cursed be those that disturb the rest of Pharaoh. They that shall break the seal of this tomb shall meet death by a disease which no doctor can diagnose.” 些扰乱法老其余部分的人被诅咒了。凡是打破这坟墓封印的人，必死于医生无法诊断的疾病

Throughout the centuries, ancient Egypt and its civilization have often been referred to in terms of the dark and mysterious. Encounters with its strange customs have frequently led people, both ancient and modern, to have misconceptions about this land. The Greeks acknowledged that much ancient wisdom, such as the basics of mathematics, architecture, art, science, medicine, and even philosophy, ultimately derived from the Egyptians; but they still had some difficulty in understanding, accepting, or even dealing with the alien and unfamiliar aspects of the religion. Greek historians often wrote about the mysterious ways in which the Egyptians worshipped their deities, such as this note by Herodotus: “There are not a great many wild animals in Egypt…Such as there are—both wild and tame—are without exception held to be sacred” (II, 65). He also wrote a disclaimer: “I am not anxious to repeat what I was told about the Egyptian religion. . . for I do not think that any one nation knows much more about such things than any other” (II, 4). Of course he then goes on to state: “[The Egyptians] are religious to excess” (II, 35-39).

Egypt was different from much of the rest of the ancient world, with its pantheon of fantastic deities, part animal, part human; its rulers who were understood to be gods on earth; its bizarre funerary practices that paid unheard of attention to the preparations for an afterlife; and its enigmatic script that was written with recognizable pictures, but remained unreadable and therefore mysterious to the uninitiated. As a result, Egypt managed to inspire both awe and fear in the foreigner who came into contact with its culture.

Today, the products of Egyptian civilization that have survived the passage of more than 3000 years provide a visible monument to its advanced state. Such accomplishments, however, often evoke suspicion rather than respect. Thus there are people who prefer to believe that Egyptian building techniques, literature, art, and mathematics derived from an alien culture from outer space, rather than to accept the documented evidence of their earthly origin. This and other equally inaccurate theories are espoused by people fondly referred to by Egyptologists as “pyramidiots.” But while some modern ideas about ancient Egypt are based on a mixture of misguided awe and respect, others appear to have originated under less innocent circumstances. One of the most persistent examples of the latter type is the so-called curse of the pharaohs.

几个世纪以来，古埃及及其文明经常被称为黑暗和神秘。与其奇怪习俗的相遇经常导致古代和现代人们对这片土地产生误解。希腊人承认，许多古代智慧，如数学、建筑、艺术、科学、医学甚至哲学的基础知识，最终都来自埃及人;但他们在理解、接受甚至处理宗教中陌生和不熟悉的方面仍然有一些困难。希腊历史学家经常写到埃及人崇拜他们的神灵的神秘方式，例如希罗多德的笔记：“埃及的野生动物并不多......如有——无论是狂野的还是驯服的——无一例外地被认为是神圣的“（II，65）。他还写了一份免责声明：“我不急于重复我被告知的关于埃及宗教的事情。因为我不认为任何一个国家比任何其他国家更了解这些事情“（II，4）。当然，他接着说：“[埃及人]虔诚得过分”（II，35-39）。

埃及与古代世界的其他大部分地区不同，它的万神殿充满了奇妙的神灵，部分是动物，部分是人类;它的统治者被理解为地球上的神;其奇异的丧葬习俗，闻所未闻地关注来世的准备工作;以及它神秘的脚本，用可识别的图片写成，但仍然不可读，因此对外行来说是神秘的。结果，埃及成功地激发了接触其文化的外国人的敬畏和恐惧。

今天，经过3000多年幸存下来的埃及文明产品为其先进状态提供了可见的纪念碑。然而，这些成就往往引起怀疑而不是尊重。因此，有些人宁愿相信埃及的建筑技术、文学、艺术和数学源自外太空的外星文化，而不是接受他们起源于地球的记录证据。这种理论和其他同样不准确的理论被埃及古物学家亲切地称为“金字塔”的人所拥护。但是，尽管一些关于古埃及的现代观念是基于被误导的敬畏和尊重的混合体，但其他观念似乎起源于不那么无辜的情况下。后一种类型最持久的例子之一是所谓的法老诅咒。

An Egyptologist Cursed

During the last hundred years or so, the phrase “curse of the pharaohs” has been used to describe the cause of a large assortment of ills. These range from natural disasters to a mild stomach disorder that often plagues tourists to Egypt (also known as “pharaoh’s revenge,” or “gippy tummy”—derived from “Egyptian tummy”). I became personally involved with this curse (I mean that supposedly written by or for the pharaohs), when I became Project Egyptolo­gist for the Treasures of Tutankhamun Exhibit that traveled across the United States from 1976 to 1979.

