September 26, 2009
DT: King Tut's Curse
by Oubliette
The history of Ancient Egypt is resplendent with many Pharaohs, famous and infamous-Khufu, Seti and of course Ramses the Great, to name a few. But the one ruler that has captured the popular imagination is King Tutankhamun. Although he died at the untimely age of 18 and was quickly forgotten by his contemporaries, Tutankhamun name has come to symbolize the majesty of Ancient Egypt, thanks to the discovery of his magnificent tomb in 1922.
The famous curse associated with him and his burial place is said to have struck at least 12 people connected with the expedition. Lord Carnarvon, who financed the dig, was its most famous supposed victim but strangely enough, Howard Carter, who was the first to peer in at the riches contained within this awesome tomb, appeared to have gotten away unscathed. It also appears that misfortune has descended upon others who have ventured into Tutankhamun’s resting place. One group’s expedition to the tomb was said to have brought on an earthquake in Cairo, while a team attempting a CT scan of the pharaoh had to suffer a sandstorm and equipment troubles.
Guards have supposedly been hearing ghostly voices and claim to have also seen apparitions and strange lights in the vicinity of the tomb. Many believe that this indicates a re-emergence of the famous curse. The Destination Truth team could hardly pass up an opportunity to find out for themselves if evil indeed lies in wait for those who dare to disturb the resting place of a Pharaoh. After all, what’s a little curse here and there, or meeting up with a stumbling mummy, wrappings unraveling ala Boris Karloff, searching for Tana leaves?
After again consulting Orbitz for their travel arrangements (well, it is a sponsor of the show!) bags are again packed and the team starts their journey to this land of ancient mysteries. That the Egyptian Government gave them permission to explore the tomb at night comes as a surprise, as these are rightly considered National Treasures and the mummies are looked upon with reverence. Josh himself seemed surprised by this rare opportunity.
The first stop upon reaching Cairo was the Egyptian Museum, which houses thousands of Tutankhamun’s belongings–an wonderful place indeed. Josh meets up with the Director of Luxor Antiquities, Mustafah Waziri, in order to obtain the key to the tomb and to learn more about the curse. Upon being asked if he believes such a thing exists, Waziri states he “cannot deny it”, and explained how all the lights in Cairo went out when the tomb was first entered back in 1922. It is becoming apparent that the Egyptians take this curse very seriously.
But now it’s time to get to work, and the crew flies to Luxor (Thebes) and the famous Valley of the Kings. Here we meet hearthrob, um, I mean Egyptologist Ramy Romany. He informs Josh of the deep significance of the Valley. It is, after all, a sacred burial place, containing the remains of past rulers of this ancient land. The DT team will be the first to do a paranormal investigation of Tutankhamun’s tomb. However, Romany warns that investigating there at night will provoke the curse.
We are then treated to our intrepid explorers having a bit of fun at the bazaar, with Rex and Sharra dancing in colorful fancy Egyptian costumes while Jael has found an “ancient” bike, although Joshe explains to her that there were no bikes in Ancient Egypt. It is hilarious to see Josh mouthing “She didn’t know” concerning the supposed antiquity of the bike. The interaction between these two is quite entertaining, but it’s what we’ve come to expect from these characters.
After this comes “Dinner With Ramy”, where the team encounters their first real challenge–name that dish. With testicles, brains and other unmentionable parts of cow anatomy perhaps it might be wiser to stick to McDonalds (yes, there is one in Luxor; I checked). The looks on the faces of our friends as they gulp down these culinary delights is interesting, to say the least.
The after dinner entertainment makes up for the somewhat unusual fare, as we are treated to some local dance moves by ladies skilled in the art of belly dancing, much to the delight of the gentlemen in the party. Soon all are rocking to the festive beat as we are treated to yet another side of Egyptian culture. Everyone seems to have at least enjoyed this part of the evening but alas, this feast is bound to come back and haunt them later (no pun intended).
The next day, it’s time to start the serious business of entering the King’s tomb. We meet Ali Khalifa, who is a guard at the Valley of the Kings and claims that he and his colleagues have seen apparitions and strange lights in the area. When asked if he were to strike off on his own to where this phenomena has been observed, Josh is told that, day or night, if one goes alone he or she will certainly see something strange.
