# Mysterious black sarcophagus opened in Egypt, releasing hideous (possibly toxic) stench **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 19, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234 "2018-07-19T22:19:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/1 "2018-07-19T22:19:16Z")
From the BBC: [Egypt sarcophagus: Mystery black tomb opened in Alexandria](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-44893804) > [@](#): > > …Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities had appointed a committee of archaeologists to open the relic, which was unearthed at a construction site. > > According to Egyptian news outlet El-Watan, they initially lifted the lid of the tomb by just 5cm (2 inches) before the pungent odour forced them from the inspection scene entirely. They later prised it open with help from Egyptian military engineers… > > Addressing media fears that disturbing the tomb could trigger an implacable Pharaoh’s curse, [secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mostafa] Waziri declared: "We’ve opened it and, thank God, the world has not fallen into darkness. > > “I was the first to put my whole head inside the sarcophagus… and here I stand before you … I am fine.” > > Despite that, the site has now been cleared of people amid fears the sarcophagus could release lethal toxic fumes, Egypt’s state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram says. :dubious: Oh, of _course_ you’re “fine”, Mr. Waziri! It’s the rest of us who are doomed–_doomed_, I tell you, _ **DOOMED!** _ (Even more so than we already were, I mean.) ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/2 "2018-07-19T22:37:29Z")
I’ve released some lethal toxic fumes in my time, but I didn’t kill anyone. As far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/3 "2018-07-19T22:45:48Z")
> [@Mostafa Waziri](#): > > We’ve opened it and, thank God, the world has not fallen into darkness. … Yet! ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/4 "2018-07-19T23:26:10Z")
The eldritch evil NEVER kills the defiler, he’s the host!!! Watch three weeks from now his secretary is going to be all “Mr. Waziri is very ill, he hasn’t been to the office in weeks.” Tom Cruise should go shove a bronze sword through his heart now as a preemptive strike! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/5 "2018-07-19T23:43:18Z")
Who knew that the ancient Egyptians actually invented the Dutch oven? ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/6 "2018-07-19T23:54:31Z")
> [@](#): > > We’ve opened it and, thank God, the world has not fallen into darkness. > [@74westy](#): > > … Yet! Yes… it seems to have gotten pretty dark around here in the last few hours… ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/7 "2018-07-20T00:45:37Z")
I’ll call Poirot, someone get some curse repellant. I ain’t scared. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/8 "2018-07-20T01:04:31Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > I’ve released some lethal toxic fumes in my time, but I didn’t kill anyone. As far as I know. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I’ll call Poirot, someone get some curse repellant. I ain’t scared. I was reading these posts and wondering if you might be in [de Nile](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/ba/Death_on_the_Nile_UK_original_poster.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/9 "2018-07-20T01:05:59Z")
Thousands of years old body smells bad. Who would have guessed? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/10 "2018-07-20T01:38:23Z")
Wonder if the gas might have been tana leaf fumes. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/11 "2018-07-20T01:43:19Z")
Turns out it was quite modern sewage that they think leaked in through a crack in the sarcophagus ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/12 "2018-07-20T01:52:16Z")
Here’s a news story: > **[Mysterious ancient sarcophagus finally opened in Egypt after weeks of...](https://globalnews.ca/news/4340965/mysterious-sarcophagus-opened-archaeologists-egypt/)** > > Archeologists have finally uncovered a mysterious 2000-year-old sarcophagus that was discovered in Alexandria, Egypt at the beginning of the month. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/13 "2018-07-20T02:47:32Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Thousands of years old body smells bad. Who would have guessed? It’s not the mummies that smell, it’s the antique sewage they’ve been soaking in for the last few decades. > **[Inside That Black Sarcophagus in Egypt? 3 Mummies (and No Curses) (Published...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/world/middleeast/egypt-black-sarcophagus-opened.html)** > > A sarcophagus found in a pit in Alexandria last week was opened after much speculation over who, or what, was inside. > [@NYT article](#): > > The answer was decidedly less exciting when the sarcophagus was opened on Thursday. Inside were three skeletons floating in foul-smelling sewage that had leaked into the vessel from the road above through a small crack in the sarcophagus, according to Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities. > > “Unfortunately the mummies inside were not in the best condition, and only the bones remain,” Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told reporters at the site, according to Reuters. Sounds like the start of a real tasty curse, if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/14 "2018-07-20T04:08:59Z")
Indiana Jones and the Sarcophagus of Poop. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/15 "2018-07-20T04:30:23Z")
A couple of the skulls [look as though](https://shawglobalnews.files.wordpress.com/2018/07/gettyimages-1001881576.jpg?quality=70&strip=all&w=1072&h=712&crop=1) they may have suffered violent injury, perhaps in battle. One has a hole that looks like it might have been caused by a penetrating arrow or spear. Another skull has a big hole, and the missing piece of cranium looks as though it’s there next to it, perhaps lopped off by a sword or something similar. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/16 "2018-07-20T07:41:02Z")
Are we _sure_ they didn’t actually find [SCP-076?](http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-076) ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/17 "2018-07-20T08:07:18Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > Yes… it seems to have gotten pretty dark around here in the last few hours… Oh, it’s light again, now. Phew! ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/18 "2018-07-20T11:22:44Z")
Carnac the Magnificent: _May the sewage from one thousand infidels flood your sarcophagus_. Ed McMahon: _Hiyoooo_! ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/19 "2018-07-21T01:02:34Z")
Well now, you know, There are some people who are [suing to be allowed to drink the magical, supernatural energy drink](https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/ev8zep/petition-demands-that-they-let-people-drink-the-sarcophagus-juice-vgtrn) that they believe it to be. I think they should let them as long as they are allowed to film it. From one guy, paraphrased: _It can’t be sewage. Skeletons don’t poop. You can’t fool me._ Sounds right to me. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234/20 "2018-07-21T05:55:10Z")
“I was the first to put my whole head inside the sarcophagus,” he said to the woman at the bar, a roguish twinkle in his eye. That line NEVER failed him. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mysterious-black-sarcophagus-opened-in-egypt-releasing-hideous-possibly-toxic-stench/818234.md?page=2)