1 00:00:15,450 --> 00:00:25,610 Speaker 1: Pushkin. Hello, Cautionary Tales listeners. October is here. And this year, 2 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:31,340 Speaker 1: Cautionary Tales is celebrating with a month of pure Halloween horror. 3 00:00:32,500 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 1: We've been working hard on brand new spooky stories. A 4 00:00:36,740 --> 00:00:42,000 Speaker 1: vampire panic in New England, witch trials in Lancashire, ghosts 5 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:47,530 Speaker 1: in Yorkshire mines, and an 80s alien invasion. And if 6 00:00:47,550 --> 00:00:50,950 Speaker 1: you're a member of our Cautionary Club on Patreon, you'll 7 00:00:51,050 --> 00:00:52,830 Speaker 1: also be able to listen to a story about a 8 00:00:52,870 --> 00:00:57,930 Speaker 1: mysterious radio show which appeared to prove telepathy is possible. 9 00:00:58,590 --> 00:01:01,050 Speaker 1: And I'll share my own ghost stories on our bonus 10 00:01:01,330 --> 00:01:06,270 Speaker 1: interview episode, Proceed with Caution. We're going to kick things 11 00:01:06,370 --> 00:01:10,060 Speaker 1: off with a repeat of one of my favourite classic episodes, 12 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:14,420 Speaker 1: The Mummy's Curse. about the grisly fates of the people 13 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:20,980 Speaker 1: who opened Tutankhamun's tomb, and my own personal encounter with 14 00:01:21,020 --> 00:01:25,510 Speaker 1: an Egyptian relic. If you have any questions about all 15 00:01:25,570 --> 00:01:28,810 Speaker 1: things paranormal, or you have a haunted cautionary tale of 16 00:01:28,850 --> 00:01:32,830 Speaker 1: your own, I'd love to hear from you. Contact tales 17 00:01:33,270 --> 00:01:37,110 Speaker 1: at pushkin.fm And if you want access to the bonus content, 18 00:01:37,510 --> 00:01:46,050 Speaker 1: head to patreon.com slash cautionary club. Three and a half 19 00:01:46,230 --> 00:01:51,540 Speaker 1: thousand years ago, in ancient Egypt, the princess of Amun-Ra 20 00:01:51,820 --> 00:01:56,360 Speaker 1: passed away. She was laid to rest in an exquisite 21 00:01:56,520 --> 00:02:00,190 Speaker 1: wooden coffin and buried in a deep vault at Luxor, 22 00:02:00,850 --> 00:02:04,750 Speaker 1: on the banks of the mighty Nile. More than 30 23 00:02:04,750 --> 00:02:10,480 Speaker 1: centuries later, in the late 1800s, Four young English tourists, 24 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:14,620 Speaker 1: rich gentlemen all, were offered the chance to purchase a 25 00:02:14,700 --> 00:02:19,250 Speaker 1: delightfully painted mummy case. They drew lots to decide who 26 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:22,910 Speaker 1: had the right to buy the prize. The man who 27 00:02:22,950 --> 00:02:27,350 Speaker 1: won paid a small fortune and had the coffin taken 28 00:02:27,410 --> 00:02:31,930 Speaker 1: to his hotel. A few hours later, he was seen 29 00:02:32,650 --> 00:02:38,280 Speaker 1: walking out onto the lone and level sands. He was 30 00:02:38,420 --> 00:02:42,420 Speaker 1: never to return. The second fellow was wounded in a 31 00:02:42,540 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: hunting accident. He lost his arm. The third man lost 32 00:02:47,180 --> 00:02:50,570 Speaker 1: everything in a bank run. The fourth was struck with 33 00:02:50,610 --> 00:02:54,690 Speaker 1: a severe illness, lost his job and ended his days 34 00:02:54,790 --> 00:02:59,570 Speaker 1: selling matches on street corners. The coffin case was purchased 35 00:02:59,690 --> 00:03:04,100 Speaker 1: by another gentleman. His house caught fire and he quickly 36 00:03:04,180 --> 00:03:08,860 Speaker 1: donated the unlucky item to the British Museum. The removal 37 00:03:09,420 --> 00:03:13,790 Speaker 1: did not go smoothly. The removal wagon lost control and 38 00:03:13,990 --> 00:03:17,990 Speaker 1: hit a passerby. One workman fell and broke his leg 39 00:03:18,030 --> 00:03:23,630 Speaker 1: while carrying the casket. His colleague simply died inexplicably two 40 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:29,540 Speaker 1: days later. Night watchmen at the museum frequently heard sobbing 41 00:03:30,020 --> 00:03:35,300 Speaker 1: and hammering from inside the coffin. One died on duty. 42 00:03:36,250 --> 00:03:39,470 Speaker 1: The others refused to go near the Egyptian room where 43 00:03:39,490 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: the item was stored. A visitor who treated the exhibition 44 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:50,720 Speaker 1: with scorn soon paid the price. His child died of measles. 45 00:03:51,780 --> 00:03:55,240 Speaker 1: A photographer took a picture of the case, but when 46 00:03:55,280 --> 00:04:00,990 Speaker 1: he developed the picture, he saw only a tormented human face. 47 00:04:02,290 --> 00:04:07,910 Speaker 1: The photographer went home, locked his door, and shot himself. 48 00:04:09,930 --> 00:04:13,550 Speaker 1: The British Museum sold the cursed object to a private 49 00:04:13,610 --> 00:04:17,910 Speaker 1: collector who soon regretted the purchase. Eventually, he found a 50 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:21,240 Speaker 1: buyer bold or foolish enough to take it off his hands. 51 00:04:22,180 --> 00:04:28,600 Speaker 1: An American archaeologist who simply did not believe in unlucky mummies. 