So it’s off to Tutankhamun’s tomb, with the unusual modes of transportation we have come to expect whenever transport of any kind is needed. The real fun in this case involves the not so cooperative camels, even though Josh had told Bichu to avoid this mode of transport. Camels are well known for their obstinacy and Josh’s beast is no exception. His mount apparently does not feel much like traveling that day and he has a hard time trying to convince the animal not to deposit him in the desert sand. Well, at least there is little chance of there vehicles overheating or running out of gas this time around.
Reaching their destination, and against a backdrop of the full moon, Josh and Jael go off to explore the area where the guards claimed to have experienced the strange sightings. The rest set up base camp and position their equipment, which includes the now familiar track cameras. Using the FLIR, the two walk towards a tomb entrance; Jael states that she hears noises coming from that direction. At the gate, Josh picks up an odd shape on the thermal camera-an indiscernible figure moving at the back of the tomb. But having no key to that particular tomb, it was impossible to explore this anomaly further. But the night is just beginning.
The time has come to enter King Tutankhamun’s famous burial place. Josh briefs everyone on how the investigation is to proceed, using the thermal camera, EMF sweeps and solitary EVP sessions in the antechamber where the King’s mummified body lies. He is quick to add that the curse is said to affect anyone who passes through the entrance to the tomb. We can only guess what must be going through their minds as they each journey down into the darkness.
The wind isn’t the only thing to pick up, as stomach complaints begin to plague some of the team (harking back, no doubt, to that delectable feast). A sudden sandstorm sweeps over them and they rush to protect the equipment from this onslaught. But it soon passes and, taking a deep breath, the DT team walks through the gate and into one of the most famous tombs in the world.
I’m sure many viewers have seen documentaries featuring Tutankhamun’s resting place, but it is still exciting to see both the body of the king as well as the magnificent sarcophagus that had originally contained his mummified remains. It is here that unusual events occur, as Josh first hears what he thinks is a voice. He then gets a huge EMF spike right over the famous gold head depicting the king. I can’t help but think that the gold mask was somehow responsible for this anomaly. Suddenly Josh and Rex hear noises and a voice in the direction of the stairs, and the two quickly run to see what is happening.
Unfortunately it is Bischu, lying on the ground and complaining of a sharp pain in his abdomen (lots of bleeps in this part of the show). After seeing what composed their meal the day before, I don’t think his dilemma can be blamed on the curse. Be that as it may, he is down for the count, leaving the others to begin their solitary EVP sessions in the presence of the famous King.
Josh is the first to begin the isolation sessions, locked in alone with the mummy. (I can only think this is to add more drama, Ghost Adventures style). He then incongruously begins an EVP session in English. As with GHI, it is puzzling as to why investigators do this. Learning just a few phrases (even in Ancient Egyptian) would not prove all that difficult.
Perhaps in response to his voice, Josh hears clicking noises just outside the locked door. He quickly checks with base camp to see if any of them are near the stairs. No one is but their equipment, including the walkie-talkie, is beginning to act up for no apparent reason.
Mike, being the audio expert, is sent in next to begin an isolation session, again with the door being locked (?). He starts his EVP session but soon is finding it hard to breathe and is exhibiting signs of an asthma attack. Rex runs to his aid, but has to unlock the door to get to him. I find the idea of locking someone in to be unnecessary and perhaps dangerous. My guess is that it is done simply to add drama and make the audience feel the isolation of the subject within the chamber.
With Mike rescued, it’s time to pack up and head home. Josh readily admits that there could very well be earthly reasons for the evidence they collected. But it is clear that this rare opportunity of spending the night in the tomb of Tutankhamun was a thrilling and memorable adventure.
Back in LA, Mike works on Josh’s EVP session and discovers a sound which he and Josh conclude might be a voice saying “Out”. I for one did not recognize a voice, nor did I hear the word “Out”. This is uncomfortably close to the way GH has been interpreting their EVPs of late. More interesting were the following EVPs, which did sound like someone was walking around, sometimes heavily. Given this is one of Egypt’s greatest treasures, it would not be out of the question to have a security guard, just out of sight, keeping an eye on these “foreigners” And such a person could easily have made the footsteps that were heard. It may also account for the shadowy figure that Josh had picked up in the back of the first tomb he and Jael had observed.
