Today is the day a curse inscribed upon a tomb came true

20 June 1941

SAMARKAND, Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic

A team of Russian and other Soviet archaeologists were on a dig in the legendary city. They were excited, as excited as Howard Carter’s team had been 18 years before in Egypt. They had every reason to be, for success after I have no idea how many months or years of work was within reach.

The archaeologists had discovered the tomb of Timur the Lame, or Tamerlane. Tamerlane was quite the memorable historical character, to say the least. He rose from a boy shot by an arrow while trying to steal a goat to absolute ruler of a new Mongol Empire that rivaled, and arguably surpassed, the western successor states of Kublai Khan’s largest land empire in human history.

One of Tamerlane’s more memorable habits was massacring every inhabitant of a city who opposed him more than a certain number of days and then building pyramids of their skulls. OTOH, there was a flowering of arts, literature, architecture, internal political stability, and trade under his reign. IOW, he was a typical Mongol conqueror.

Tamerlane died in 1405, and was buried in his capital of Samarkand.

Over half a millennium later, Soviet archaeologists stood before the tomb’s entrance, above which was inscribed When I rise from the dead, the world shall tremble.

Of course they broke in, whereupon they found human remains and treasure and another inscription, which read Whosoever Disturbs My Tomb Will Unleash an Invader More Terrible than I.

The excavation, of course, had been personally approved by the Great Stalin himself, and so everything was removed and transported elsewhere for further study and exhibit.

Just two days later, 22 June 1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union.

Of course, the legend of the curse grew, and either Stalin was starting to believe in it or he just decided not to take any chances. In any case, he must have figured it wouldn’t hurt to reinter Tamerlane’s remains back where they belonged. On 20 December 1942, this thing was done, with a full Muslim ceremony.

When the Nazis are literally at one’s door, one may as well appeal to any gods who might be listening, I suppose.

Less that two months later, Field Marshal Paulus surrendered what was left of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad, and I don’t suppose the hardest-bitten atheist could blame Stalin if he at least thought for a second that reinterring Tamerlane was one of his better decisions.

The tale is told to this day, and should continue to be, especially around campfires or before fireplaces on stormy nights, because it is a good story, and happens to be true.

Thank you for reading, good night, and don’t tempt the Fates by breaking into any tombs. You’ve already got enough to deal with in these increasingly interesting times.