52 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:33,250 Speaker 1: He paid top dollar for the coffin case and arranged 53 00:04:33,390 --> 00:04:36,070 Speaker 1: to have it shipped across the Atlantic to New York. 54 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: For safekeeping, the lid of the coffin of the Princess 55 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:46,540 Speaker 1: of Amun-Ra travelled on the bridge of the finest ocean 56 00:04:46,580 --> 00:04:50,720 Speaker 1: liner in the world, the pride of the White Star Line. 57 00:04:52,310 --> 00:05:00,270 Speaker 1: The ship's name was the Titanic. I'm Tim Harford, and 58 00:05:00,290 --> 00:05:28,980 Speaker 1: you're listening to Cautionary Tales. In 1922, a decade after 59 00:05:29,020 --> 00:05:32,650 Speaker 1: the Titanic had slipped beneath the icy waters of the 60 00:05:32,710 --> 00:05:38,730 Speaker 1: North Atlantic, another archaeologist, the Englishman Howard Carter, was at 61 00:05:38,750 --> 00:05:41,810 Speaker 1: the head of the Valley of the Kings in the 62 00:05:41,870 --> 00:05:47,250 Speaker 1: heart of ancient Egypt. He was patiently encamped outside what 63 00:05:47,270 --> 00:05:54,650 Speaker 1: he described as a magnificent tomb with seals intact. it 64 00:05:54,750 --> 00:05:58,490 Speaker 1: had been a long wait. Not just the three weeks 65 00:05:58,610 --> 00:06:03,920 Speaker 1: for Carter's patron and financier, Lord Carnarvon, to arrive. Not 66 00:06:03,980 --> 00:06:08,420 Speaker 1: just the fifteen years of excavating different sites around the 67 00:06:08,460 --> 00:06:16,070 Speaker 1: valley with limited success. No, someone, or something, had been 68 00:06:16,130 --> 00:06:23,570 Speaker 1: waiting still longer, for more than three thousand years. Deep 69 00:06:24,100 --> 00:06:29,090 Speaker 1: Inside that tomb, behind a sealed door, a corridor filled 70 00:06:29,130 --> 00:06:32,890 Speaker 1: with rubble, another sealed door, a chamber full of treasures, 71 00:06:33,110 --> 00:06:37,820 Speaker 1: and yet another sealed door, was something that nobody had 72 00:06:38,060 --> 00:06:43,720 Speaker 1: dared to disturb for millennia. And perhaps with good reason. 73 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:48,570 Speaker 1: Everyone knew the story of the unlucky mummy and the Titanic. 74 00:06:49,970 --> 00:06:54,390 Speaker 1: Such tales were popular in late Victorian and Edwardian society. 75 00:06:55,650 --> 00:07:00,370 Speaker 1: A famous psychic, Count Haman, sent a telegram with a warning. 76 00:07:01,750 --> 00:07:08,260 Speaker 1: Lord Carnarvon not to enter tomb. Disobey at peril. If ignored, 77 00:07:08,670 --> 00:07:14,480 Speaker 1: will suffer sickness. Not recover. Death will claim him in Egypt. 78 00:07:15,900 --> 00:07:21,980 Speaker 1: And yet, Lord Carnarvon had come. After weeks of further digging, 79 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:26,260 Speaker 1: he now stood at the shoulder of Howard Carter, who, 80 00:07:26,580 --> 00:07:30,330 Speaker 1: after patiently working on a small hole into the burial chamber, 81 00:07:30,970 --> 00:07:35,410 Speaker 1: put a candle to the hole and peered in. At first, 82 00:07:36,130 --> 00:07:40,230 Speaker 1: I could see nothing, Carter later recalled, but presently as 83 00:07:40,270 --> 00:07:43,430 Speaker 1: my eyes grew accustomed to the light, Details of the 84 00:07:43,490 --> 00:07:48,010 Speaker 1: room emerged slowly from the mist. Strange animals, statues, and 85 00:07:48,130 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 1: gold everywhere, the glint of gold. For the moment, I 86 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:55,940 Speaker 1: was struck dumb with amazement. And when Lord Carnarvon, unable 87 00:07:56,000 --> 00:08:00,700 Speaker 1: to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, Can you 88 00:08:00,740 --> 00:08:03,510 Speaker 1: see anything? It was all I could do to get 89 00:08:03,570 --> 00:08:04,130 Speaker 1: out the words. 90 00:08:04,150 --> 00:08:06,790 Speaker 2: Yes. Wonderful things. 91 00:08:06,810 --> 00:08:16,710 Speaker 1: Wonderful things. Wonderful things. perhaps. These treasures were there to 92 00:08:16,790 --> 00:08:21,200 Speaker 1: guard and sustain the mummified body and the golden burial 93 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:27,880 Speaker 1: mask of the young pharaoh Tutankhamen. The story was a sensation. 94 00:08:28,820 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: The world's press had gathered in Cairo and were jostling 95 00:08:32,060 --> 00:08:35,120 Speaker 1: for access to the tomb or to Carter or Carnarvon. 96 00:08:35,980 --> 00:08:39,250 Speaker 1: The Times of London lauded it over the other papers, 97 00:08:39,610 --> 00:08:44,710 Speaker 1: having paid handsomely for exclusive access. But every newspaper was there, 98 00:08:44,970 --> 00:08:49,950 Speaker 1: and every newspaper had an angle. These rival newspapers reported 99 00:08:50,010 --> 00:08:54,910 Speaker 1: that Carter and Carnarvon had deliberately destroyed a terrible warning 100 00:08:54,990 --> 00:08:58,250 Speaker 1: over the tomb, because they were afraid that the locals 101 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:04,330 Speaker 1: would refuse to dig. That warning read, Death. shall come 102 00:09:04,430 --> 00:09:12,780 Speaker 1: on swift wings to whoever toucheth the tomb of the pharaoh. Reports, too, 103 00:09:12,900 --> 00:09:16,300 Speaker 1: that Carnarvon had received a tiny injury in the tomb. 104 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:20,860 Speaker 1: A stinging or biting insect had pierced the skin on 105 00:09:20,900 --> 00:09:26,040 Speaker 1: his cheek, just as he had entered the presence of Tutankhamen. 106 00:09:26,740 --> 00:09:29,560 Speaker 1: And Count Haman was not the only person to have 107 00:09:29,680 --> 00:09:35,020 Speaker 1: warned about the consequences of Lord Carnarvon's arrogance. One eyewitness 108 00:09:35,560 --> 00:09:38,860 Speaker 1: turned to the fellow standing next to him. I give 109 00:09:38,900 --> 00:09:44,890 Speaker 1: him six weeks to live. Nearly six weeks later, Lord 110 00:09:44,950 --> 00:09:48,990 Speaker 1: Carnarvon's family were rushing to be at his side in Cairo. 111 00:09:49,910 --> 00:09:53,170 Speaker 1: He was gravely ill. A wound on his cheek was 112 00:09:53,230 --> 00:09:57,420 Speaker 1: infected and the malady was spreading through his body. The 113 00:09:57,500 --> 00:10:02,510 Speaker 1: Express newspaper reported that at the moment that Lord Carnarvon 114 00:10:02,670 --> 00:10:08,400 Speaker 1: breathed his last feeble breath, the lights in his hotel 115 00:10:08,500 --> 00:10:14,730 Speaker 1: went out. plunging all into darkness. Death had claimed him 116 00:10:15,090 --> 00:10:20,590 Speaker 1: in Egypt. It was another pharaoh's curse, and it had 117 00:10:20,710 --> 00:10:32,240 Speaker 1: claimed its first victims. Cautionary tales are true stories of disaster, 118 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:35,560 Speaker 1: and lessons for us all to learn, lest we make 119 00:10:35,620 --> 00:10:40,090 Speaker 1: the same mistake ourselves. But what lesson should we learn 120 00:10:40,170 --> 00:10:46,090 Speaker 1: from stories about the unlucky mummy, or the curse of Tutankhamen? First, 121 00:10:46,510 --> 00:10:50,230 Speaker 1: let's establish what exactly is said to have happened to 122 00:10:50,270 --> 00:10:55,260 Speaker 1: Carnarvon and Carter's expedition. The first indication of trouble was 123 00:10:55,420 --> 00:10:58,980 Speaker 1: a little on the nose. The death of a canary. 