Like Tutankhamun's tomb, would Pompeii also be cursed?
Yes, if we are to believe a Canadian tourist who has just returned, fifteen years after her archaeological theft, the artifacts she had stolen from the site of the Roman city burned by the lava of Vesuvius erupting during the reign of the Emperor Titus.
According to
The Guardian
, she claims today, "
that these objects would have caused her nothing but bad luck
."
To read also: "Living and dying in Pompeii"
Perhaps remorseful for having committed a sacrilege in this city, Nicole, now in her thirties, returned her so-called "cursed" treasure to a travel agency in the ancient city, along with a letter explaining His gesture.
In a few words, the indelicate tourist tries to justify her plunder and today her belated act of redemption: “
I am now 36 years old and I had recurrent breast cancer.
The second time around, it ended with a double mastectomy.
These objects are full of negative energy.
I hope to get forgiveness from God by returning them.
And also not to pass this curse on to my family and my children.
"
Read also: Pompeii: a British tourist tries to steal pieces of a mosaic
The theft of two ceramic tiles and a piece of amphora perpetrated by the Canadian tourist in 2005 is unfortunately not an isolated case.
The Italian press regularly reports these “
archaeological incivilities
”.
Recently in 2019,
La Repubblica
reported that another visitor, this time from Britain, had begun to peel off part of the mosaic that decorated the floor of a Pompeian domus.
Arrested and then prosecuted for “
aggravated damage
”, she could be ordered to pay € 3,000 in restoration costs.
The new “
sound and light
” staging
of the Pompeii site
