CA Read-a-Thon: Alina

Being a girl is … TOUGH

Especially when you’re me,
I’m Alina and my life is really tough.
It starts from boyfriends,
Friends, family & a whole lot more
I love my friends, but they piss me off sometimes …
They lie to my other friends, gossiping
And growing up is the worst.

The magazine I read talked about all the things about girls …
I felt really connected.
Because it talked about giving up on yourself,
And other things …
So be proud of who you are
Like I am.
Life is too short to hate it.
- Alina <3

The Curse of King Tut

This book The Curse of King Tut is, as the title says, about the supposed curse of King Tut. There are many deaths supposedly caused by the curse. All the deaths were of people who had something to do with the tomb. The first death attributed to the curse was that of George Herbert, Lord of Carnarvon. He started studying Egyptology while recovering from a nearly fatal car accident. He wanted to find a great tomb but was a poor archaeologist so he started financing the digs of Howard Carter. For five years Carter found nothing but a few ancient jars with Tut's name. Carter was convinced that Tut had been buried in the Valley of Kings after the discovery. Lord Carnarvon however was discouraged and told Carter he might stop financing the dig. Carter convinced him to finance it for one more season. Finally, on November 3, 1922 Howard found a tomb near that of Ramses IV. Layout of King Tut's Tomb http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/king-tut-tomb-1.gif Two weeks after sent a telegram to Lord Carnarvon in England he arrived. On November 24 Carter's workers cleared the debris from the entrance . Carter eventually saw the name Tutankhamen imprinted on the plastered doorway. The tomb was found nearly intact. They opened the tomb and entered the antechamber and found hundreds of ancient treasures. It took nearly 10 years to get all the treasures out because they needed careful handeling and care. Lord Carnarvon in Egypt http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Carnarvon.jpg Right after the opening of the tomb Lord Carnarvon went to Cairo to meet with the head of Egypt's Antiquities Service. On the way there he was bitten by a mosquito. The bite got infected and he fell ill with a high fever. He died on April 15, 1923. Other people who's deaths were attributed to the curse were those of George Jay Gould who took a tour of Tut's tomb. Another strange death was that of the Antiquites Service head, Mohammed Ibraham who died after getting hit by a car. Another notable death was that of Richard Bethell's father. Richard was Lord Carnarvon's secretary. His father committed suicide and while he was being taken to a crematorium his hearse struck and killed an 8 year old boy. For many years people have been looking for explanations for these deaths. Some suggest Egyptian magic. A notable explanation is that the Egyptians placed poisons in the tomb. The poison could have infected the items inside. That can explain the deaths of people who handled the artifacts but never even went to Egypt. These poisons could have been anything from quicksilver to arsenic. But many still believe it was the Pharaohs' curse. King Tut's Burial Mask http://bikyamasr.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/tutankhamun-golden-mask.jpg