124 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:03,600 Speaker 1: Howard Carter's beloved pet canary had been eaten by a 125 00:11:03,740 --> 00:11:08,400 Speaker 1: cobra the day Carter began to excavate the tomb. The 126 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:11,430 Speaker 1: cobra was well known as a symbol of the power 127 00:11:11,470 --> 00:11:17,310 Speaker 1: of the pharaohs. Another symbol was the jackal, representative of Anubis, 128 00:11:17,750 --> 00:11:21,810 Speaker 1: the Egyptian god of the dead. In his diary, Howard 129 00:11:21,850 --> 00:11:27,820 Speaker 1: Carter recorded the unsettling sight of two black jackals. the 130 00:11:27,920 --> 00:11:31,600 Speaker 1: very image of Anubis. He noted that it was the 131 00:11:31,700 --> 00:11:36,300 Speaker 1: first time he'd seen a black jackal, despite 35 years 132 00:11:36,420 --> 00:11:41,240 Speaker 1: working in Egypt. Carter's canary wasn't the only pet to suffer. 133 00:11:41,840 --> 00:11:46,970 Speaker 1: Lord Carnarvon's dog howled in sorrow and then expired at 134 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:50,810 Speaker 1: the same moment that Carnarvon himself did, which is all 135 00:11:50,830 --> 00:11:54,370 Speaker 1: the more remarkable since Carnarvon was in Cairo while the 136 00:11:54,410 --> 00:11:58,350 Speaker 1: dog was in Highclere Castle in southern England. Highclere is 137 00:11:58,530 --> 00:12:01,990 Speaker 1: better known these days as the filming location for Downton Abbey. 138 00:12:03,460 --> 00:12:06,920 Speaker 1: If it had just been Carnarvon and a menagerie, that 139 00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:10,820 Speaker 1: would be one thing, but the pharaoh's thirst for revenge 140 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:16,130 Speaker 1: was not easily slaked. Soon Howard Carter was showing signs 141 00:12:16,170 --> 00:12:19,430 Speaker 1: of illness too, and the list of people struck down 142 00:12:19,470 --> 00:12:25,350 Speaker 1: by the curse grew and grew. A railroad baron from pneumonia, 143 00:12:25,690 --> 00:12:30,860 Speaker 1: after visiting the tomb of Tutankhamen, in 1923. The same year, 144 00:12:31,460 --> 00:12:36,260 Speaker 1: Lord Carnarvon's half-brother. A year later, a close colleague of 145 00:12:36,340 --> 00:12:41,390 Speaker 1: Carter suffered a breakdown and retired. A noted radiologist, after 146 00:12:41,450 --> 00:12:49,470 Speaker 1: performing an X-ray of Tutankhamen's sarcophagus, died mysteriously also in 1924. 147 00:12:49,470 --> 00:12:54,870 Speaker 1: A leading British diplomat was assassinated in Cairo again in 1924. 148 00:12:54,870 --> 00:13:01,270 Speaker 1: A respected French Egyptologist died in 1926 after stumbling near 149 00:13:01,330 --> 00:13:07,850 Speaker 1: Tutankhamen's tomb. Carnarvon's secretary survived a little longer. He died 150 00:13:07,920 --> 00:13:13,620 Speaker 1: in his sleep in 1929, in circumstances also said to 151 00:13:13,660 --> 00:13:17,560 Speaker 1: be mysterious. And the Times of London noted that he 152 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:22,520 Speaker 1: is believed to have been troubled by the legendary curse 153 00:13:23,090 --> 00:13:28,450 Speaker 1: of the pharaohs. The man's father, Lord Westbury, killed himself 154 00:13:28,990 --> 00:13:33,890 Speaker 1: three months later. His suicide note included the line, I 155 00:13:34,180 --> 00:13:40,540 Speaker 1: really can't stand any more horrors. But the horrors kept coming. 156 00:13:41,860 --> 00:13:46,120 Speaker 1: Lord Westbury's hearse knocked down a boy of eight on 157 00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:49,460 Speaker 1: the way to the cemetery. The boy had died to 158 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:54,680 Speaker 1: satisfy the honour of a 3,000-year-old Egyptian. The man who'd 159 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,400 Speaker 1: given Lord Carnarvon six weeks to live was to die 160 00:13:58,540 --> 00:14:02,440 Speaker 1: in 1934. The Daily Express noted that he had been 161 00:14:02,660 --> 00:14:10,410 Speaker 1: killed by the curse. Finally, in 1939, Howard Carter, the 162 00:14:10,490 --> 00:14:13,390 Speaker 1: leader of the expedition, the man who was the first 163 00:14:13,530 --> 00:14:16,370 Speaker 1: to glimpse the mask of Tutankhamen in more than 3,000. 164 00:14:16,330 --> 00:14:16,830 Speaker 2: Years, died. 165 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:23,820 Speaker 1: After picking off his pet, his patron, his friends and 166 00:14:23,900 --> 00:14:28,780 Speaker 1: his colleagues one by one, the pharaoh's curse finally came 167 00:14:28,860 --> 00:14:33,280 Speaker 1: for Carter, a man doomed to watch all around him die. 168 00:14:35,670 --> 00:14:40,530 Speaker 1: Even then, the curse was not lifted. After four decades 169 00:14:40,590 --> 00:14:43,990 Speaker 1: in a museum in Cairo, the Egyptian government arranged to 170 00:14:44,010 --> 00:14:48,080 Speaker 1: have Tutankhamen's mask and treasures exhibited in Paris and later 171 00:14:48,220 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 1: in London. Numerous untimely deaths followed, in particular of two 172 00:14:54,220 --> 00:14:59,700 Speaker 1: successive directors of Egyptian antiquities. A Royal Air Force crew 173 00:14:59,780 --> 00:15:02,660 Speaker 1: took on the job of flying the treasures from Cairo 174 00:15:02,700 --> 00:15:06,730 Speaker 1: to London, and paid the price. One of them jokingly 175 00:15:06,850 --> 00:15:11,210 Speaker 1: kicked the box containing the pharaoh's mask. I've just kicked 176 00:15:11,230 --> 00:15:15,270 Speaker 1: the most expensive thing in the world! Later, a ladder 177 00:15:15,590 --> 00:15:20,530 Speaker 1: broke underneath him, for no apparent reason. That leg was 178 00:15:20,590 --> 00:15:24,810 Speaker 1: in plaster for five months. Another crewman lost everything in 179 00:15:24,850 --> 00:15:28,910 Speaker 1: a house fire. A third suffered two heart attacks in 180 00:15:28,950 --> 00:15:32,210 Speaker 1: his 30s, while two others died of heart attacks in 181 00:15:32,230 --> 00:15:37,610 Speaker 1: their 40s, including flight engineer Ken Parkinson. His wife said 182 00:15:37,670 --> 00:15:40,610 Speaker 1: that he had had a heart attack every year at 183 00:15:40,650 --> 00:15:43,830 Speaker 1: the same time of year until the last one killed him. 184 00:15:45,150 --> 00:15:48,260 Speaker 1: Let's try to be rational about this. Could there have 185 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,860 Speaker 1: been some toxic substance in the tomb that caused death? 