Lastly, there is the strange image picked up by one of the cameras. Long and transparent, it is difficult to determine its source. To me it looked like two threads; on the other hand, it could simply be a camera artifact and we really have no idea how far away from the lens it might have been. I wish it had been analyzed by an independent source to get a third and totally unbiased assessment.
And what of the curse? It makes for a good story, but in a lot of the cases the facts simply don’t add up. Carnarvan had been seriously ill for some time, while the other “victims” may simply have experienced the normal illnesses and death rates that plague any group. There is a theory that the mold that is present in these underground tombs can be deadly, but debate still goes on as to whether or not it can affect the human respiratory system. In the end, one has to decide for oneself if curses associated with this and other royal tombs have any substance.
Perhaps because it involved Ancient Egypt (a subject I’m deeply interested in), I was not disappointed with this episode. It contained just the right amount of humor-Josh is simply hilarious-while giving the viewer a real feel for the country and its people. In addition, I thought the cameraman caught some outstanding shots both inside and outside the Valley of the Kings. Very few shows give the audience that feeling of being along for the ride that DT does, and this episode was certainly no exemption.
Filed under Destination Truth, Posts by Oubliette
 |
| ^ Please Support our Sponsor |
Comments on DT: King Tut's Curse »
Angelayo1970 @ 3:34 pm
Seeing this episode just reinforced my dream of someday visiting the Valley of the Kings myself. I wanted to be an Egyptologist when I was growing up, and have all kinds of adventures by being the female Indiana Jones, so this episode was right up my alley!
I have to agree that, while I didn't find any of the evidence collected to be very compelling, it was an awesome episode just because of the location and the taste of the local culture they were shown. It also makes me want to start the Ramy Romany fan club. Now HE was compelling television!
Angelayo1970 @ 3:35 pm
Oh, and great write up Oubliette! I got caught up in Beadazzling my "I heart Ramy" t-shirt while I was posting…
Oubliette @ 5:27 pm
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.
This episode was to me flat out amazing. It shows that there is life beyond GH. I'm still getting over the fact that they received the required permission to enter there unaccompanied by any officials. It bolsters my belief that someone had been sent to keep an eye on them. Who knows what these foreign "tourists" might be up to!
That there is a curse makes for good movies, but especially these last few decades have seen that idea laid to rest. Anyone interested in learning about it will find plenty of material on the internet. There is also great research into possible pathogens that might have been responsible for illnesses or deaths of people who have what we called compromised immune systems and went unprotected into these underground burial chambers.
But hey, any excuse for them to go to the Valley of the Kings. I know I wouldn't pass up the chance.
Judy Holiday @ 12:32 am
I was totally shocked that they were given permisson to film at nite without security.I have a friend who worked in production of the History's channel "Digging for the truth" and they spent many hrs. there in the Valley and she would complain about how they would be granted 10 hrs of film time only to be closed down by the security within a couple of hrs.She said if it wasn't for the screaming and cussing in the different languages it would've been really boring.So to be granted what DT was is really unusual and I kept wondering who could Josh possibly know to get so lucky.
TasCat @ 4:25 am
I too was very surprised at the access allowed to DT by the Egyptian Gov't. It seems to me that the keys given to Josh was't by the main Egyptian Archaeologist that I've seen that accompanies other documentary shows, and main stream ones to boot, like National Geographic, Discovery, TLC, etc. I know the Egyptians are very possessive of their antiquities and archaeological sites, maybe there's a new sheriff in town.
I also didn't find the evidence too compelling, the asthma attack and stomach aches suffered by the crew members, who's names I don't have handy, could very well have been due to a) the asthma attack, the dust storm, this dust can be very fine depending on which desert, but I doubt it was the heavier sand grains we see in dunes, but more powdery, and b) the stomach ache, very well could have been due to the acclimation to the food/water if in a lurch, had used regular water with not quite enough purifier.
