What's 'The Pharaoh's Curse?' The 'Curse Of Ra' And The Meaning Of The Sand Memes Explained (2024)

At first, there was Alienposting, then Pirateposting, but now, the big craze sweeping the web is Pharaohposting, which is manifesting in the viral Pharaoh's Curse memes about the alleged "Curse of Ra" and the dreaded warning "return the slab."

Images, GIFs and videos of people spitting out sand, being swept up by sand or otherwise being consumed by some creepy ancient Egyptian force have been surfacing on TikTok, Instagram and Twitter. Plus, there's a cursed copypasta going around consisting of random hieroglyphics.

As the memes spread across the web, many are wondering what the "Pharaoh's Curse" is. Plus, what is the "Curse of Ra?" Are these alleged curses7 real? Let's explain.

What Is 'The Pharaoh's Curse?'

According to ancient Egyptian legend as well as evident in the stories of experienced archeologists, there is allegedly a supernatural phenomenon called the Curse of the Pharaoh. Sometimes called the "Curse of the Mummy," a person can allegedly be cursed with illness or death if they disturb the grave of an Egyptian, specifically that of a pharaoh's tomb.

"Disturbing" the grave is most often portrayed as stealing something from the tomb. As known throughout history, ancient Egyptians buried themselves with many prized possessions that they wanted to keep going into the afterlife. For powerful pharaohs, they had a pyramid filled with such objects, all of which were said to leave a curse on a thief.

What Do 'The Pharaoh's Curse' Memes Mean?

Memes about the Pharaoh's Curse ironically portray someone who's being plagued by sand, akin to the Egyptian desert. The video memes most often show someone spitting out sand, imagined to be dying for stealing something from the pharaoh's tomb.

The humor in the memes relies on the absurd fact that suffering from an ancient curse in the 21st century is ridiculous. Portraying a modern person being cursed by an ancient pharaoh is hilariously unserious.

Plus, it's surprisingly easy to find videos of people throwing up sand. Remember the Cinnamon Challenge from a couple of years back? There are plenty of fail videos from that challenge in which the participants look like they're coughing sand.

@696969trashboat696969 the Wrath of Ra. #fyp #pharoh #curse #pharohscurse #WrathofRa ♬ the sands of time – friëd shrimp
@culomanuno Return the slabbbbb #fyp #lobotomy #returntheslab #curseofra #pharaohscurse #pharaohscurse #meme #hoodirony #funny #viral #lobotomy ♬ the sands of time – friëd shrimp

What Does 'Return The Slab' Mean?

The phrase "return the slab" started with the caption of a TikTok video in July. The meaning of the phrase in the context of the meme is that an imagined "slab," likely consisting of sacred hieroglyphics, has been stolen from the pharaoh's tomb. Therefore, one must "return the slab" to rid themself of the curse.

@minecraft_blackstone The Pharaoh’s curse is no more #pharoah #desert #egypt ♬ the sands of time – friëd shrimp

What Is The 'Curse Of Ra?'

Despite sounding like a real piece of history, the "Curse of Ra" does not exist anywhere in ancient Egyptian lore. Instead, the only thing that references it is a video game from the 1990s called The Curse of RA. Of course, though, Ra is the ancient Egyptian deity of the sun, however, he does not have a specific "curse" to his name.

Instead, the "Curse of Ra" is a made-up curse that's received meme usage on Twitter and elsewhere, most often written, "Don't care. Curse of Ra," due to it being a harmful spell someone can cast on another via a quote retweet or reply.

What Is The 'Curse Of Ra' Copypasta?

To curse someone with the Curse of Ra, you're going to need the copypasta, which is a string of hieroglyphics that can be copied and pasted. Here it is for your usage:

don't care. CURSE OF RA 𓀀 𓀁 𓀂 𓀃 𓀄 𓀅 𓀆 𓀇 𓀈 𓀉 𓀊 𓀋 𓀌 𓀍 𓀎 𓀏 𓀐 𓀑 𓀒 𓀓 𓀔 𓀕 𓀖 𓀗 𓀘 𓀙 𓀚 𓀛 𓀜 𓀝 𓀞 𓀟 𓀠 𓀡 𓀢 𓀣 𓀤 𓀥 𓀦 𓀧 𓀨 𓀩 𓀪 𓀫 𓀬 𓀭 𓀮 𓀯 𓀰 𓀱 𓀲 𓀳 𓀴 𓀵 𓀶 𓀷 𓀸 𓀹 𓀺 𓀻 𓀼 𓀽 𓀾 𓀿 𓁀 𓁁 𓁂 𓁃 𓁄 𓁅 𓁆 𓁇 𓁈 𓁉 𓁊 𓁋 𓁌 𓁍 𓁎 𓁏 𓁐 𓁑 𓀄 𓀅 𓀆

For the full history of the Pharaoh's Curse and the Curse of Ra, be sure to check out our entry on the meme here for even more information.