186 00:15:52,620 --> 00:15:56,810 Speaker 1: It's possible. One explanation is that some strange virus, mould 187 00:15:56,860 --> 00:16:00,630 Speaker 1: or bacteria evolved in there, ready to burst out and 188 00:16:00,650 --> 00:16:04,610 Speaker 1: wreak havoc. A second possibility is that the ancient Egyptians 189 00:16:04,670 --> 00:16:08,970 Speaker 1: were masters of poison and primed the tomb with toxic 190 00:16:09,090 --> 00:16:13,430 Speaker 1: paints or powders. Or perhaps the tomb was built out 191 00:16:13,470 --> 00:16:18,180 Speaker 1: of radioactive material. delivering a lethal dose to grave robbers 192 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:24,240 Speaker 1: with the temerity to disturb it. All of these explanations 193 00:16:24,500 --> 00:16:28,820 Speaker 1: have been attributed to scientists, but there are some obvious objections. 194 00:16:29,300 --> 00:16:35,300 Speaker 1: Radiation is easily detected. If Tutankhamen's tomb was packed with plutonium, 195 00:16:35,740 --> 00:16:39,610 Speaker 1: I think we'd know about it by now. The epidemiologist F. 196 00:16:39,650 --> 00:16:43,800 Speaker 1: DeWolf Miller says, recently told National Geographic that we don't 197 00:16:43,820 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 1: know of even a single case of either an archaeologist 198 00:16:47,900 --> 00:16:53,020 Speaker 1: or a tourist experiencing any negative consequences from either tomb 199 00:16:53,060 --> 00:16:57,360 Speaker 1: moulds or bacteria. He added that given the sanitary conditions 200 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:00,780 Speaker 1: of the time in general and those within Egypt in particular, 201 00:17:01,180 --> 00:17:04,620 Speaker 1: Lord Carnarvon would likely have been safer in the tomb 202 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:11,060 Speaker 1: than outside. Anyway, No toxin could explain all the mysterious 203 00:17:11,100 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 1: deaths of all these different people across the decades. But 204 00:17:15,970 --> 00:17:20,850 Speaker 1: something else might. Something as strange as any pharaonic curse. 205 00:17:21,730 --> 00:17:34,070 Speaker 1: We'll find out more after the break. Let's move from 206 00:17:34,130 --> 00:17:40,370 Speaker 1: the realm of ancient curses to the world of cutting-edge science. Cutting-edge, 207 00:17:40,430 --> 00:17:45,770 Speaker 1: that is, from the perspective of 1784. We're in Paris, 208 00:17:46,550 --> 00:17:50,610 Speaker 1: the febrile decade before the revolution and the guillotine. A 209 00:17:50,670 --> 00:17:56,270 Speaker 1: strange cylinder of polished oak with nautical fittings, ropes, brass 210 00:17:56,330 --> 00:18:00,010 Speaker 1: wheels and iron rods stands in front of us, in 211 00:18:00,030 --> 00:18:03,800 Speaker 1: the centre of a room with an audience. Poor souls, 212 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:09,260 Speaker 1: wretched invalids seeking healing, are brought in, firmly fastened to 213 00:18:09,300 --> 00:18:13,400 Speaker 1: the cylinder by the ropes, then touch their diseased bodies 214 00:18:13,460 --> 00:18:16,500 Speaker 1: to the iron rods. They're ready to be healed by 215 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:22,760 Speaker 1: the awesome scientific power of magnetism. To add to the 216 00:18:22,820 --> 00:18:27,950 Speaker 1: sense of occasion, a glass harmonica, a strange instrument invented 217 00:18:27,990 --> 00:18:35,040 Speaker 1: by Benjamin Franklin, plays eerie music. A contemporary account describes 218 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:39,020 Speaker 1: how the patients would cough, spit, feel slight pain, a 219 00:18:39,060 --> 00:18:43,340 Speaker 1: warmth either localised or all over, and perspire. Others are 220 00:18:43,500 --> 00:18:49,380 Speaker 1: agitated by quick, involuntary movements. These effects build over several hours, 221 00:18:49,640 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: with crescendos of screams, sobs, hysterical laughter, and of course, 222 00:18:55,130 --> 00:18:59,010 Speaker 1: the harmonica. The climax occurs with the appearance of the 223 00:18:59,050 --> 00:19:03,940 Speaker 1: device's inventor. dressed in gold slippers and a silk robe, 224 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:07,900 Speaker 1: waving a wand and laying on hands, provoking yet more 225 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:15,530 Speaker 1: convulsions and hysterics. It's Franz Anton Mesmer, the man who 226 00:19:15,590 --> 00:19:21,470 Speaker 1: gave us the word mesmerise. Mesmer was a sensation in 227 00:19:21,630 --> 00:19:26,200 Speaker 1: pre-revolutionary France. A seat at his magnetic device was the 228 00:19:26,320 --> 00:19:30,230 Speaker 1: hottest ticket in Paris. The charge was steep, But there 229 00:19:30,250 --> 00:19:34,630 Speaker 1: was no shortage of eager customers. Some were desperate for healing. 