The shadow could have been Jael's lit up by one of the camera guy's IR lights while behind her, doesn't take much motion to project that much movement way back there. A foot of her motion could have accounted for feet of shadow movement.
The noises, who knows on this…rock cooling off from the tomb being open to tourists, not sure how close to the surface the tomb is for this idea. Just a thought, the EVP…pretty shaky..and finally, the camera anomaly, looked like perhaps a silk scarf perhaps put in front of the camera, maybe wadded up and dropped down to set off the motion detector, while held of course not to keep it clicking again and catching the top of the scarf, there just seemed to be a part that looked like it was billowing a bit, or more to speak, like a curve in the scarf, early in the morning, can't think how to express it clearly…still having a bit of trouble health wise. Might go to ER in early afternoon when my Mom's helper gets here, but I do have to say, since the Romanian forest, to the Island of the Dolls to this episode, even had my Mom stay to watch about the Swamp Ape, cryptozoology isn't really her thing, I think she's getting hooked, maybe she will be buying a Bedazzler too! I know I would probably steal it for an I heart Jael T-Shirt…nah, after seeing the movie The Game Plan, with Dwayne Johnson as a football star finding out about a daughter, you just can't have a manly bedazzled shirt…. "not that there's anything wrong with it"
Revenant @ 5:35 am
Tascat- "The shadow could have been Jael's lit up by one of the camera guy's IR lights while behind her, doesn't take much motion to project that much movement way back there. A foot of her motion could have accounted for feet of shadow movement."
If the image had been captured by a camera with night vision, your theory may hold water. But Josh was using a FLIR which measures temperature. I'm just going to guess on the distance from the FLIR to the opening of that crypt…maybe 20 feet? More? At that distance, I do not believe that a shadow from Jael would have any impact on temperature. So what was it? Um…still thinking about that one…
Oubliette @ 8:48 am
Tascat wrote:
"I too was very surprised at the access allowed to DT by the Egyptian Gov't. It seems to me that the keys given to Josh was't by the main Egyptian Archaeologist that I've seen that accompanies other documentary
shows, and main stream ones to boot, like National Geographic, Discovery, TLC, etc. I know the Egyptians are very possessive of their antiquities and archaeological sites, maybe there's a new sheriff in town."
The man you are thinking of is Dr. Zahi Hawass, who possesses the grand and prestigious title of "Secretary General, Supreme Council of Antiquities". The man in the show is probably assigned to oversee the Luxor area by Hawass. I am absolutely sure that the ultimate permission came from Cairo. It is Hawass's duty to oversee all the tombs and their contents, both human and material. Anything from Ancient Egypt that has toured the US and other countries was given permission, and supervised, by him.
He has his detractors (and doesn't think much of some crackball archaeologists who have wild theories like the lady who thought she had found Nefertiti) but I've been impressed by him since I first saw him.
His love and enthusiasm for the mummified remains and the treasures that have been excavated is contagious. He is like a little boy whenever he descends into the burial chambers, and refers to the mummies as "our relatives" as though they had just passed away. The glint in his eyes is unmistakable. His love and devotion to the field took him to the highest position possible in this branch of the Egyptian government.
http://www.drhawass.com/events/secretary-general-supreme-council-antiquities
I was hoping he would put in an appearance; that in itself would have been a real coup for the show. Perhaps a good sized donation allowed the filming to take place. But regardless, it is my belief that they were being watched, whether they knew it or not.
The Doctor @ 12:28 pm
One question –
If the camera was a trap camera that takes an image when it senses motion … just why did they wind up with many identical images showing nothing out of the ordinary ?
Angelayo1970 @ 2:18 pm
I have to agree with you on that, Oubliette. IMO, there is no way the Egyptian government would have let an American television crew run rampant in the Valley without there being some sort of supervision, whether the DT'ers knew about it or not. And to be frank, I wouldn't blame them for that. Those are very precious artifacts, and are important in our WORLD history, not just in Egyptian history.
