Tummy Turners (&) Curiouser and Curiouser | √

One

The Princess of Amen-Ra lived some 3,500 years ago. When she died,she was laid in an ornate wooden coffin and buried deep in a vault at Luxor, on the banks of the River Nile.

In the 1890s,four rich young English men visiting the excavations at Luxor were invited to buy an exquisitely fashioned mummy case containing the remains of the Princess. They drew lots,and the man who won paid several thousand pounds and had the coffin taken to his hotel. Two hours later,he was seen walking into a desert. He never returned. The next day,one of the remaining men was accidentally shot by a servant.

The third man in the foursome found on his return home that his bank had gone out of business, living him penniless. The fourth man suffered a severe illness, lost his job and was reduced to selling matches in the street.

Nevertheless, the coffin reached England, where it was bought by a businessman. After three of his family had been injured in a road accident and his house damaged by fire,he donated the coffin to the British Museum.

As the coffin was being unloaded from a truck in the museum courtyard, the truck suddenly went into reverse and trapped a passer-by. Then,as the casket was being lifted up the stairs by two workmen, one fell and broke his leg. The other, apparently in perfect health, died unaccountably two days later.

Once the Princess was installed in the Egyptian Room, the trouble really started …

The museum's nightwatchmen frequently heard hammering and sobbing from the coffin. Other exhibit in the room were often thrown about at night. Cleaners refused to go near the room. Finally,the authorities had the mummy carried to the basement. Within a week,the supervisor of the move was found dead at his desk.

The museum sold the mummy to a private collector. After suffering a miserable few years of illness and misfortune, the owner banished the coffin to the attic,where it remained until a hardheaded American archaeologist paid a handsome price for it and arranged for its removal and shipping to New York.

In April,1912,the new owner escorted his treasure aboard a sparkling new White Star liner about to make its maiden voyage to New York. The name of the ship was, of course, the H.M.S. Titanic.