Charged with writing the text that appeared in the exhibit, I conducted research on all aspects of the discovery, excavation, and recording of Tutankhamun’s tomb and its contents. Naturally, I came across several references to the famous “curse of King Tut.” But before I had begun to deal with that matter on more than a superficial level, I came into contact with the “curse of the curse of King Tut.” My first published newspaper interview consisted of a few descriptive paragraphs about the exhibition that carried this headline: “Beware the beat of the bandaged feet, as the ancient Egyptian saying goes.” Of course there was no such saying in ancient Egypt. I vowed that the next time that I met with a reporter I would be more careful: I had to be assured that the tone of the column would be as professional as possible and the content totally accurate.

埃及古物学家被诅咒

在过去的一百年左右的时间里，“法老的诅咒”这个词被用来描述各种疾病的原因。这些范围从自然灾害到经常困扰埃及游客的轻度胃病（也称为“法老的复仇”或“吉比肚子”，源自“埃及肚子”）。我亲自参与了这个诅咒（我的意思是据说是由法老写的或为法老写的），当我成为1976年至1979年在美国各地巡回展出的图坦卡蒙宝藏展览的埃及学家时。

我负责撰写展览中出现的文字，对图坦卡蒙墓及其内容的发现、挖掘和记录的各个方面进行了研究。自然，我偶然发现了一些关于著名的“图坦王诅咒”的参考资料。但在我开始处理这个问题之前，我接触到了“图坦王诅咒的诅咒”。我第一次在报纸上发表的采访包括一些关于展览的描述性段落，标题是：“当心绷带脚的节拍，正如古埃及谚语所说。当然，古埃及没有这样的说法。我发誓，下次我与记者见面时，我会更加小心：我必须保证专栏的语气会尽可能专业，内容完全准确。

Within a matter of weeks I was interviewed again, when the crate containing Tutankhamun’s funerary mask was opened. I was circumspect, cautious, and at my scholarly best. Moreover, the entire discussion was taped; this way, I thought, I would be sure that the real facts behind the curse of King Tut were included, and any misunderstandings avoided. Afterward I waited expectantly for the newspaper to appear. The front page was as accurate as I could have hoped, but on the follow-up, the headline read: “Egyptologist admits there was a curse.” In fact, this line did bear some relationship to what I had said. In discussing the deaths of those associated with the tomb of King Tut I had remarked: “It is true that everyone who enters the tomb will die, just as it is true that everyone who crosses Woodlawn Avenue (a main thoroughfare on the University of Chicago campus) will eventually die.” I never expected to have my remark edited in such a creative way and taken out of context.

While this kind of misinformation may seem innocuous enough, there were several other articles that gratuitously included unsubstantiated “facts”, such as that which appeared in the Washington Post (March 16, 1977): ” ‘Cursed be those that disturb the rest of the pharaoh’ read an inscription on his tomb.” There was in fact no curse on either the walls of the tomb or on any object found inside it. So, you may well ask, If there was no curse, how is it that there are so many of them attributed to the tomb and its owner? In the case of the articles written during the latest King Tut exhibit, I venture to say that most if not all references to the curse derived from ignorance and a desire for a catchy headline—not necessarily in that order.