Judy Holiday @ 2:24 pm
I was also thinking of Dr.Zawass, and wondering when he was going to make his appearance in the show because everything that DFT filmed had to have his approval on it.The one thing that I found strange about the whole Nefertiti event was about a yr. later Dr.Zawass put that same mummy thru a CT-scan and tried to test it for DNA to see if it was in fact Nefertiti so I guess the lady wasn't such a crackball archaeologist after all.BTW,I'm not trying to sound nasty or rude by stating this I just found it odd that he would go out of his way to do some of the same research.Just like you said he is the best of the best and he loves his mummies so thats all I meant by that.
Angelayo1970 @ 2:36 pm
Apparently Joann Fletcher, the archaeologist involved in the Nefertiti scandal, has written a book about the experience called "The Search for Nefertiti". She claims that the reason Dr. Hawass was so upset about her claims was not that she made them publicly but that she did not inform him of her findings before making a public announcement, which was considered a huge breach of etiquette after the allowances they had made for her and her team to do their research. She has been barred from returning to Egypt to do any sort of work again.
The Doctor @ 6:28 pm
Just watching some earlier DT's to catch up and noticed in S02e02, The Haunted Island, they catch another single frame of the motion detecting camera with something vertical and translucent.
Anyone seen any more like this on DT ?
I'd be curious if they were taken with the exact same piece of equipment.
TasCat @ 9:43 pm
Not that I can recall, but I mostly concentrated on Ghost stories and just some of the cryptozoology topics.
@Oubliette, Thanks, that's THE MAN, when it comes to Egyptian Antiquities and remains. I remember how excited he was when they found the tombs of the architects of the I believe Great Pyramid of Giza, it was almost like a necropolis around the base of the pyramid to the west I think of the Great Sphinx. They so thought it was all slave labor, but it's seeming that the architects had great respect and that it's likely it was a voluntary build, or build for some kind of pay, like grain, salt, etc…would be nice to time travel.
Revenant @ 4:42 am
Tascat- "The shadow could have been Jael's lit up by one of the camera guy's IR lights while behind her, doesn't take much motion to project that much movement way back there. A foot of her motion could have accounted for feet of shadow movement."
Revenant- "If the image had been captured by a camera with night vision, your theory may hold water. But Josh was using a FLIR which measures temperature. I'm just going to guess on the distance from the FLIR to the opening of that crypt…maybe 20 feet? More? At that distance, I do not believe that a shadow from Jael would have any impact on temperature. So what was it? Um…still thinking about that one…"
Odd that I'm quoting myself, right? Anyway…I've thought about it and here's what I've come up with: The "shadow" seen on the FLIR at the bottom of the entrance way to the tomb was a person. Can I prove it? No. But I have a theory…
There are two parts to this theory. The first is this; during the show, they interview a security guard about his personal experience. This confirms that there are security guards at the location. Of course, that is logical. The site would need protection. The DT team is granted full access to King Tut's tomb. Yet…does that mean the entire area is left unprotected while an American film crew hunts for ghosts? Or…were security guards actually there and told to stay out of the way? This seems much more likely to me. Having security guards within various tombs just in case something happened makes a great deal of sense because you just never know what may happen (as in people stealing something from the tombs). Can I prove a security guard was in that tomb? No. But DT can't prove that there wasn't since they didn't have access to it. Without that confirmation, a security guard within that tomb isn't unreasonable.
So, say it was a security guard. Why would he appear as a "shadow" on the FLIR? Glad you asked. There are two things to consider. The first is the distance. The FLIR doesn't have an unlimited range. Seeing the episode again, I'm guessing the distance may be closer to 30 feet then 20 feet. Maybe more since it's hard to tell because of the downward slope of the entrance way to the tomb. Anyway, at that range, you're starting to push the limits of the FLIR. Was the image that we were seeing registering correctly? I don't know, but I have my doubts.
The second thing to consider is how curious that the image looked. It is entirely black, which denotes the absence of heat (not the "red hot" images we've seen on other shows). Could the security guard be wearing something that insolates his heat signature, thus showing up as black on the FLIR? It's possible. MythBusters did an entire show on something like this a while back. The premise was fooling heat sensors in order to rob a bank as seen in a movie. I am not saying that the security guard intentionally wore something to prevent being seen on the FLIR. What is possible is that what he was wearing something that had that side-effect. For example, wearing scuba gear intially and quite dramatically lowers ones heat signature, although it doesn't last long. Scuba gear and a desert…not a match made. However, some sort of camouflage gear or something to protect one from sand storms might also incidentally mask one's heat signature from a FLIR for a couple of seconds thus providing us with the image that we saw.
