(within a series of articles written by J.W.H. on a tour of Egypt)
An Egyptian Poltergeist
Other forms of what seemed to be Egyptian mysticism were discussed. An Egyptian official told the story of friends of his who informed him, on a visit, that strange things had been happening in their house. He was amused. The happenings seemed to be in accord with what are known in other countries as “poltergeist” manifestations. Missiles of various kinds fell inside the house, of which no explanation could be found.
As he listened to the story, a piece of broken pottery fell at his feet, as if it had been thrown violently from the adjoining passage. There was no one else in the house, or in the precincts, and a careful examination revealed no source from which the shard could have come. As they discussed the matter a piece of rock came down on the floor, again apparently from nowhere. A great commotion was heard in one of the upper rooms of the house, the door of which was shut. When the door was opened the furniture was found to be thrown about, although no one was seen. The lady of the house, amongst other unpleasant manifestations, said the ear of her child had started to bleed, although they could discover no wound. Eventually a priest was called in, and he used some form of ancient Egyptian exorcism, after which the unpleasant incidents ceased.
Tewfik stated that he was a friend of an Abydos priest, who had experience of other incidents of the kind, which he divided into two classes – one where the manifestations were merely mischievous, and the other dangerous where people were struck by the missiles or articles were smashed. For these he had definite forms of exorcism.
The Scotsman, 26th December 1936.