几周后，我再次接受采访，当时装有图坦卡蒙葬礼面具的板条箱被打开了。我谨慎，谨慎，学术最好。此外，整个讨论都被录音了;这样，我想，我就可以确保包括图坦王诅咒背后的真实事实，并避免任何误解。之后，我满怀期待地等待报纸的出现。头版和我希望的一样准确，但在后续报道中，标题是：“埃及古物学家承认有一个诅咒。事实上，这句话确实与我所说的话有某种关系。在讨论与图坦国王墓有关的人的死亡时，我曾说过：“确实，每个进入坟墓的人都会死，就像每个穿过伍德劳恩大道（芝加哥大学校园的主干道）的人最终都会死一样。我从没想过我的评论会以如此创造性的方式进行编辑并断章取义。

虽然这种错误信息似乎无伤大雅，但还有其他几篇文章无端地包含了未经证实的“事实”，例如出现在《华盛顿邮报》（16 年 1977 月 <> 日）上的文章：“'那些扰乱法老其余部分的人被诅咒'在他的坟墓上读了铭文。事实上，无论是在坟墓的墙壁上还是在里面发现的任何物体上都没有诅咒。所以，你可能会问，如果没有诅咒，为什么有这么多诅咒归咎于坟墓和它的主人？就最近一次图坦王展览期间撰写的文章而言，我冒昧地说，大多数（如果不是全部）对诅咒的引用都源于无知和对吸引人的标题的渴望——不一定按这个顺序。

The Troubles of Carter and Carnarvon

From the time of the discovery of the young pharaoh’s tomb in 1922 it was surrounded by controversy. The original concession granted to the excavators by the Egyptian government called for some division of the finds between the host country and the excavator, as had been the custom in the past.

In the end, such a division was precluded, primarily because of the desirability of keeping together the contents of a nearly intact tomb that was such an important part of the heritage of the country, not to mention the magnitude of the discovery, its impact on the world, and its effect on our knowledge of the past. While Lord Carnarvon, the sponsor of the expedition, hardly needed nor indeed expected vast remuneration for his archaeological efforts, there was the question of the cost of six years of field work conducted for Carnarvon by Howard Carter before the tomb was discovered. Moreover, there were six and one-half more years of work ahead in order to clear the tomb, and then four years of work to be completed in the laboratory before the last of the artifacts would leave the Valley of the Kings for the Cairo Museum.

In a stunning move that was calculated to deal with all of his problems (not the least of which was the overwhelming demand for information from the press), Lord Carnarvon sold the exclusive rights to publish anything about the tomb to the Times of London. By this action, Carnarvon was able not only to offset the costs of previous and future work at the site, but also to avoid constant interruptions by the press. In the past, members of the expedition had been badgered to utter distraction by reporters hungry for stories about an event that had aroused the interest of the public; now, reporters no longer had direct access to such sources. This is not to say that the Times withheld all information: it did give out stories—but only after they appeared in the Times, with the result that all other newspapers were always at least a day behind the Times with any news about the boy king.

卡特和卡那封的麻烦

从1922年发现年轻法老的坟墓开始，它就被争议所包围。埃及政府最初授予挖掘机的特许权要求在东道国和挖掘机之间对发现进行某种分配，这是过去的惯例。

最后，这种划分被排除在外，主要是因为希望将几乎完整的坟墓的内容放在一起，这是该国遗产的重要组成部分，更不用说发现的规模，它对世界的影响，以及它对我们过去知识的影响。虽然探险队的赞助者卡那封勋爵几乎不需要也不期望为他的考古工作提供巨额报酬，但霍华德·卡特在发现坟墓之前为卡那封进行的六年实地工作的成本问题是。此外，为了清理坟墓，还有六年半的工作要做，然后在实验室完成四年的工作，最后一批文物将离开帝王谷前往开罗博物馆。

为了解决他的所有问题（其中最重要的是媒体对信息的压倒性需求），卡那封勋爵将出版有关坟墓的任何内容的专有权出售给伦敦时报。通过这一行动，Carnarvon不仅能够抵消现场以前和未来工作的成本，而且还避免了媒体的不断中断。过去，探险队的成员被渴望报道引起公众兴趣的事件的记者所困扰，以分散注意力;现在，记者不再能够直接接触这些消息来源。这并不是说《泰晤士报》隐瞒了所有信息：它确实发布了故事——但只是在它们出现在《泰晤士报》上之后，结果是所有其他报纸总是比《泰晤士报》晚一天，任何关于男孩国王的消息。

This situation angered the press, but they were not the only ones who were disgruntled. In an effort to keep tourists from interrupting those who were trying to record and clear the tomb, Carter and Carnarvon had barred virtually all but a select few from the excavation. Some officials of the Antiquities Service, other Egyptologists, and political figures from Egypt and around the world could not gain access to the tomb easily. Such secrecy caused rumors to flourish, the most malicious of which referred to the planned theft of some objects. Unfortunately, there may well have been a bit of truth to these stories, and some authors claim that a few artifacts now in the collections of museums outside Egypt may have originated in Tut’s tomb!

