,330 --> 00:31:32,450 Speaker 1: a power cut in Cairo in nineteen twenty three, but 394 00:31:32,530 --> 00:31:37,970 Speaker 1: the timing was probably less uncanny. Otherwise other newspapers might 395 00:31:38,130 --> 00:31:43,050 Speaker 1: also have mentioned it. The haunting detail about the wound 396 00:31:43,090 --> 00:31:47,490 Speaker 1: on Tuton Carmen's cheek was published only in the Daily Mail. 397 00:31:48,370 --> 00:31:53,050 Speaker 1: Modern examinations of the Mummy mentioned no such wound. Lord 398 00:31:53,130 --> 00:31:59,210 Speaker 1: Carnarvan's dog Howard Carter's canary. Roger Luckhurst, author of the 399 00:31:59,370 --> 00:32:03,690 Speaker 1: Mummy's Curse, points out that all these tales are secondhand 400 00:32:03,810 --> 00:32:09,250 Speaker 1: or third hand accounts newspapers reporting hearsay about hearsay. What 401 00:32:09,330 --> 00:32:14,210 Speaker 1: about the pioneering radiologist Sir Archibald Douglas Reid, said to 402 00:32:14,250 --> 00:32:17,370 Speaker 1: have x rayed the sarcophagus and then to have died 403 00:32:17,410 --> 00:32:21,570 Speaker 1: of a mysterious illness. His mysterious illness wasn't mysterious at all. 404 00:32:22,050 --> 00:32:24,730 Speaker 1: He had cancer, one of the hazards of being a 405 00:32:24,850 --> 00:32:27,930 Speaker 1: radiologist in those days, and it seems unlikely that he 406 00:32:28,010 --> 00:32:31,130 Speaker 1: ever x rayed the sarcophagus. He was too ill to 407 00:32:31,170 --> 00:32:34,570 Speaker 1: be in Egypt. He was convalescing in Switzerland before he died. 408 00:32:35,730 --> 00:32:39,570 Speaker 1: The mysterious portent of the Black Jackal of a Nubis 409 00:32:39,610 --> 00:32:43,970 Speaker 1: seen by Howard Carter. It happened, but it wasn't a portent. 410 00:32:44,730 --> 00:32:49,290 Speaker 1: Carter's diary entry records the Black Jackal in May nineteen 411 00:32:49,370 --> 00:32:54,370 Speaker 1: twenty six, several years after Carnarvon's death and many years 412 00:32:54,410 --> 00:32:59,010 Speaker 1: before Carter's. That rather spoils the story of its potency, 413 00:32:59,050 --> 00:33:02,370 Speaker 1: doesn't it. No wonder it was the inaccurate version that 414 00:33:02,490 --> 00:33:07,170 Speaker 1: caught on. And what about Count Hayman, the man who 415 00:33:07,250 --> 00:33:11,810 Speaker 1: warned Carnarvin that death would claim him in Egypt. Well, 416 00:33:12,130 --> 00:33:16,970 Speaker 1: maybe Count Hayman, who was not. A count also claimed 417 00:33:17,010 --> 00:33:21,050 Speaker 1: to have warned trophy hunters not to remove the Unlucky 418 00:33:21,130 --> 00:33:25,410 Speaker 1: Mummy from Egypt. Since the Unlucky Mummy left Egypt when 419 00:33:25,450 --> 00:33:31,050 Speaker 1: Hayman was about three years old. This seems implausible. Yes, 420 00:33:31,970 --> 00:33:36,890 Speaker 1: the Unlucky Mummy, or more precisely, the coffin case of 421 00:33:36,930 --> 00:33:41,650 Speaker 1: the Princess of arman Rah. I'd almost forgotten that older tale, 422 00:33:42,370 --> 00:33:44,530 Speaker 1: the one which predates the discovery of the tomb of 423 00:33:44,570 --> 00:33:48,450 Speaker 1: Teuton Carmen, the one which ends with a coffin case 424 00:33:48,890 --> 00:33:54,610 Speaker 1: sinking with the Titanic. It is quite the story, but 425 00:33:54,810 --> 00:33:59,970 Speaker 1: it is just a story, and one which endlessly mutates. 