A Good Listen..

[Who2]

Came across this programme, by Joyce ..the curse caught my attention.


As the story of the curse was first published by the Mail or Express 'bylined by Arthur Weigall,
(ex head of Upper Egypt Antiquities) who distrusted Carter & Carnarvon with good reason.

Fascinating man, I was given his 'A Passion for Egypt: Arthur Weigall, Tutankhamun and the 'Curse of the Pharaohs, on set by the guy playing Arthur Mace, Niel..

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758196/?r ... flmg_act_3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Weigall

Ps: £50 quid for that hand shot of Howard Carters hands, oh! and his ciggy holder....sshh
Pss: If I had been credited I would have got £100 quid, so fair's fair.
Someone nicked King Tuts Head £5k that cost the beeb..
P*ss: Picture by Harry Burton..

[newcastle]

Thanks for the podcast Who2.....fascinating. Not just for the oft repeated history of Carter/Carnarvon/Tut etc. but for the insight into how the curse stories originated and took off.

Carnarvon’s decision to give TheTimes exclusive reporting rights backfired spectacularly....probably contributing to the change in the law which deprived him of a share in the tomb’s contents ( the antiquities authorities and Egyptian press were royally p*ssed off), but, more significantly, leaving the other reporters with nothing “original” to print.

Any Egyptologist could have told them that the reported curse was bunkum. Anybody familiar with Cairo knows the lights go out with alarming frequency.

Instead, denied relevant expertise, they sought the opinions of Conan Doyle (who was keen on seances and believed in fairies) and Rider Haggard...another fantasist! And so the story grew legs.

Joyce Tildersley is always worth listening to...and she writes well too. You rarely see her on TV though. Shame really, She’s perfectly presentable and allows you to absorb what she’s talking about.

Unlike the histrionics of Joann Fletcher or the rather lightweight contributions of Joanna Lumley.