230 00:19:35,230 --> 00:19:37,510 Speaker 1: Others were in it for the thrill and the ability 231 00:19:37,570 --> 00:19:43,300 Speaker 1: to describe their experiences later in the salon. The Queen herself, 232 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:48,340 Speaker 1: Marie Antoinette, was a follower of Mesmer. So was a 233 00:19:48,420 --> 00:19:53,740 Speaker 1: hero of the American Revolution, the Marquis de Lafayette. But 234 00:19:53,780 --> 00:19:57,400 Speaker 1: while Mesmer himself claimed to be at the very forefront 235 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:04,470 Speaker 1: of scientific thought and practice, the scientific establishment was less impressed. Indeed, 236 00:20:04,570 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 1: the Society of Medicine refused even to debunk his treatments, 237 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:15,500 Speaker 1: ignoring him completely. But Mesmeromania could not be ignored for long. 238 00:20:16,550 --> 00:20:20,470 Speaker 1: And soon the king demanded a proper investigation into this 239 00:20:20,670 --> 00:20:26,400 Speaker 1: strange sorcerer scientist and his methods. That investigation would include 240 00:20:26,580 --> 00:20:32,880 Speaker 1: France's finest scientists, led by a distinguished foreign authority, none 241 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:39,020 Speaker 1: other than Benjamin Franklin himself. Franklin's team conducted a test 242 00:20:39,100 --> 00:20:41,900 Speaker 1: in which a patient sat in front of a closed door. 243 00:20:42,900 --> 00:20:45,700 Speaker 1: She was told that a noted mesmerist was behind it, 244 00:20:46,180 --> 00:20:53,160 Speaker 1: performing his magnetic treatments. The investigators described the results. After 245 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:57,740 Speaker 1: three minutes, she stretched both arms behind her back, twisting 246 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 1: them strongly and bending her body forward. Her whole body shook. 247 00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:04,660 Speaker 1: The chatter of her teeth was so loud that it 248 00:21:04,700 --> 00:21:08,110 Speaker 1: could be heard from outside. She bit her hand hard 249 00:21:08,150 --> 00:21:13,030 Speaker 1: enough to leave teeth marks. The mesmerist, of course, wasn't there. 250 00:21:13,930 --> 00:21:20,690 Speaker 1: The entire effect... was in her imagination. Other tests showed 251 00:21:20,750 --> 00:21:25,570 Speaker 1: similar results. It seemed clear that mesmerism didn't work, which 252 00:21:26,090 --> 00:21:29,760 Speaker 1: it didn't. But Benjamin Franklin was sharp enough to note 253 00:21:29,900 --> 00:21:35,420 Speaker 1: an equally important fact. Even a completely phony cure can 254 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:39,740 Speaker 1: have powerful effects on the mind. These patients were having 255 00:21:39,820 --> 00:21:46,550 Speaker 1: convulsions caused only by their own belief in mesmerism. Franklin 256 00:21:46,730 --> 00:21:49,710 Speaker 1: also guessed that if these beliefs were powerful enough to 257 00:21:49,810 --> 00:21:53,460 Speaker 1: cause such reactions, they might also be powerful enough to 258 00:21:53,470 --> 00:21:57,100 Speaker 1: do some good. He wrote, If these people can be 259 00:21:57,140 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 1: persuaded to forbear their drugs in expectation of being cured 260 00:22:02,180 --> 00:22:05,740 Speaker 1: by only the physician's finger or an iron rod pointing 261 00:22:05,780 --> 00:22:11,190 Speaker 1: at them, they may possibly find good effects. And Franklin 262 00:22:11,220 --> 00:22:14,710 Speaker 1: was right. As Shankar Vedantam and Bill Mesler note in 263 00:22:14,750 --> 00:22:20,000 Speaker 1: their book useful delusions, what Franklin had observed, is now 264 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:26,170 Speaker 1: called the placebo effect. It's remarkably powerful. Researchers have found 265 00:22:26,250 --> 00:22:30,550 Speaker 1: that not only do fake painkillers relieve pain, but fake 266 00:22:30,690 --> 00:22:35,570 Speaker 1: expensive painkillers relieve pain more powerfully than fake cheap painkillers. 267 00:22:36,490 --> 00:22:42,030 Speaker 1: Doctors have performed placebo knee surgeries, anaesthetic incisions but no 268 00:22:42,250 --> 00:22:49,300 Speaker 1: actual surgery, and found beneficial effects. The placebo effect is potent. 269 00:22:50,100 --> 00:22:54,480 Speaker 1: And so too is its evil twin, the nocebo effect. 270 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:58,260 Speaker 1: Just as the placebo effect makes you feel better because 271 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:01,840 Speaker 1: you think you're being helped, the nocebo effect makes you 272 00:23:01,860 --> 00:23:05,460 Speaker 1: feel worse because you think you're being harmed. When a 273 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:08,740 Speaker 1: doctor says, this is going to hurt, it is more 274 00:23:08,780 --> 00:23:11,250 Speaker 1: likely to hurt. When you're given a drug or a 275 00:23:11,300 --> 00:23:15,250 Speaker 1: vaccine shot and told about side effects, you're more likely 276 00:23:15,290 --> 00:23:19,710 Speaker 1: to experience side effects. In clinical trials, people are often 277 00:23:19,770 --> 00:23:23,210 Speaker 1: given a placebo, that is a harmless pill or injection 278 00:23:23,350 --> 00:23:26,440 Speaker 1: that they think might be an actual drug. It turns 279 00:23:26,530 --> 00:23:29,940 Speaker 1: out that 5% of these people then drop out of 280 00:23:29,980 --> 00:23:34,420 Speaker 1: the trial because they're experiencing what they think are side effects, 281 00:23:34,820 --> 00:23:38,840 Speaker 1: ranging from pain to depression to heart disease. It's a 282 00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:45,610 Speaker 1: nocebo response. A bad response to a fake pill. Could 283 00:23:45,630 --> 00:23:48,610 Speaker 1: the nocebo effect help to explain some of the heart 284 00:23:48,630 --> 00:23:51,810 Speaker 1: attacks reported to be caused by the curse of the pharaoh? 285 00:23:52,790 --> 00:23:56,900 Speaker 1: It might. I can't help but think of poor Ken Parkinson, 286 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:01,680 Speaker 1: the flight engineer who helped transport Tutankhamen's mask from Cairo 287 00:24:01,720 --> 00:24:06,260 Speaker 1: to London in 1972, whose wife reported that he had 288 00:24:06,280 --> 00:24:10,430 Speaker 1: a heart attack At the same time of year. Year 289 00:24:10,690 --> 00:24:13,890 Speaker 1: after year. Imagine what he must have been thinking after 290 00:24:14,010 --> 00:24:16,860 Speaker 1: three or four years of that. It's the kind of 291 00:24:16,900 --> 00:24:21,460 Speaker 1: thing that would cause some serious anxiety. And that serious 292 00:24:21,540 --> 00:24:24,400 Speaker 1: anxiety about a heart attack might turn out to be 293 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:31,280 Speaker 1: a self-fulfilling prophecy. So, maybe tomb toxins killed Lord Carnarvon. 294 00:24:31,970 --> 00:24:39,850 Speaker 1: Maybe the nocebo effect gave Ken Parkinson repeated anxiety-induced heart attacks. Maybe. 