Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee. ~~Numbers 24:9

“Oetzi the Iceman”, the almost perfectly preserved 5,300-year-old corpse that was found in Europe on the Austrian-Italian border, is now the star attraction at a museum in Italy where he resides in an ice display chest. His ancient frozen remains are the subject of what is known as “The Curse of the Mummy”.

Death renews iceman ‘curse’ claim
Should working with Oetzi carry a health warning? The death of a molecular biologist has fuelled renewed speculation about a “curse” connected to an ancient corpse. Tom Loy, 63, had analysed DNA found on “Oetzi”, the Stone Age hunter whose remains were discovered in 1991. Dr Loy died in unclear circumstances in Australia two weeks ago, it has been announced, making him the seventh person connected with Oetzi to die.

* Helmut Simon, the amateur mountaineer who found Oetzi in 1991, died during an unexpected blizzard in the Alps last year, not far from his original find.

* Within hours of Mr Simon’s funeral, the head of the mountain rescue team sent to find him died of a heart attack, aged 45 and apparently in good health.

* Rainer Henn, 64, a forensic pathologist who handled the body was killed in a car crash the following year

* Kurt Fritz, the mountaineer who led Dr. Henn to the body was killed in an avalanche shortly after Dr. Henn died.

* Rainer Holz, 47, a filmmaker who made a documentary about removing the body from its block of ice died of a brain tumour soon afterwards

* Konrad Spindler, 66, an archaeologist and a leading expert on the body, died of complications related to multiple sclerosis.