Conversely, one of the objects that remained in the collection and is now on exhibit in the Cairo Museum may not have come from its designated find spot. A head of Tutankhamun portrayed as the god Nefertem emerging from a lotus depicts one of the ancient creation myths. According to Carter’s later published reports, it was found in the corridor to Tut’s tomb; this location, however, really did not make much sense, since all similar objects were found in the Treasury. Carter did not include any real information about the head in his original field reports, nor did he note it in the first volumes of his book. In fact, the figure was “discovered” in a neighboring tomb (used for storage) when a committee of officials visited the site during Carter’s absence. It was carefully wrapped, and stored in a crate with labels from a European provision shop. Despite these irregularities, no scandal emerged, and the apparently hastily devised version of its origin has become the official story: it was found in debris in the corridor, where it had been left by (ancient) thieves.

这种情况激怒了媒体，但他们并不是唯一不满的人。为了防止游客打断那些试图记录和清理坟墓的人，卡特和卡那封几乎禁止所有人进行挖掘，只有少数人除外。古物局的一些官员、其他埃及古物学家以及来自埃及和世界各地的政治人物无法轻易进入坟墓。这种保密性导致谣言盛行，其中最恶意的谣言涉及计划盗窃某些物品。不幸的是，这些故事很可能有一点真相，一些作者声称，现在埃及以外博物馆收藏的一些文物可能起源于图坦的坟墓！

相反，留在收藏中并于现在在开罗博物馆展出的一件物品可能不是来自其指定的发现地点。图坦卡蒙的头像被描绘成从莲花中出现的奈菲尔特姆神，描绘了古代创世神话之一。根据卡特后来发表的报道，它是在通往图坦卡蒙墓的走廊里发现的;然而，这个位置真的没有多大意义，因为在财政部发现了所有类似的物体。卡特在他最初的实地报告中没有包括任何关于头部的真实信息，也没有在他的书的第一卷中注明。事实上，这个人物是在卡特缺席期间，当一个官员委员会访问该地点时，在邻近的坟墓（用于存储）中“发现”的。它被小心地包装起来，并存放在一个带有欧洲供应店标签的板条箱中。尽管存在这些违规行为，但没有出现任何丑闻，显然是仓促设计的起源版本已成为官方故事：它是在走廊的碎片中发现的，它是（古代）小偷留下的。

While the media missed out on this particular episode, they did have a field day when Lord Carnarvon died on May 6, 1923—less than a year after the discovery of the tomb. There were all sorts of versions of the specific “curse” to which Carnarvon’s death could be attributed, but most tried to relate it to an inscription of warning in the tomb. Some of the reporters had the aid of disgruntled Egyptologists, who had not only been denied access to the tomb, but also any information about it. Since there was no love lost between Carter and Carnarvon and some of their scholarly colleagues, there was always someone who was willing to provide information about certain objects or inscriptions in the tomb, based solely on published photographs. In this manner, many inscriptions could be construed as curses by the public, especially after a “re-translation” by the press. For example, an innocuous text inscribed on mud plaster before the Anubis shrine in the Treasury stated: “I am the one who prevents the sand from blocking the secret chamber,” In the newspaper, it metamorphized into: “…I will kill all of those who cross this threshold into the sacred precincts of the royal king who lives forever.”

