2020-02-01_Fortean_Times

CLASSICAL CORNER

FT389 15

Thanks tocharacteristic CanadaPost
ineptitude, I’veonlyjustreceivedFT
(October) and seen MariaJPérez Cuevo’s
excellentEgypti an surveyand the
magazine’snotice of Scott Creighton’s
TheGreat Pyramid Hoax.Herewith, some
friendly amplifications, counting also as
aWelcomeBack to Tut’slatest British
excursion.
Hysteron Proteron (LastFirst–
Wikipedia noticeexemplifiesfromVirgil
and theKoran).Iwas puzzledby the
claim thatonly the royalcartoucheis
evidenceforpharaohKhufu buildingthe
Great Pyramid (I always thoughtitwas
Jack Hawkins inLand of the Pharaohs)
c.2550BC.
Creighton (2017) argues–you can
hear his podcast –that thecartouchewas
forg ed by HowardVyse in 1837. Not a
newnotion;I’m staying neutral. Zecharia
Sitchin had made the same claim backin
1980 –‘ForFame andFortune’. Both are
old hands at Egyptologicalfantasy.Intwo
earlier books,TheGiza Prophecy(2012)
andTheSecretChamber of Osiris(2015),
Creighton asserted that thepyra midswere
not tombs but‘recovery vaults’for storing
evidences ofEgypti an civilisation against
forthcoming catastrophe. AsforSitchin,
Idoubt if manywill be impressedby
somebodywho believesthe pyramidswere
builtby aliens fromamysterious ‘Twelfth
Planet’–getting near to David Icke
territoryhere, also the moreplausible idea
in StarTrek’sWho Mourns for Adonis?that
alienswere glimpsedby ancientGreeks
and taken to be gods.
Foraneffec tive demolition of
Creighton’sbook, see the onlinereview by
Jason Colavito.
Herodotus in his BookTwo on Egypt
ascribes, with blistering criticismofhis
oppressive rule, thegreat pyra midto
Cheops (Khufu). Now, thisprovesnothing
in itself.Herodotus couldnot read
hier oglyphics (what non-Egyptiancould?),
thereforerelied on priests and dragomen
–all modern tourists knowofwhatlocal
guides arecapable.Evenifuntrue, it
remainsevidence of belief,whichmay
countforsomething.
More to thepoint,the Egyptian priest
Manetho (c. 300 BC), whopresumably
would knowhis pharaoniconions ,also says
Khufu (using his Hellenised nameSuphis)
built thething.
Even more to thepoint, thereare the
papyrus documentsdiscoveredbyFrench

archæologists in 2013 inacave(shades

of the Dead Sea Scrolls) atWadi al-Jarf

on the Red Sea coast.These arethe

log-books of Merer,anofficialincharge

of transporting stonesfrom the Tura

limestone quarrytoGiza in the 27thyear

of Khufu’sreign.

One section (thereisanonline

translation)showsconcernforthe workers’

living conditions.This maygoalongway

to vindicating Herodotus’smuch-ridiculed

claim thatthe (now lost) hieroglyphics

on thepyra mid listed leeks,radishes,

and otherfoodstuffs providedby Cheops

forhis workers; cf.myalmost-as-ancient

defensive ‘HowCredulouswasHerodotus?’

Greece and Rome 11(1964), 167-77.

To MariaJPérez Cuevo’s detailedand

delightful Egyptian covera ge, Iwould

addtothe BibliographyJulie Hankey’sA

Passion for Egypt:ABiographyofArthur

Weigall(2001). Arthur EdwardPearse

BromeWeigall(1880-1934–his name

deservesacartouche) wasanEnglish

archæologist-cum-designer-cum-journalist-

cum-filmcriti c-cum-prolific author. Having

worked under the distinguished though

demandingFlindersPetrie, hereplaced

HowardCart er as ChiefInspector of

AntiquitiesforUpper Egypt, this giving

him experience with and insight into

the personalities and archæological

politickings ofthe majorEnglish and

Frenchexcavators.

AsDailyMailcorrespondent, he

witnessed the openingofTut’stomb

(1923),reportedlysaying of Lord

Carnarvon’sjocular entranceinto the

tomb, “If he goes down in that spirit,Igive

himsix weeks to live.” Cuetothe Curse.

Fort (Books,pp678,701,884) makes three

scepticalreferences to it. He includes

the statistic that 14 peoplefell victim to

the Curse. Pérez Cuevo says six,afigure

echoed on manywebsites,though some

expandthedeath-toll to twodozen –yet

morewarningaboutthe dangersofsecond-

handandInternet reporting. PérezNuevo

makes theobvious point–I’vemade it

myself elsewhere: Whydid Howard Carter,

opener/despoilerof the tomb, survive to

64, dying in 1939?

ScientificexplanationsforCarnarvon’s

deat hinclude toxins in the air and

lethal bat-droppings. Sawplent yofthose

creatureswhenI‘des poiled’the great

pyra midin1963. Sincethisedifice also

comportsaCurse, Ishoul dperhapscount

myself lucky to bealive–someCCreaders

maythink themselves otherwise...

Weigall, who missedTut’stombby 50

yardsin1911, hadmuchtosay about the

Curse, pointing to similar stories involving

the heretic pharaoh Akhnaten (husband

of ancient beauty Nefertiti–see the 1954

filmSinuhe TheEgyptian),and forgood

measurereadone of MichaelPearce’s

Mamur Zapt novels.

Nicelyenough, British Museum

EgyptologistWallace Budge believedthat

Weigall’sdeath (otherwise attributed to

drugs and disease) “was the unfortunate

victim of the curse of thefailur eand the

hardships which he had wishedfor others”.

Thereare manyenticing titbits in

Hankie’s biography.For easy instances,

Weigall’sbeliefthat, via Irishlineage,

he himselfwasdescended from the

Pharaohs, andhis discoveryofmodern

Egyptian fellahinwho stillworshipped

thegod Amen–HammerFilms’The

Mummy(1959) hadasimilar premise. His

Nubianexcavation report semphasised

the degreetowhich thesepeople kept

up the customs of ancient times. Alas,

no possible confirmationofHerodotus’s

claim thatvarious peoplesintheseregions

ejaculated blackspunk.

Weigall could beverypeculiar,evinced

in his biography of Romanemperor Nero

(1930),inwhichhesought to castsuch

crimes as his matricidein afavourable

light, albeit such modern writersas

MassimoFini’s(in English translation)

Nero –2000Years of Lies(1993) have gone

down the same path.

Thosewho blame their old schoolfor

everything badwillpoint toWeigall’s

detestation of hisowninstitution’s

regimenwhichincluded compulsorybeer

drinkingat dinner and threerounds of

boxing beforebreakfast–latter might

have done BillyBunter somegood...

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