295 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:45,380 Speaker 1: But there's another explanation for these eerie tales of the 296 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:52,180 Speaker 1: curse of the pharaohs. Unlike tomb toxins, this explanation is everywhere. 297 00:24:52,700 --> 00:24:57,510 Speaker 1: It's all around us. We can't possibly escape it. And 298 00:24:57,530 --> 00:25:00,920 Speaker 1: to understand it, I want to tell you a very 299 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:07,680 Speaker 1: different kind of spooky story. Once upon a time, a 300 00:25:07,700 --> 00:25:12,770 Speaker 1: man walked into a branch of Target near Minneapolis, furious, 301 00:25:13,710 --> 00:25:17,870 Speaker 1: and demanded to see the manager. He was brandishing a 302 00:25:17,970 --> 00:25:22,330 Speaker 1: mailer that contained adverts for nursery furniture and maternity clothes, 303 00:25:22,780 --> 00:25:26,700 Speaker 1: alongside lots of smiling babies.' My daughter got this in 304 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:29,850 Speaker 1: the mail,' he said. She's still in high school and 305 00:25:29,890 --> 00:25:33,740 Speaker 1: you're sending her coupons for baby clothes and cribs? Are 306 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:36,780 Speaker 1: you trying to encourage her to get pregnant? The manager 307 00:25:36,820 --> 00:25:41,820 Speaker 1: was rather confused and apologised. A few days later, he 308 00:25:41,900 --> 00:25:47,790 Speaker 1: called to apologise again. Ah, about that, said the no 309 00:25:47,850 --> 00:25:51,090 Speaker 1: longer angry dad. I had a talk with my daughter. 310 00:25:51,470 --> 00:25:54,330 Speaker 1: Turns out there's been some activities in my house I 311 00:25:54,370 --> 00:25:59,960 Speaker 1: haven't been completely aware of. She's due in August. I 312 00:26:00,060 --> 00:26:06,400 Speaker 1: owe you an apology. This story, related by Charles Duhigg 313 00:26:06,500 --> 00:26:09,840 Speaker 1: in the New York Times magazine in 2012, is the 314 00:26:09,980 --> 00:26:14,480 Speaker 1: modern version of the mummy's curse. It's no longer an 315 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:20,280 Speaker 1: ancient pharaoh who wields mysterious power over us. It's an algorithm, 316 00:26:21,130 --> 00:26:25,380 Speaker 1: analysing our shopping patterns, predicting what we'll do, Where we'll go, 317 00:26:25,980 --> 00:26:30,460 Speaker 1: what we'll desire, all powerful and subtly nudging us in 318 00:26:30,500 --> 00:26:37,170 Speaker 1: the direction of corporate profit. Duhigg's story went viral, just 319 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:39,790 Speaker 1: as tales of the mummy's curse had been shared a 320 00:26:39,870 --> 00:26:43,830 Speaker 1: century earlier. People were in awe of the way an 321 00:26:44,110 --> 00:26:48,230 Speaker 1: algorithm could perceive a hidden truth that even this teenage 322 00:26:48,270 --> 00:26:55,820 Speaker 1: girl's own family could not. Well, perhaps. But while we're 323 00:26:55,860 --> 00:26:59,460 Speaker 1: supposed to assume that everybody who received one of those 324 00:26:59,540 --> 00:27:02,860 Speaker 1: mailers was a pregnant woman, there's no evidence in the 325 00:27:02,900 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 1: story for that assumption. What if Target sent the same 326 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:11,780 Speaker 1: mailer to every woman under the age of 45? What 327 00:27:11,820 --> 00:27:16,670 Speaker 1: if Target sent coupons to absolutely everyone? Maybe they did. 328 00:27:17,300 --> 00:27:20,550 Speaker 1: From the perspective of the angry dad and the pregnant daughter, 329 00:27:20,990 --> 00:27:26,440 Speaker 1: the algorithm would seem just as eerily good What's going 330 00:27:26,500 --> 00:27:30,780 Speaker 1: on here is what a statistician would call selection bias. 331 00:27:31,740 --> 00:27:35,370 Speaker 1: It's ubiquitous, and while it's easy to understand, it's often 332 00:27:35,410 --> 00:27:39,370 Speaker 1: hard to solve. I can name far more rich actors 333 00:27:39,430 --> 00:27:43,990 Speaker 1: than poor ones, and far more professional footballers than amateur ones, 334 00:27:44,490 --> 00:27:47,200 Speaker 1: but that doesn't mean most actors are rich and most 335 00:27:47,270 --> 00:27:53,840 Speaker 1: footballers are professional. So how many non-pregnant people received coupons? 336 00:27:54,580 --> 00:27:57,600 Speaker 1: I've no idea. But I do know that if Target 337 00:27:57,740 --> 00:28:01,820 Speaker 1: sends you some maternity coupons but you're not pregnant, you're 338 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:05,620 Speaker 1: probably not going to bother mentioning that to anyone, let 339 00:28:05,660 --> 00:28:10,700 Speaker 1: alone mentioning it to the New York Times magazine. You see? 340 00:28:12,120 --> 00:28:18,600 Speaker 1: Selection bias. It's everywhere. But could selection bias have shaped 341 00:28:18,660 --> 00:28:23,160 Speaker 1: the way we perceive the curse of the pharaoh? We'll 342 00:28:23,180 --> 00:28:33,710 Speaker 1: find out after the break. Lord Carnarvon died not long 343 00:28:33,850 --> 00:28:39,010 Speaker 1: after he entered Tutankhamen's tomb. It's a striking coincidence, if 344 00:28:39,070 --> 00:28:44,540 Speaker 1: indeed it is a coincidence. But to understand whether selection 345 00:28:44,620 --> 00:28:47,500 Speaker 1: bias might be at play, we need to ask how 346 00:28:47,540 --> 00:28:52,170 Speaker 1: many others have been involved in such excavations. And what 347 00:28:52,210 --> 00:28:56,250 Speaker 1: does it even mean to be involved? The mysterious logic 348 00:28:56,310 --> 00:29:00,880 Speaker 1: of mummy's curse stories casts the net wide. a British 349 00:29:00,940 --> 00:29:05,130 Speaker 1: diplomat assassinated 500 miles away from the tomb and two 350 00:29:05,170 --> 00:29:09,850 Speaker 1: years after it was opened. Does that really count? Or 351 00:29:09,890 --> 00:29:13,430 Speaker 1: remember the young boy whose connection to Tutankhamen was that 352 00:29:13,470 --> 00:29:15,990 Speaker 1: he was unfortunate enough to be in the path of 353 00:29:16,030 --> 00:29:18,970 Speaker 1: the hearse of the father of the secretary of Lord 354 00:29:19,010 --> 00:29:23,390 Speaker 1: Carnarvon six years after the excavation? If the pharaoh's curse 355 00:29:23,430 --> 00:29:26,050 Speaker 1: can be blamed for such deaths … We could draw 356 00:29:26,130 --> 00:29:29,950 Speaker 1: plausible lines of connection to countless thousands of people around 357 00:29:29,970 --> 00:29:35,150 Speaker 1: the periphery of the original dig. To analyse this rationally, 358 00:29:35,990 --> 00:29:39,280 Speaker 1: we need to compare the fates of people associated with 359 00:29:39,300 --> 00:29:43,200 Speaker 1: the excavation of the tomb with those who are not associated. 