Such misrepresentation proliferated, and soon curses were being found in all of the inscriptions. Since few people could read the texts and thereby check the original, the re­porters were safe. They could (and did) publish a photograph of the large golden shrine in the Burial Chamber, together with a “translation” of the accompanying inscription: “They who enter this sacred tomb shall swift be visited by wings of death.” The carved figure of a winged goddess that accompanied the shrine would no doubt reinforce the “translated” threat. In reality, the texts on this shrine come from The Book of the Dead—a collection of spells intended to en

虽然媒体错过了这一特殊事件，但他们确实有一个野外日，卡那封勋爵于 6 年 1923 月 <> 日去世——距离发现坟墓不到一年。卡那封的死可以归因于特定的“诅咒”有各种各样的版本，但大多数人试图将其与坟墓中的警告铭文联系起来。一些记者得到了心怀不满的埃及古物学家的帮助，他们不仅被拒绝进入坟墓，而且还被拒绝进入任何有关它的信息。由于卡特和卡那封以及他们的一些学术同事之间没有失去爱情，总有人愿意仅根据出版的照片提供有关坟墓中某些物品或铭文的信息。以这种方式，许多铭文可能被公众解释为诅咒，尤其是在媒体“重新翻译”之后。例如，在财政部阿努比斯神殿前刻在泥膏上的无害文字说：“我是阻止沙子堵塞密室的人”，在报纸上，它变成了：“......我要杀了所有越过这道门槛进入永生王王的神圣领地的人。

这种歪曲激增，很快在所有铭文中都发现了诅咒。由于很少有人能阅读文本并因此检查原文，因此记者是安全的。他们可以（并且确实）发布一张墓室中大型金色神龛的照片，以及随附铭文的“翻译”：“进入这座神圣坟墓的人将迅速受到死亡之翼的访问。伴随神社的有翼女神的雕刻形象无疑会加强“翻译”的威胁。实际上，这座神社的文字来自《死者之书》——一系列旨在确保永生的咒语，而不是缩短永生！

sure eternal life, not to shorten it!

Poor Lord Carnarvon. His death, rather than promoting the peace and quiet that he wished for himself and his colleague Howard Carter, resulted in more interest in, and scandal and intrigue about, the discoverers of King Tut. Every newspaper around the world carried a story about Lord Carnarvon’s death from the mysterious and ominous forces unleashed from the tomb that he was responsible for opening. All sorts of related phenomena were also attributed to the action of the curse upon the defiler of the tomb. For example, all the lights in Cairo were reported to have gone out at the precise moment of Lord Carnarvon’s death. The loss of electricity in Cairo; however, was not an uncommon occurrence, and is an experience that most tourists to Egypt have encountered several times.

Carnarvon’s son, Lord Porchester, added to the mystery by recounting that his father’s dog, at home at the family castle Highclere, let out a pitiful cry at the moment of its master’s death, and then it too died. It appears, however, that Lord Porchester was in India at the time of his father’s death, so the story of the dog’s demise must have been related to him, not actually seen by him. It is pertinent to note that the estate of the deceased Lord Carnarvon continued to reap the benefits of the arrangement made with the Times of London, receiving a percentage of the profits realized from the sale of stories. Keeping the interest of the public at fever pitch was a lucrative business for both the Times and Carnavon’s estate. During the Chicago portion of the recent exhibition (April 15-August 15, 1977), Lord Carnarvon’s heir stated that although he did not know if there was a curse, he wouldn’t take one million pounds to enter the tomb. The real story behind the death of Carnarvon is not quite so dramatic, if no less tragic. It appears that he died of an infection that caused blood poisoning, and that the origin of this infection was a mosquito bite on the cheek, cut open by a razor during shaving.

可怜的卡那封勋爵。他的死，非但没有促进他希望自己和他的同事霍华德·卡特的和平与安宁，反而引起了人们对图坦卡坦王发现者的更多兴趣、丑闻和阴谋。世界各地的每家报纸都刊登了关于卡那封勋爵死于他负责打开的坟墓释放的神秘和不祥力量的故事。各种相关现象也归因于诅咒对坟墓玷污者的作用。例如，据报道，开罗的所有灯都在卡那封勋爵去世的那一刻熄灭。开罗的电力损失;然而，这种情况并不少见，而且是大多数前往埃及的游客都遇到过几次的经历。

