Chapter 467 The Shadow of Death (Part 1)

Except for a few months in 1972, the British Museum has always been open to the public for free, and the reason for the fee during that time was because of the exhibition with Tutankhamun and his stunning treasures, which was the largest audience in the history of the British Museum. exhibition.

  Since the return of Hong Kong, Sino-British relations tend to ease, and cultural exchanges between the two countries have increased. At present, the British Museum and the Shaanxi Museum are planning an exhibition of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang.

  When you enter the museum, there are volunteers who are doing surveys. How much interest do you have in the exhibition that is being prepared.

  Compared with stone, ordinary people are more interested in gold. The reason why Tutankhamun is attractive is mainly because it is the most complete tomb of Egyptian pharaohs discovered so far. No tomb thief has ever visited it. In the tomb, there are not only luxurious gems, golden statues, but also life utensils such as chariots, pens and inks, and plant seeds, which fully present the life of the pharaoh's court to the audience.

  In addition to the gold that dangles the eyes of the flowers, Tutankhamun’s curse and his golden mask also attracted many people.

  Europeans have always had a lot of curiosity about Eastern civilization. Among them, the plunder of Egypt is the most unprecedented. The largest exhibition hall in the British Museum is the Egyptian Museum.

  In 1922, British archaeologists finally found the entrance to Tutankhamun's tomb. The following year they found the tomb passage and entered the tomb, where they found Tutankhamun's extremely luxurious coffin.

It was also here that Kanafon, the scholar who presided over the "archaeology", discovered a clay plaque. A few days later, the text on the plaque was translated: "Who disturbed the peace of this pharaoh, the "Wings of Death" will On his head." From then on, Tutankhamun's curse seemed to spread from the shadows of ancient times. For decades, almost everyone who dared to enter the Pharaoh's tomb had responded to the curse and died strangely one after another.

The first victim was Carnarvon. When he entered the Pharaoh’s tomb, something stung on his left cheek. The wound was suddenly swollen and painful. A few days later, Carnarvon was admitted to a hospital in Cairo, but His condition continued to deteriorate. One morning, the nurse on duty suddenly heard him yelling: "I'm done! I'm done! I've heard the call..."

   At this moment, there was a power outage. Five minutes later when the lights reappeared, people rushed to Kanavon’s bed. They saw him staring in horror, his eyes widened, his mouth half-opened, and he had died.

  Later, X-ray examination revealed that Tutankhamun also had a scar on his left cheek, its shape, size and location were exactly the same as the lump on Kanavon’s left cheek. And the bizarre death began. At the beginning, the nurse in Cairo who had taken care of Kanavon suddenly died. The cause of death is unknown. Then it was Professor Lid who performed X-rays for Tutankhamun. He was taking pictures. After finishing the photo, I suddenly had a high fever, and soon after escaping back to London, he died.

There were also Kanavon’s assistants, scholars and experts who participated in the excavation and investigations, and died mysteriously. Even an American who Kanavon had accompanied to visit Tutankhamun’s tomb also died of a high fever the next day after the visit. .

After visiting the mausoleum, a rich man in South Africa fell from a yacht into the calm Nile River and drowned. In just 6 years, more than 20 people died inexplicably. People call this series of tragedies the "curse of Tutankhamun." .

  The excitement of gold, pharaoh, curse, and death made Muggles line up to visit the exhibition regardless of life or death, as if to test their luck and see if they would be cursed by the pharaoh.

Pomona and the Evans family did not join in the fun. Lily is a witch. Although she is not an adult, the fireplace in her house can be temporarily connected to the Floo network. They can go from the Broken Cauldron Bar after visiting London every day. The public fireplace returned to Cokworth. If Severus hadn't suddenly returned home from Slughorn's house, it would have been Pomona's best summer vacation.

  The British Museum has encountered serious financial problems, and people are in the mood to travel during peacetime. After 9/11, the British tourism industry has declined. European and American governments are generally shrinking financial support for museums. Many museums have to lay off staff and reduce expenditure.

  The government subsidies have been reduced, and the British Museum’s policy of continuing to exempt tickets has been difficult to maintain, and even some showcases are not equipped with anti-theft systems.

   In 2002, a 2500-year-old Greek sculpture was stolen because the security personnel were retrenched and the thief broke in and stole it. The original museum director took the blame and resigned. The new director cost 135 million pounds to repair the central exhibition area and add a glass roof to transform the original open-air inner courtyard into a public space in the world. The middle building has restaurants, The exhibition hall of the temporary exhibition and the stairs leading to the original building are full of modern style.