360 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:48,100 Speaker 1: An epidemiologist named Mark Nelson has published a serious attempt 361 00:29:48,140 --> 00:29:51,700 Speaker 1: at this analysis. It was published in the British Medical Journal. 362 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:57,350 Speaker 1: Dr Nelson looked at 44 Westerners identified by Howard Carter 363 00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:01,670 Speaker 1: as being in Egypt during the dig. 25 of them 364 00:30:01,810 --> 00:30:05,810 Speaker 1: were potentially exposed to a curse by visiting the tomb. 365 00:30:05,810 --> 00:30:12,430 Speaker 1: 19 did not visit. he found scant evidence of any curse. 366 00:30:13,330 --> 00:30:17,130 Speaker 1: On average, people lived for another 20 years after visiting 367 00:30:17,170 --> 00:30:22,630 Speaker 1: the tomb. Howard Carter survived 17 years, slightly below the average, 368 00:30:22,930 --> 00:30:25,870 Speaker 1: so it's not true that he died quickly, nor is 369 00:30:25,910 --> 00:30:28,950 Speaker 1: it true that his accursed fate was to live to 370 00:30:29,010 --> 00:30:32,720 Speaker 1: see all his friends succumb. The only hint of a 371 00:30:32,750 --> 00:30:35,820 Speaker 1: curse that Dr Nelson found was that the average age 372 00:30:35,860 --> 00:30:40,040 Speaker 1: of tomb visitors at death was a little younger than 373 00:30:40,060 --> 00:30:44,480 Speaker 1: the average age at death of the companions who didn't visit. However, 374 00:30:45,030 --> 00:30:48,150 Speaker 1: these companions were often the wives of the excavators, and 375 00:30:48,610 --> 00:30:51,810 Speaker 1: women do tend to live longer than men. In any case, 376 00:30:52,390 --> 00:30:55,360 Speaker 1: even the people who visited the tomb lived, on average, 377 00:30:55,750 --> 00:30:59,840 Speaker 1: until they were over 70. It's not exactly the stuff 378 00:30:59,900 --> 00:31:05,510 Speaker 1: of nightmares. Lord Carnarvon did die before his time. But 379 00:31:05,810 --> 00:31:10,640 Speaker 1: in an age before antibiotics, such things happened. He nicked 380 00:31:10,660 --> 00:31:15,200 Speaker 1: that mosquito bite while shaving, the cut became infected, and 381 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:19,140 Speaker 1: he developed pneumonia. It's an unusual way to die, but 382 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:24,370 Speaker 1: not a mysterious one. Still, there is one final reckoning. 383 00:31:25,190 --> 00:31:28,850 Speaker 1: What of the prophetic warnings that Carnarvon would die within 384 00:31:28,970 --> 00:31:32,160 Speaker 1: six weeks? What of his dog? What of the lights 385 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:35,840 Speaker 1: going out all over Cairo? And what of one final 386 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:40,460 Speaker 1: chilling detail? That the wound which killed Carnarvon was in 387 00:31:40,500 --> 00:31:43,610 Speaker 1: the same spot as a mark on the cheek of 388 00:31:43,770 --> 00:31:51,750 Speaker 1: King Tutankhamen himself. The rather underwhelming explanation for some of 389 00:31:51,770 --> 00:31:56,340 Speaker 1: these stories is that they aren't true. Remember that long 390 00:31:56,380 --> 00:32:00,470 Speaker 1: before Howard Carter gazed upon the mask of Tutankhamen, or 391 00:32:00,550 --> 00:32:05,250 Speaker 1: Lord Carnarvon succumbed to pneumonia, Edwardians had told each other 392 00:32:05,390 --> 00:32:10,210 Speaker 1: ghost stories. And no ghost story was more popular than 393 00:32:10,250 --> 00:32:15,090 Speaker 1: a tale of the mummy's curse. Such tales sold newspapers. 394 00:32:15,570 --> 00:32:18,120 Speaker 1: Given that most of the newspapers had been shut out 395 00:32:18,290 --> 00:32:22,240 Speaker 1: by the London Times' exclusive deal with Carnarvon, what else 396 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:26,000 Speaker 1: would they print? Journalists made up spooky stories, and the 397 00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:29,840 Speaker 1: best such stories lived on. The man who claimed he'd 398 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:33,400 Speaker 1: given Carnarvon six weeks to live, six weeks before he died, 399 00:32:33,820 --> 00:32:37,320 Speaker 1: was writing for a rival newspaper. He only published the 400 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:42,240 Speaker 1: details of his prophecy several months after Carnarvon's death. The 401 00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:45,260 Speaker 1: Daily Express reported that the lights went out in the 402 00:32:45,330 --> 00:32:49,590 Speaker 1: hotel when Lord Carnarvon died. Perhaps they did. It would 403 00:32:49,750 --> 00:32:52,730 Speaker 1: hardly be astonishing to have a power cut in Cairo 404 00:32:52,810 --> 00:32:58,310 Speaker 1: in 1923, but the timing was probably less uncanny. Otherwise, 405 00:32:58,650 --> 00:33:04,200 Speaker 1: other newspapers might also have mentioned it. The haunting detail 406 00:33:04,230 --> 00:33:08,520 Speaker 1: about the wound on Tutankhamen's cheek was published only in 407 00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:13,160 Speaker 1: the Daily Mail. Modern examinations of the mummy mention no 408 00:33:13,260 --> 00:33:19,970 Speaker 1: such wound. Lord Carnarvon's dog? Howard Carter's canary? Roger Luckhurst, 409 00:33:20,270 --> 00:33:24,180 Speaker 1: author of The Mummy's Curse, points out that all these 410 00:33:24,260 --> 00:33:30,550 Speaker 1: tales are second-hand or third-hand accounts, newspapers reporting hearsay about hearsay. 