Researcher Ayman al-Wakil says the people of Upper Egypt believe in ancient Egyptian tales passed on from generation to generation about treasures buried underground. He also says they believe in jinns that guard those treasures, which can be contacted through witchery to tell where the treasures are buried.The looters often die in soil collapses as well. It's not a pretty undertaking.
Wakil says there are impostors who convince people they can decipher ancient Egyptian codes. They say they know where the treasures are hidden, in exchange for money.
Mahmoud al-Sayed from Upper Egypt says the phenomenon has spread since the January 25 revolution, when there was a state of lawlessness and people could infringe on state property.
“Usually, they do not find anything and they end up fighting and perhaps even killing each other,” he says.
Fathy, a sheikh to whom people go to contact jinns, says those tales are true. “I do not take money unless they find the treasure,” he says. “I only take the expenses for the incense and other material needed to recall the jinns.”
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