This money is mainly obtained by donations. Every visitor who enters the British Museum has to walk through a donation box. The bulletin board says "If you can, even if you can donate 3 pounds", a museum has fallen to the streets of Kuaihe. The artists are the same.

  Inflation has caused 28 of the 100 exhibition halls to be closed frequently. The opening time is also after 10 am and closes at 5:30 pm. Only Friday is extended to 8:30 pm.

  Not many adults visit the museum on weekdays. The main visitors to the museum are teachers and children wearing school uniforms.

The unrenovated areas inside the pavilion look very old. After all, this old building with cultural relics is about to become a cultural relic on its own. However, after the unremitting efforts of the new curator, politicians have changed their views on the British Museum. Architecture in some places , Showcases and lighting equipment are still very modern.

  The ground of the museum is covered with wooden floors, and walking on it is a bit creaky. The core building area still maintains the anti-Greek style stone walls, giving people a depressed and heavy feeling.

  It feels to Pomona like a child who tries his best to be likable, but is very annoying in nature. On the surface, he is very well-behaved and obedient, but in fact there is no such innocence as a child, and it seems very uncoordinated.

  Some people have made a mistake in their understanding of multiculturalism. It is not like robbers and thieves. It is civilization to put cultural relics of other countries in their own houses.

  The Muggle government has always wanted to reflect its openness and multicultural compatibility, but it is not. When more people mentioned the history of the colonization of the British Empire, they did not feel ashamed, but felt proud and missed, and did not realize the mistakes they had committed.

In the 18th century, due to the colonial imperialism of the Muggle government, the relationship between Britain and all European countries was not good. In the 19th century, the failed foreign policy of "no permanent enemies, only permanent interests" caused "honorable isolation", etc. Glory is no longer, and “isolation” is left. In order to get rid of “isolation” and move towards alliance, Muggle politicians allied with Germany. After being mercilessly rejected, they made concessions with the United States in the Americas to form alliances.

  Russia’s Queen Ekatena II once said, “Instead of allowing the independence of the Americas like George III of the United Kingdom, I’d better shoot myself in the head.”

The land area of ​​the British mainland is small and the population is small. The overseas colonies are so scattered and require a huge fleet to maintain. However, the expenditure of the fleet is staggering. Besides, with the large amount of silver obtained by the East India Company from the east, the cotton in the Americas is not Attractive.

China’s demand for opium is very high, because it is a “fushou ointment” that can only be used by the rich. In addition, the royal family and aristocrats themselves took the lead in inhaling opium. With the people following the trend, this “luxury” began to grow. China has spread.

The Manchu Dynasty had always banned the import of opium, but the East India Company smuggled opium from Bangladesh to Guangzhou, China through a trade intermediary. Even if the imperial commissioner Lin Zexu was sent to ban the opium smugglers and sent the imperial commissioner Lin Zexu to ban the prohibition, the East India Company smuggled opium to Guangzhou and other places in China. In the end, Britain triggered the Opium War. Before the signing of the Nanjing Treaty, the Manchu and Qing Dynasty were unwilling to legalize the opium trade. They only agreed to cede Hong Kong. It was the "genius" Irish Cupid in Palmerston who forced it to be added.

Wizards also have nationalities. Muggle diplomacy has affected the relationship in the wizarding world. The first female minister of magic in the United Kingdom, Artemisia Lefkin, was from Hefpaff College. During her tenure, she established the Department of International Magic Cooperation and went around. After lobbying, she finally succeeded in getting Britain to host a Quidditch World Cup during her tenure.

Regarding her "effort", several wizards from Wiesengamau chose to withdraw in protest. First, because she was a woman, and second, she was too weak and did not conform to the usual style of the British Empire. Her portrait It wasn't until the 1990s that the chocolate frog picture was shown, and Pomona specifically asked every prefect to mention her when addressing the freshmen.

  Do the right thing, because it is right. Pomona believes that a Mrs. Hefpa should possess this spirit, and Artemisia should be remembered.

In the day after the movie, Sam and the others once went to the museum to see that a mammoth froze to death while eating. The plot gave her a very deep impression. After the security check, she did not visit the ancient treasures that were looted, but Going straight to the Natural History Museum, she wanted to see if there was a mammoth that was frozen to death in the British Museum, like the New York Museum.

  If there is a naive, as in the day after tomorrow's dramatic changes, refugees may flood into the third world countries like in the movies, the United Kingdom and the United States continue to be so annoying, will those countries accept them?

  Whether it is to survive or die, it's time to wake up when faced with the question of life and death.

  She wished that she was not the only sober person.

  (End of this chapter)