The Curse of the Mummy

August 4th 1922: The Valley of the Kings

Here I am at last in the Valley of the Kings! It's a valley in the desert with lots of sand and the tombs of dead Egyptian kings in it. It took us a long time to get here, and we all felt very hot when we arrived, but that doesn't matter now. It's good to be here.

I'm happy to be working with Mr Carter. Lots of young men wanted to work with him in the Valley of the Kings, but he took me because of my father. My father and Mr Carter are good friends. They often meet at the museum in Cairo. My father works there. Also, I'm a good artist. And I know a lot about Tutankhamun, too. Did you know he was a king when he was only nine years old? But he wasn't king for very long. He died when he was eighteen. That's only one year older than me! Why did he die then? Perhaps we can find the answer when we find his tomb. Mr Carter thinks it's in the Valley of the Kings. He began looking for it five years ago, and he doesn't want to stop. Some people think he's crazy, but I don't. Nearly all the other old Egyptian kings have a tomb here, so why not Tutankhamun?

There are about twenty of us, men and boys, working here in the valley. Perhaps I can make friends later, but for now I'm going to write this diary and my diary can be my friend. There aren't any shops or cinemas here, so I need something to do in the evenings. And perhaps one day people are going to want to read my diary. Why? Well, perhaps we're going to find Tutankhamun's tomb, or a different king's tomb, or some new treasures. Egyptian tombs have lots of treasures in them, you know - gold and jewels. But thieves took treasures from many of the tombs in the past. And there are tomb thieves in Egypt today, too. People come from all over the world to look for gold and jewels. When they find a tomb, they take all the treasure home to their countries. I think that's very bad. I'm happy to say Mr Carter is not a thief. He says Egyptian treasures must stay in Egypt. I think he's right.

But our work's not going to be easy. Mr Carter has only one year now to find Tutankhamun's tomb. He's got a rich friend, Lord Carnarvon, and he gives Mr Carter money to help with our work. Lord Carnarvon likes Egypt a lot and he loves old Egyptian treasures. He's got lots of them in his home in England. But after giving Mr Carter money for five years he must be careful. Not long ago he called Mr Carter to England and told him, 'Only one more year looking for Tutankhamun, Howard'. Mr Carter came back to Egypt at once. He brought a little yellow bird with him.

"That bird is going to help us find Tutankhamun's tomb", said Karim. He's one of the boys working in the valley with me. How can a little bird help us? I don't know. But it's true we need some help - from something or someone.

Perhaps you think a year's a long time? It's not when you're looking for a little tomb in a very big valley. Where are all of Tutankhamun's treasures? Mr Carter thinks he knows - and I think he's right, but let's wait and see!

Well, good night, diary - from me, Tariq.

August 25th 1922

Today I'm going to tell you something about our days in the desert. We begin work very early every morning when the sun comes up. We dig for six hours with not much water to drink. At twelve o'clock, it is very, very hot. So we stop to eat, to drink, and to sleep. After two hours we begin digging again. We stop when it gets dark. My back and my arms always feel bad in the evenings. We're very hungry when the sun goes down and the nights in the desert are very cold. Everyone is tired, so we don't talk much when we're eating dinner.

I don't know what other people think about all day, but I think about Tutankhamun. Mr Carter says he lived with his brothers and sisters when he was a little boy. Later he married the beautiful Ankhesenamun. Some people say he has no tomb because he died suddenly when he was very young. But tombs were very important in old Egypt and Mr Carter thinks Tutankhamun has his tomb somewhere in this valley. But where?

It's late now and the sky is dark. Suddenly I feel cold. Is Tutankhamun's body in a tomb somewhere near us now? Are we going to find it soon? Is Mr Carter's little yellow bird going to help us or not? Who knows?

September 12th 1922

Some visitors came to the Valley of the Kings today. People often come here to look at the open tombs. They look at the pictures in the tombs and the bodies of the dead kings - we call them mummies, you know. Today's visitors were artists from France. They said everyone in Europe is interested in Egypt now. They are building new 'Egyptian' cinemas and hotels in the big cities. And shops are selling 'Egyptian' beds, tables, chairs, and pictures too. Artists can make a lot of money with Egyptian things. A young girl with dark hair and a beautiful, strong face walked along the valley behind the other artists. For a minute, she looked at me. Then suddenly she dropped something in the sand and began to look for it. I went to help her. After a minute, I found it - a gold bracelet with an Egyptian eye on it. I gave it to her and she smiled.

"Thank you", she said. "My teacher, Mr Ayrton, gave it to me for my birthday. Isn't it nice? I didn't want to lose it".

She had beautiful dark eyes. I wanted to speak to her, but what could I say? 'Excuse me, Anne, you have a beautiful face'. Of course not!

I know her name is Anne because an older man called to her "Come on, Anne!"

"Coming, Mr Ayrton", she said, and she ran after him.

In the evening, the French artists left and went back to their hotel in Luxor. Anne smiled at me when she left, but then her teacher, Mr Ayrton, called her and the smile left her face and she ran after him again.

Am I going to see Anne again? I like her a lot, but I don't like her teacher, Mr Ayrton. He's a lot older than her. Perhaps he's a very good artist, but why must she run to him every time he calls her? She needs to be with young people, not old Mr Ayrton!

It's another beautiful night tonight. Desert nights are wonderful. But again I feel very cold. I think the dead kings come near us and watch us at night. I can feel their dead eyes looking at us coldly. Some people think they're angry with us for digging here. They say bad things happen to people when they go into Egyptian tombs looking for treasure. But Mr Carter is OK, and he began digging in Egypt years ago. So perhaps they're wrong!