“Whether it’s a mummy’s curse or not, there was something in that ancient Egyptian tomb that caught me,” said Ramy Romany after a life-threatening illness.
Egyptologist and filmmaker Ramy Romany announced that he contracted a mysterious illness causing him to experience hallucinations and cough up blood after opening an ancient Egyptian tomb.
Egyptologist Ramy Romany – (Photo: SHUTTERSTOCK)
In the podcast The Jordan Harbinger Show, Ramy Romany shared that he fell ill after opening a tomb for the show Mummies Unwrapped on the Discovery Channel.
He filmed an episode about an Egyptian mummy believed to belong to a biblical figure.
While filming, he entered a tomb that had not been opened for many years. He unlocked the tomb, and locals had previously kept their distance to ensure there were no snakes or any curses.
Dismissing the idea of a curse, he walked straight down the staircase into the chamber. The tomb was long and very dusty. He continued down, trying to breathe steadily.
On that day, as he was returning to the capital, Cairo, he began to feel unwell.
“The next morning, I had a very high fever. I had never had such a high fever before. My temperature was 42°C, and I started coughing up blood. The doctor examined me when I was almost dead.”
Romany added that he experienced hallucinations. Doctors prescribed antibiotics, suggesting that the cause could be bats, snakes, or dust from inside the Egyptian tomb.
According to Romany, the tomb had not been opened for about 600 years. He does not believe in the so-called “curse” of the Pharaohs, but he stated that there is a “scientific” truth to it. That is, fungal pathogens have been found inside ancient tombs.
Previously, there was a study examining those who had opened Egyptian tombs, and the results showed no suspicious mortality rates. Regarding the death of British archaeologist George Carnarvon (1866-1923), who was believed to be a victim of the “curse”, some suggested that he contracted Aspergillus fungal pathogens when he opened the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