卡那封的儿子波切斯特勋爵（Lord Porchester）讲述了他父亲的狗在海克利尔家族城堡的家中，在主人去世的那一刻发出了可怜的哭声，然后它也死了。然而，波切斯特勋爵在他父亲去世时似乎在印度，所以狗死亡的故事一定与他有关，而不是他实际看到的。值得注意的是，已故卡那封勋爵的遗产继续从与伦敦时报达成的安排中获益，从出售故事中获得一定比例的利润。保持公众的兴趣对《泰晤士报》和卡纳文的遗产来说都是一项有利可图的生意。在最近展览的芝加哥部分（15年15月1977日至<>月<>日），卡那封勋爵的继承人表示，虽然他不知道是否有诅咒，但他不会拿一百万英镑进入坟墓。卡那封之死背后的真实故事并没有那么戏剧化，如果同样悲惨的话。他似乎死于导致血液中毒的感染，这种感染的起源是蚊子叮咬脸颊，在剃须时被剃须刀切开。

Corroboration for Tutankhamun’s curse mounted as people died who could be associated in some way with Carnavon or with the tomb. More rational explanations of these deaths were overlooked by the reporters, who could finally get a scoop and not have to wait for the Times to present their facts. Throughout the world, the story of the death of Carnarvon was recounted in detail, though not necessarily with accuracy. The press began to have a field day after the death of Carter’s conservator (A.C. Mace of the Metropolitan Museum of Art); the fact that Mace had had pleurisy for a long time did not appear to affect the storytellers. So another man fell to the curse. A friend of Carnarvon’s who was infirm and elderly was the next to succumb. Then the Egyptologist, archaeologist, and writer Weigall (whom Carter and Carnarvon had attempted to keep out of the tomb under any circumstances) died too, supposedly from the curse. An Egyptian prince was murdered in London by his jealous French wife–another victim! Soon the papers carried stories of curators and workmen from museums all over the world, who had neither visited the tomb nor come into close contact with any of its contents, but had nevertheless been struck down. Nervous people began cleaning out their basements and attics and sending their Egyptian relics to museums in order to avoid being the next victim.

Times have not changed. About 15 years ago, the Director General of the Egyptian Antiquities Department (Dr. Gamal Mehrez) died; he had been chronically ill, but his death was attributed to the movement of King Tut’s treasures for an exhibition in England. Even more recently, I had to testify for the prosecution at the trial of a man who had murdered his wife because (the defense claimed) he had been cursed by an Egyptian object that had come into the couple’s possession.

Carter, it should be noted, died in bed of natural causes at the age of 67 (March 2, 1939), more than 17 years after he discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun.

图坦卡蒙的诅咒越来越确凿，因为人们的死亡可能以某种方式与卡纳冯或坟墓有关。对这些死亡的更合理的解释被记者忽略了，他们终于可以得到独家新闻，而不必等待《纽约时报》陈述他们的事实。在世界各地，卡那封之死的故事被详细叙述，尽管不一定准确。在卡特的保护人（大都会艺术博物馆的A.C.梅斯）去世后，媒体开始有一个现场日;梅斯长期患有胸膜炎的事实似乎并没有影响讲故事的人。于是另一个人堕落到诅咒中。卡那封的一位体弱多病的朋友是下一个屈服的人。然后埃及古物学家、考古学家和作家魏格尔（卡特和卡那封在任何情况下都试图将他排除在坟墓之外）也死了，据说是死于诅咒。一位埃及王子在伦敦被他嫉妒的法国妻子谋杀——另一个受害者！很快，报纸上刊登了世界各地博物馆的策展人和工人的故事，他们既没有参观过坟墓，也没有近距离接触过坟墓的任何内容，但仍然被击倒了。紧张的人们开始清理他们的地下室和阁楼，并将他们的埃及文物送到博物馆，以避免成为下一个受害者。

时代没有改变。大约15年前，埃及文物局局长（贾迈勒·梅赫雷斯博士）去世;他患有慢性病，但他的死亡归因于图坦卡蒙国王的宝藏在英国的展览中移动。甚至最近，我不得不在审判一名谋杀妻子的男子时为控方作证，因为（辩方声称）他被这对夫妇拥有的埃及物品诅咒。

