The Titanic in the port of Southampton, England
Legend has it that the vengeful spirit of an Egyptian priestess mummy was responsible for the sinking of the Titanic. However, there is no indication that the mummy was even on the ship.
The tragic sinking of the RMS Titanic in April 1912 is generally attributed to an iceberg, poor visibility and human error. However, in the early 20th century, a much more supernatural explanation captured the public imagination: a cursed egyptian mummy aboard the ship caused the disaster.
According to this myth, the Titanic carried the remains of a 3,600-year-old Egyptian priestess, whose vengeful spirit condemned the ship. This ghost story, although worthy of a film, has no basis in reality. However, the tale’s origins highlight a broader fascination with “mummy curses” that proliferated during the era.
Legends of Egyptian curses came to prominence following the rediscovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb and the mysterious death of Lord Carnarvon, the aristocrat who financed the excavation. Before that, British journalist Bertram Fletcher Robinson had entertained the idea of cursed artifacts in the late 19th century. Your investigations into the so-called “Unlucky Mummy” in the British Museum will have influenced his friend Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, who spoke of “malevolent spirits” associated with Egyptian relics.
The myth of the Titanic gained strength due to journalist William Stead, known for his exposé on child prostitution in Victorian London. Stead had already shared stories of curses linked to Egyptian artifacts after having seen the coffin lid of the Priestess of Amun in the British Museum. By chance, he was aboard the Titanic and died during the disaster, reportedly sharing lurid stories at a dinner party on his last night, writes .
This sensational connection between Stead, the Titanic and the cursed mummy was front page newsincluding a Washington Post article in May 1912. This claimed that the Titanic had sunk due to the evil spirit of the priestess, provoking widespread intrigue.
However, this story was completely denied. In 1985, the Titanic Historical Society confirmed that there was no record of any Egyptian artifacts on the ship’s cargo manifest.
Further denial, the so-called “Unlucky Mummy” (artifact EA22542) in the British Museum is not a mummy but a painted wooden tablet. He never left the museum until 1990 and never showed signs of having a vengeful spirit.