And with orders of not being seen…the security guard, in whatever he was wearing, would move quickly out of sight…explaining the quick movement from left to right.
Is this theory rock-solid? Nope…not in the least. But perhaps it does provide a possibility for what we saw.
Oubliette @ 9:38 am
Revenant-excellent interpretation of the shadow at the back of the tomb. As in my review, I had stated that no way would there not be security guards watching them the entire time. Whether they knew it or not, someone was there with them, which makes a whole lot of sense. Leaving people alone with these National Treasures simply is not done. I'm still surprised they obtained permission in the first place, but perhaps a big enough donation got them personal access to the chambers. Again, nothing wrong with that.
From the first, it looked to me like a person trying to crouch down to get out of sight, not knowing that his shadow was caught by the equipment. You have done an excellent job of analyzing this and although we can't be 100% sure, IMO you hit the nail on the head, so to speak.
Revenant @ 5:17 am
Oubliette- "I'm still surprised they obtained permission in the first place, but perhaps a big enough donation got them personal access to the chambers."
Maybe, but maybe not. Would SyFy pony up that kind of money for DT? For some reason, I'm doubting that. I'm uncertain if DT has the ratings yet to warrant SyFy plunking down that type of change.
Like yourself, I too was really shocked that they gained such permission and access to the site. If I were a gambling man, I would put my money on Ramy Romany. In the "deadBolt" interview with Josh Gates, Josh spoke of a rather young "fixer (a local producer who can get things done)." I believe that this is, without question, Mr Romany. Being so young, and following in the footsteps of his father who was also a fixer, Mr Romany might have been quite inclined to help out an American film crew. In making this happen, Mr Romany has definitely gotten his name out there. Ghosts and curses aside, you think any production company planning on doing something in Egypt isn't now going to give this guy a call? In fact, this was a brilliant move on Mr Romany's part. In one shot, he's set himself up as a legimate contact in Egypt for the Western world.
I posted the article in the forums, but so people don't have to go digging around, I'll do so again here:
http://www.thedeadbolt.com/news/106185/josh_gates_destination_truth_3_interview.php#
Oh, and thanks for the kind words on my theory of the "shadow (although, technically it's not a shadow
)" seen at the back of the tomb. Just sorry it was so late. I've been so busy in RL that may responses to threads have been a bit slow.
Ripley @ 7:04 pm
Hi! I normally just enjoy reading everyone's comments here, but I have found something interesting. I agree that it seems impossible that Egypt would allow untrained archeologists into a tomb. I did some searching, and King Tut and his treasures have been on exhibit in the US since November 2008. So unless DT has been holding onto this footage for quite some time, it may have been filmed here somehow interspersed with footage from when they were actually in Egypt. I have no idea how long it takes to film anything and the length of time these things need to be produced, but this just seems a little fishy. And for the record I have not seen this episode.
alicat @ 7:20 pm
Thanks for posting Ripley but no, it was not filmed during any showing in the U.S. I went to the Philadelphia exhibition and watched the production of the exhibition and can say, without any hesitation, there would be no way to do so.
The Doctor @ 3:46 pm
Hi Ripley –
Did a little digging … Tut has never left Egypt
http://tutsanfrancisco.org/news/why-king-tuts-gold-mask-no-longer-travels
Ripley @ 5:06 pm
alicat, The Doctor-
.
Thank you for the information. I was fooled by all the "come see King Tut" titles that I obviously didn't read them very carefully. I had just remembered seeing all the King Tut advertisements all over the Field Museum a couple of years back and had assumed that he, in fact, was there as well. Apparently not
And I came across this….
http://www.touregyptforums.com/index.php?showtopic=1392
(can not verify the source on blogspot though) but it seems the tombs are open to the public at least at certain times. So thanks again guys!