My mothers memories of a past life in Ancient Egypt.

I'm writing this on an aeroplane bound for Egypt. I'm going back to the country after 54 years and it's made me think of my past there and my mothers recollection of a past life in ancient Egypt under the reign of Tutankhamun which I hope you'll be interested in reading about. I understand that accounts of past lives in ancient Egypt are relatively common and you don't hear many accounts of a past life as a coal miner in Wales. It's also a bit of a cliché that it involves the well known Tutankhamun not a lesser known ruler like King Ahmose 1 but bear with me on this, I feel it's interesting how it goes onto, in some way, prove itself over a few decades.

With this account I'm not looking to change your opinion on reincarnation if you don't believe in it, I'm aware it's not that strong a case to do so, I'm just looking to put down my mothers story, take from it what you will.

My family lived in Egypt for nearly two years when I was too young to remember it in the late '60's. We lived close to the the banks of the river Nile and moved back to the banks of the River Mersey when I was just three years old. Sadly, my only memory of my time in Egypt is the taste of mango; when I eat mango I recall Egypt, it's an odd sensation.

Growing up afterwards I became increasingly aware just how special our time was there, Birkenhead is neither particularly interesting or exotic. My parents always uttered a few Arabic words at home, we always watched documentaries about it together and every now and then we would all watch our precious 'reel to reel' cine films of our time there; those would be my only memories of our time there (except for mango). Often mum would tell us the story of what she remembered a past life in ancient Egypt. All this only increased my fascination with this country and culture.

It's true that both my parents believed they could recall living in Ancient Egypt but it is my mothers story that sort of unfolded over time as having some kind of proof or credibility attached to it so it's this one I want to tell you about. It's fair to say I never really believed her story as a kid. I would often mock her as even at a young age it seemed ridiculous and laughable to me what she said but as time went on and new discoveries were made about Tutankhamun himself, I changed my mind to believe it as credible.

Mum's past life recollection.

This is what mum always told us about her past like in Ancient Egypt. She was alive during the reign of King Tutankhamun who, you may know, came to the throne at just nine years old and died prematurely (and mysteriously) when he was just nineteen.

She told us she remembered being in a large arena watching King Tutankhamun demonstrating his chariot skills to the crowd. She watched as he had an accident and, from his injuries he died. She also said Pharaohs would often appear in public, they were revered and would be like celebrities in that way and people would travel from all over to see them in all their grandeur.

I admit it, I really didn't accept this and growing into a cynical teenager I accepted it less and less. We were, as a family, very open to reincarnation but as a story my young self was dubious about it. My scepticism only increased after a theory for his premature death was banded around in the 1970's/80's that he was murdered by a blow to the back of the head by murderous priests but mum was confident and would sit there arms defiantly folded with a smile on her face and say 'No, I was there, he died after a chariot accident'.

Many years passed and I was living away from home. Talking on the telephone to mum one day she asked if I was going to watch the new documentary on that night about Tutankhamun. They had done a CT scan of his mummy and they were showing the results. Of course I was, I never missed a documentary on Ancient Egypt.

The documentary was excellent. It went into what was known about his reign. They focused on his campaigns and they, interestingly, discussed how he was well known to be an excellent chariot driver. In the documentary they reconstructed a chariot and showed a guy riding it at speed dressed as a pharaoh. Very cool.

Then they got into details of the results of the CT scan. They mentioned the blow to the head theory for his death but the bones showed they were clearly damaged when the mummy was badly handled. That was ruled out as a cause for his death. His mummy showed that in life he was generally in good health, a bit of spine curvature but nothing to suggest why he died except for a detail on a leg injury. When they examined the bones on a leg though it looked very much like shortly before his death he had been in an accident with injuries, they went onto say, were consistent with a chariot crash. The injury itself was not life threatening but since it was done so close to his death it is highly possible that it caused an infection and that killed him.

Oh...well...maybe mum was onto something after all.

As the credits were rolling the phone goes in my house. It's my mum. “Ha! I told you so, he died in a chariot accident showing off his skill”. Mum was never one to miss an opportunity to get one up over us and, I guess, she'd waited a while for this moment and deserved this.

She seems to have been proved right by the CT scan. Honestly, I now believe she was there, in a previous life, watching him show off to the crowds. I also now really like the idea that they were like celebrities and people would go to see them either showing their talents or all dressed up in full pharaoh gear for a ritual. People never change and I'm sure Ancient Egyptians also needed their idols. We do the same in the UK with our royal family.

Both my mum and dad said they recalled their memories only when they lived there. They said the sights and smells of Egypt brought them out. Now, as I fly to Egypt for the first time since I left, I really hope I may recall something also. As I said at the start I can't recall anything from my time in Egypt so if nothing else I really hope I get to remember more than just the taste of mango....I'll keep you updated.

Update...

I didn't recall any more memories from this life or a previous one, maybe I need to spend longer. I'll need to go back to Egypt. I did have a fantastic time there...some pictures to follow.

Here's my mum in Egypt maybe 1968

Below is me with Angela in 2024

Ruth Theresa Whittaker 18th November 1932 to 4th April 2024 - Looking forward to seeing you again for our next life together. Let's spend it somewhere more exotic than Birkenhead next time.