What's 'The Pharaoh's Curse?' The 'Curse Of Ra' And The Meaning Of The Sand Memes Explained (2024)

FAQs

What is the pharaoh's curse sand? ›

The Pharaoh's curse is a mystery about a group of archaeologists being murdered one by one by a jaded ex-colleague. However, the way they are being killed is suffocation after being completely buried in sand.

What is the meaning of the curse of the pharaohs? ›

The curse of the pharaohs or the mummy's curse is a curse alleged to be cast upon anyone who disturbs the mummy of an ancient Egyptian, especially a pharaoh. This curse, which does not differentiate between thieves and archaeologists, is claimed to cause bad luck, illness, or death.

What is the curse of the RA? ›

Summary Inside an ancient pyramid, you fight for your survival. The mighty god RA has transformed you into a scarabaeus. Now RA is chasing you through hundreds of mazes. Can you solve all the puzzles and get out of the pyramid alive?

What is the pharaoh's curse in 30 words? ›

The pharaoh's curse was that death or misfortune would fall upon those who disturbed him. The silent visitors are the first to refer to it. Later on a guard joked nervously when the million dollar scanner stopped functioning because of sand in a cooler fan.

What disease is pharaoh's curse? ›

In 1922, a team lead by Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun. A few months later, one of the men died of a fever. When other members of the team also died, people blamed a curse. But some scientists, including microbiologist Bill Goldman, suspect that the real cause was histoplasmosis.

What is the story of curse of the sand? ›

A witch, named Mohini, is waiting to reunite with her lover who is reborn as Ram. However, Ram is married to Siya. Mohini tricks Ram into spending a night with her in exchange for saving Siya from her black magic. There begins a supernatural thriller love triangle.

Why is Egypt buried in sand? ›

Not all ancient Egyptians could afford to mummify the dead. The poor would be buried in the simplest graves, along with some special possessions or pots holding foods, that they had when they were alive. For the poorest of people, the body was buried in hot sand which would dry it out and mummify it in a natural way.

What was the pharaoh's curse Bible? ›

Each time, Pharaoh promises to free the Israelites, but reverses his decision when the plague is lifted — until the last one. The plagues are: water turning to blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness and the killing of firstborn children.

Is Pharaoh evil in the Bible? ›

As Pharaoh physically ruled over God's chosen people, it became clear that he held evil intent for the Israelites. Not only that, but he could've saved his own people from the plagues had he only let the Israelites go. Instead, he questioned, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go?

What was God's warning to Pharaoh? ›

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the water and say to him, `This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses.

Why did God punish Pharaoh? ›

Pharaoh enslaves Israel and, in doing, so, takes away their free-will. God then punishes Pharaoh by taking away his free-will. Pharaoh becomes a slave to God as a punishment for enslaving Israel.

What demon is Ra? ›

Definition. Ra (also given as Re) is the sun god of ancient Egypt. He is one of the oldest deities in the Egyptian pantheon and was later merged with others such as Horus, becoming Ra-Horakhty (the morning sun), Amun (as noonday sun), and Atum (the evening sun) associated with primal life-giving energy.

Did the god Ra have a daughter? ›

Ra was also attributed to the specific creation of three lesser deities named Bastet, Sekhmet, and Hathor. These were created as Ra's daughters, although Bastet is sometimes also depicted as Ra's cat.

What is the curse of the pharaohs about? ›

The story of The Curse of the Pharaohs follows Bayek as he investigates rumours of a mysterious curse plaguing the citizens of Thebes. The story revolves around Bayek hunting for a mysterious artefact which is being used to summon the shadows of long dead pharaohs.

What is the pharaoh's curse on TikTok? ›

The Pharaoh's Curse is a rumor that if you disturb a pharaoh's final resting place, you'll face bad luck, illness, or even death.

What is the pharaoh's Secret about? ›

About The Pharaoh's Secret

Head of NUMA special assignments, Kurt Austin and his most trusted friend, Joe Zavala tangle with a ruthless powerbroker scheming to build a new Egyptian empire as glorious as those of the Pharaohs.

How did the pharaoh's curse prove ominous? ›

The mummy was removed from his tomb and brought to the CT machine to be scanned. ... They felt this was ominous because, the curse of the pharaoh states that death or misfortune shall fall upon any who disturb him, and it seemed as though it had happened just as prophesied.

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