应该指出的是，卡特因自然原因在床上去世，享年 67 岁（三月 2，1939年），在他发现图坦卡蒙墓17年后。

Some Real Egyptian Curses

All of the fabrications and exaggerations described above neglect two points. The first is that there may well have been some natural phenomena in Tut’s tomb (or any tomb, for that matter) that could cause disease, for example, molds or spores. It is a fact that paleopathologists and microbiologists now suggest that mummies be examined by people wearing gloves and masks to prevent the spread of any infection. Indeed, the Philadelphia Inquirer recently ran an article on this topic, entitled “Thesis: Fungi, not a curse, killed the finders of King Tut’s Tomb” (July 30, 1985). Of course, this theory does not account for Carter’s remarkable resistance to the micro-organisms, not to mention the workers and scientists attached to the project, officials, and tourists who also survived.

The second point is that the ancient Egyptians did in fact use curses. Most of them are couched in the form of threats, and they occur mainly on the monuments of private citizens rather than on those of royalty (see box). This interesting observation may indicate that royalty had protection against its enemies through other sources. In fact, most of the curses come from inscriptions on the walls of private tombs of the Old Kingdom, during a time when the royal tombs (pyramids) were decorated with a set of spells called Pyramid Texts that were meant as aids, advice, and directions for the king. Because of their size, prominence, and the existence of a large group of priests attached to the funerary complex, the royal funerary monuments obviously had the protection they needed.

Royal curses, when they do occur, are directed more toward this life than the next. There is an address at Deir el Bahri by Thutmose I to the court of his daughter, the reigning pharaoh Hatshepsut: “He who will adore her, he will live; he who will speak evil in a curse against her majesty, he will die” (Sethe 1906:15 ff). Somewhat distinct are the “execration texts” that occur on pottery bowls and figurines from the end of the 12th-13th Dynasty. These are curses against foreign states or peoples that might act or had already acted against Egypt. At appropriate times, the objects with their curses were ritually smashed.

Royal curses, when they do occur, are directed more toward this life than the next. There is an address at Deir el Bahri by Thutmose I to the court of his daughter, the reigning pharaoh Hatshepsut: “He who will adore her, he will live; he who will speak evil in a curse against her majesty, he will die” (Sethe 1906:15 ff). Somewhat distinct are the “execration texts” that occur on pottery bowls and figurines from the end of the 12th-13th Dynasty. These are curses against foreign states or peoples that might act or had already acted against Egypt. At appropriate times, the objects with their curses were ritually smashed.

Amenhotep, son of Hapu, was a remarkable figure from the 18th Dynasty, who was later deified (in the 21st Dynasty). A mortuary temple which was built in his honor was protected by a rather lengthy and detailed curse:

 “As for [anyone] who will come after me and who will find the foundation of the funerary tomb in destruction…
as for anyone who will take the personnel from among my people…
as for all others who will turn them astray…
I will not allow them to perform their scribal function…
I will put them in the furnace of the king…
His uraeus will vomit flame upon the top of their heads, demolishing their flesh and devouring their bones.
hey will become Apophis [a divine serpent who is van­quished] on the morning of the day of the year.
They will capsize in the sea which will devour their bodies.
They will not receive honors received by virtuous people. They will not be able to swallow offerings of the dead.
One will not pour for them water in libation…
Their sons will not occupy their places, their women will be violated before their eyes.
Their great ones will be so lost in their houses that they will be upon the floor…
They will not understand the words of the king at the time when he is in joy.
They will be doomed to the knife on the day of massacre…
Their bodies will decay because they will starve and will not have sustenance and their bones will perish” (British Museum Stele 138; Varille 1968).

Important decrees could also be protected by threats, especially in regard to specific individuals already proclaimed guilty, as this indictment shows:

“As to any king and powerful person who will forgive him, he will not receive the white crown, he will not raise up the red crown, he will not dwell upon the throne of Horus of the living. As for any commander or mayor who will petition my lord to pardon him, his property and his fields will be put as offerings for my father Min of Coptos” (Sethe 1959:98, 16ff).

It is clear that while the Egyptians rarely made the kind of curses that you find in the headlines, they did understand the power of negative thinking and saying. Their curses are hardly a mystery, hardly an enigma. Their suggestive remarks and threats were meant to dissuade those who might act against them. The means by which this was ac­complished was the written word, so important in all aspects of Egyptian culture. The curse would survive as long as the monument on which it was written.