426 00:34:01,170 --> 00:34:03,330 Speaker 1: One man, who had indeed lost his arm in a 427 00:34:03,370 --> 00:34:06,370 Speaker 1: shooting accident, used to tell it in the eighteen nineties 428 00:34:06,410 --> 00:34:10,890 Speaker 1: and early nineteen hundreds. He was president of the Ghost Club, 429 00:34:11,130 --> 00:34:13,970 Speaker 1: at which gentlemen would meet for dinner and frighten each 430 00:34:13,970 --> 00:34:16,490 Speaker 1: other out of their wits. But there was no shooting 431 00:34:16,490 --> 00:34:19,850 Speaker 1: accident in his telling of the tale. It was only 432 00:34:19,890 --> 00:34:24,330 Speaker 1: after he died that others retrofitted that detail to the story. 433 00:34:25,210 --> 00:34:29,610 Speaker 1: Another brother Ghost, one of the members of the Ghost Club, 434 00:34:30,370 --> 00:34:35,010 Speaker 1: died on the Titanic. His fate, too, was woven into 435 00:34:35,050 --> 00:34:40,810 Speaker 1: the story, and so the tale grew and grew, despite specific, 436 00:34:41,330 --> 00:34:45,850 Speaker 1: point by point rebuttals from the increasingly exasperated curator of 437 00:34:45,890 --> 00:34:50,250 Speaker 1: the Egyptian Room in the British Museum. But unlike my 438 00:34:50,410 --> 00:34:54,970 Speaker 1: cautionary tales, the story of the unlucky coughin case just 439 00:34:55,370 --> 00:35:00,010 Speaker 1: isn't true. The case wasn't on the Titanic. We know 440 00:35:00,090 --> 00:35:04,690 Speaker 1: that because we have the doomed liner's cargo manifest. It's 441 00:35:04,890 --> 00:35:12,370 Speaker 1: exhaustive and it lists no Egyptian artifacts. And there is 442 00:35:12,410 --> 00:35:15,610 Speaker 1: one final reason I'm confident that the coffin case of 443 00:35:15,690 --> 00:35:20,250 Speaker 1: the Unknown Priestess of Munras did not sync with the Titanic. 444 00:35:21,210 --> 00:35:25,610 Speaker 1: It's that it never left the British Museum. It's exhibit 445 00:35:25,690 --> 00:35:29,290 Speaker 1: number EA two two five four two. I know because 446 00:35:29,570 --> 00:35:31,610 Speaker 1: I just went into the museum and had a look. 447 00:35:32,450 --> 00:35:35,810 Speaker 1: Despite everything I've argued, I'll admit I was nervous, but 448 00:35:36,210 --> 00:35:38,370 Speaker 1: I stood in front of the coffin and now I'm 449 00:35:38,450 --> 00:35:43,490 Speaker 1: on my way home, safe from the Curse of the Mummy. 450 00:35:52,650 --> 00:35:56,450 Speaker 1: Key sources for this episode include Roger Luckhurst's book The 451 00:35:56,530 --> 00:36:01,330 Speaker 1: Mummy's Curse, Christopher Turner's an article Mesme Romania, the British 452 00:36:01,410 --> 00:36:05,330 Speaker 1: Medical Journal, and Snopes. For a full list of our sources, 453 00:36:05,410 --> 00:36:14,330 Speaker 1: see the show notes at Tim Harford dot com. Cautionary 454 00:36:14,330 --> 00:36:17,570 Speaker 1: Tales is written by me Tim Harford with Andrew Wright. 455 00:36:17,930 --> 00:36:21,410 Speaker 1: It's produced by Ryan Dilley and Marilyn Rust. The sound 456 00:36:21,410 --> 00:36:24,810 Speaker 1: design and original music is the work of Pascal Wise. 457 00:36:25,930 --> 00:36:28,530 Speaker 1: This show wouldn't have been possible without the work of 458 00:36:28,610 --> 00:36:33,890 Speaker 1: mil LaBelle, Jacob Weisberg, Heather Fane, Julia Barton, John Schnarz, 459 00:36:34,330 --> 00:36:39,850 Speaker 1: Carlie mcgliori, Eric Sandler, Maggie Taylor, An Yellow, Lakhan, and 460 00:36:40,090 --> 00:36:46,090 Speaker 1: Maya Kanig. Cautionary Tales is a production of Pushkin Industries. 461 00:36:46,650 --> 00:36:50,050 Speaker 1: If you like the show, please remember to rate, share, 462 00:36:50,610 --> 00:36:51,330 Speaker 1: and review.