Mummy
The Titanic's mummy curse is an urban legend, possibly based on a Priestess of Amen-Ra who lived in 1050 B.C. According to legend, after the 1890s discovery of her mummy in Egypt, the purchaser of the mummy ran into serious misfortune. The mummy was then reportedly donated to the British Museum where it continued to cause mysterious problems for visitors and staff. The mummy was eventually purchased by journalist William Thomas Stead, who dismissed the claims of a curse as quirks of circumstance. The legend claims that he arranged for the mummy to be concealed on the underside of his car for fear that it would not be taken aboard the Titanic because of its reputation. He reportedly revealed to other passengers the presence of the mummy the night before the accident.
Official records state that the British Museum never received the mummy, only the lid of its sarcophagus (which is on display at the museum and known as the "Unlucky Mummy"). Additionally, except during war and special exhibits abroad, the lid has not left the Egyptian room.
Read more about this topic: RMS Titanic Alternative Theories
Famous quotes containing the word mummy:
“I must work, so as not to be a fool, to get on, to become a journalist, because that’s what I want!... I can’t imagine that I would have to lead the same sort of life as Mummy ... and all the women who do their work and are then forgotten. I must have something besides a husband and children, something that I can devote myself to!”
—Anne Frank (1929–1945)
“I have mummy truths to tell
Whereat the living mock,
Though not for sober ear,
For maybe all that hear
Should laugh and weep an hour upon the clock.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“I feared
The belly-cold, the grave-clout, that betrayed
Me dithering in the drift of cordial seas;
Ten years are time enough to be dismayed
By mummy Christ, head crammed between his knees.”
—Allen Tate (1899–1979)