411 00:33:31,090 --> 00:33:35,970 Speaker 1: What about the pioneering radiologist, Sir Archibald Douglas Reid, said 412 00:33:36,050 --> 00:33:39,330 Speaker 1: to have x-rayed the sarcophagus and then to have died 413 00:33:39,380 --> 00:33:43,540 Speaker 1: of a mysterious illness? His mysterious illness wasn't mysterious at all. 414 00:33:44,060 --> 00:33:46,720 Speaker 1: He had cancer, one of the hazards of being a 415 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:49,860 Speaker 1: radiologist in those days, and it seems unlikely that he 416 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:53,190 Speaker 1: ever x-rayed the sarcophagus. He was too ill to be 417 00:33:53,210 --> 00:33:56,470 Speaker 1: in Egypt. He was convalescing in Switzerland before he died. 418 00:33:57,750 --> 00:34:01,880 Speaker 1: The mysterious portent of the Black Jackal of Anubis seen 419 00:34:01,940 --> 00:34:05,960 Speaker 1: by Howard Carter? It happened, but it wasn't a portent. 420 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:12,560 Speaker 1: Carter's diary entry records the Black Jackal in May 1926, 421 00:34:13,110 --> 00:34:17,470 Speaker 1: several years after Carnarvon's death and many years before Carter's. 422 00:34:17,970 --> 00:34:21,370 Speaker 1: That rather spoils the story of its potency, doesn't it? 423 00:34:21,860 --> 00:34:24,960 Speaker 1: No wonder it was the inaccurate version that caught on. 424 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:30,260 Speaker 1: And what about Count Haman, the man who warned Carnarvon 425 00:34:30,300 --> 00:34:36,070 Speaker 1: that death would claim him in Egypt? Well, maybe. Count Haman, 426 00:34:36,370 --> 00:34:39,670 Speaker 1: who was not a count, also claimed to have warned 427 00:34:39,850 --> 00:34:44,070 Speaker 1: trophy hunters not to remove the unlucky mummy from Egypt. 428 00:34:44,970 --> 00:34:48,210 Speaker 1: Since the unlucky mummy left Egypt when Haman was about 429 00:34:48,330 --> 00:34:55,750 Speaker 1: three years old, this seems implausible. Ah yes, the unlucky mummy. Or, 430 00:34:56,110 --> 00:35:00,790 Speaker 1: more precisely, the coffin case of the princess of Amun-Ra. 431 00:35:01,590 --> 00:35:05,250 Speaker 1: I'd almost forgotten that older tale. The one which predates 432 00:35:05,290 --> 00:35:08,820 Speaker 1: the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. The one which 433 00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:14,480 Speaker 1: ends with a coffin case sinking with the Titanic. It 434 00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:18,580 Speaker 1: is quite the story. But it is just a story. 435 00:35:19,660 --> 00:35:24,460 Speaker 1: And one which endlessly mutates. One man who had indeed 436 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:26,820 Speaker 1: lost his arm in a shooting accident used to tell 437 00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:31,640 Speaker 1: it in the 1890s and early 1900s. He was president 438 00:35:31,700 --> 00:35:34,740 Speaker 1: of the Ghost Club, at which gentlemen would meet for 439 00:35:34,780 --> 00:35:37,260 Speaker 1: dinner and frighten each other out of their wits. But 440 00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:40,240 Speaker 1: there was no shooting accident in his telling of the tale. 441 00:35:41,140 --> 00:35:45,120 Speaker 1: It was only after he died that others retrofitted that 442 00:35:45,180 --> 00:35:50,060 Speaker 1: detail to the story. Another brother ghost, one of the 443 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:54,630 Speaker 1: members of the Ghost Club, died on the Titanic. His 444 00:35:54,730 --> 00:35:59,170 Speaker 1: fate too was woven into the story. And so the 445 00:35:59,230 --> 00:36:05,090 Speaker 1: tale grew and grew, despite specific point-by-point rebuttals from the 446 00:36:05,270 --> 00:36:09,850 Speaker 1: increasingly exasperated curator of the Egyptian room in the British Museum. 447 00:36:10,890 --> 00:36:15,540 Speaker 1: But unlike my cautionary tales, the story of the unlucky 448 00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:20,660 Speaker 1: coffin case just isn't true. The case wasn't on the Titanic. 449 00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:25,840 Speaker 1: We know that because we have the doomed liner's cargo manifest. 450 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:34,150 Speaker 1: It's exhaustive and it lists no Egyptian artefacts. And there 451 00:36:34,210 --> 00:36:37,450 Speaker 1: is one final reason I'm confident that the coffin case 452 00:36:37,550 --> 00:36:41,510 Speaker 1: of the unknown priestess of Amun-Ra did not sink with 453 00:36:41,550 --> 00:36:45,910 Speaker 1: the Titanic. It's that it never left the British Museum. 454 00:36:47,030 --> 00:36:51,990 Speaker 1: It's exhibit number EA-22542. I know because... I just went 455 00:36:52,050 --> 00:36:55,770 Speaker 1: into the museum and had a look. Despite everything I've argued, 456 00:36:56,030 --> 00:36:58,860 Speaker 1: I'll admit I was nervous, but I stood in front 457 00:36:58,900 --> 00:37:01,160 Speaker 1: of the coffin and now I'm on my way home, 458 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:04,120 Speaker 1: safe from the curse of the mummy. 459 00:37:08,420 --> 00:37:17,130 Speaker 2: The Mummy's Curse Key sources for this episode include Roger 460 00:37:17,150 --> 00:37:22,940 Speaker 2: Luckhurst's book, The Mummy's Curse, Christopher Turner's article, Mesmeromania, the 461 00:37:22,980 --> 00:37:25,200 Speaker 2: British Medical Journal, and Snopes. 462 00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:27,870 Speaker 1: For a full list of our sources, see the show 463 00:37:27,910 --> 00:37:38,450 Speaker 1: notes at timharford.com. Cautionary Tales is written by me, Tim Harford, 464 00:37:38,790 --> 00:37:42,460 Speaker 1: with Andrew Wright. It's produced by Ryan Dilley and Marilyn Rust. 465 00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:45,780 Speaker 1: The sound design and original music is the work of 466 00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:50,000 Speaker 1: Pascal Wise. This show wouldn't have been possible without the 467 00:37:50,040 --> 00:37:54,680 Speaker 1: work of Mia LaBelle, Jacob Weisberg, Heather Fane, Julia Barton, 468 00:37:55,060 --> 00:38:01,190 Speaker 1: John Schnarz, Carly Migliori, Eric Sandler, Maggie Taylor, Daniela Lacan, 469 00:38:01,850 --> 00:38:08,010 Speaker 1: and Maya Koenig. Cautionary Tales is a production of Pushkin Industries. 470 00:38:08,730 --> 00:38:12,040 Speaker 1: If you like the show, please remember to rate, share, 471 00:38:12,700 --> 00:38:13,200 Speaker 1: and review.