一些真正的埃及诅咒

上述所有捏造和夸大都忽略了两点。首先，图坦的坟墓（或任何坟墓，就此而言）中很可能有一些自然现象可能导致疾病，例如霉菌或孢子。事实上，古病理学家和微生物学家现在建议戴手套和口罩的人检查木乃伊，以防止任何感染的传播。事实上，《费城问询报》最近发表了一篇关于这个话题的文章，题为“论文：真菌，而不是诅咒，杀死了图坦王墓的发现者”（30 年 1985 月 <> 日）。当然，这个理论并不能解释卡特对微生物的显着抵抗力，更不用说与该项目相关的工人和科学家，官员和游客也幸存下来了。

第二点是古埃及人确实使用了诅咒。其中大多数以威胁的形式出现，主要发生在私人公民的纪念碑上，而不是皇室的纪念碑上（见方框）。这一有趣的观察可能表明，皇室通过其他来源保护其敌人。事实上，大多数诅咒来自旧王国私人陵墓墙壁上的铭文，当时皇家陵墓（金字塔）装饰着一套称为金字塔文本的咒语，旨在为国王提供帮助、建议和方向。由于它们的规模，突出性以及附属于葬礼建筑群的一大群牧师的存在，皇家葬礼纪念碑显然得到了他们需要的保护。

皇家诅咒，当它们真的发生时，更多地针对今生而不是来世。图特摩斯一世在代尔巴赫里对他的女儿，在位法老哈特谢普苏特的宫廷有一段讲话：“谁会崇拜她，他就会活着;谁要说坏话，诅咒女王陛下，他就死了“（Sethe 1906：15 ff）。有些不同的是第12至13王朝末期陶碗和小雕像上的“释经文字”。这些是对可能或已经对埃及采取行动的外国或人民的诅咒。在适当的时候，带有诅咒的物体被仪式性地砸碎。

哈普的儿子阿蒙霍特普是第18王朝的杰出人物，后来被神化（在第21王朝）。为纪念他而建造的太平间寺庙受到一个相当冗长而详细的诅咒的保护：

“至于[任何人]会追随我，谁会发现葬礼坟墓的地基被摧毁了......
至于谁会从我的人民中带走人员......
至于所有会让他们误入歧途的人......
我不会允许他们执行他们的涂鸦功能......
我会把它们放在国王的炉子里...
他的乌拉乌斯会在他们的头顶上吐出火焰，摧毁他们的肉体并吞噬他们的骨头。
嘿，将在一年中的早晨成为阿波菲斯[一条被征服的神蛇]。
他们会在海里倾覆，吞噬他们的身体。
他们不会得到有德行的人所获得的荣誉。他们将无法吞下死者的祭品。
一个人不会在解放中为他们倒水...
他们的儿子不会占据他们的位置，他们的女人会在他们眼前受到侵犯。
他们的伟大人物将迷失在他们的房子里，以至于他们将在地板上......
他们不会理解国王在喜乐的时候的话。
他们将在大屠杀的那一天注定要被刀子砍倒......
他们的身体会腐烂，因为他们会挨饿，没有食物，他们的骨头会灭亡“（大英博物馆石碑138;瓦里尔1968）。

重要的法令也可能受到威胁的保护，特别是对已经宣布有罪的特定个人，如本起诉书所示：

“至于任何国王和有权势的人，他不会得到白冠，他不会举起红冠，他不会住在活人荷鲁斯的宝座上。至于任何指挥官或市长，谁会请求我的领主赦免他，他的财产和他的田地将作为祭品献给我父亲的科普托斯敏“（Sethe 1959：98，16ff）。

很明显，虽然埃及人很少像你在头条新闻中看到的那样诅咒，但他们确实理解消极思维和言论的力量。他们的诅咒几乎不是一个谜，几乎不是一个谜。他们的暗示性言论和威胁是为了劝阻那些可能对他们采取行动的人。实现这一目标的手段是书面文字，在埃及文化的各个方面都非常重要。诅咒会像写它的纪念碑一样长存。