People are afraid of what's inside Egypt's newly discovered 2,000-year-old sarcophagus — but it should be opened anyway

• A massive black sarcophagus has been found in Egypt.
• It should be opened so we can see what's inside.
• Some argue that opening a sarcophagus that's been closed for 2,000 years can unleash a curse that would usher in a millennium of darkness.
• We'll probably be fine. 

An Egyptian archaeological mission found an enormous sarcophagus — the largest ever to be found in Alexandria — made from a striking black marble. It's been closed for 2,000 years, according to Egypt's antiquities ministry, and no one knows who's inside.

"Experts have not yet determined to whom the tomb belongs," Mostafa Waziri, the ministry's general secretary, told Yahoo News earlier this month.

When Science Alert reported the existence of the mysterious sarcophagus on Wednesday, people immediately warned against opening it. It would unleash a curse that would bring a thousand years of darkness to all of humanity, they argued. Every mummy movie tells us to leave it alone, they said.

But hey, let's open the thing.

We know mummy curses aren't real. They're a made-up thing in books and movies. I know that's something someone would say in a mummy movie, but still.

We have only one clue to what the sarcophagus contains: an alabaster bust found nearby, probably of the owner. But it's been degraded over time, and we have no other records, so it's not really helpful. 

And besides, if there really is a curse that would cause the rivers to flow with blood and the seas to boil, is that so bad?

Sea levels are rising, fascism is on the rise, North Korea is continuing to develop nuclear weapons, and bees are dying at an alarming rate. We can handle a mummy's curse.

Sure, scientists say that opening it would be really hard or whatever, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't happen.

"It's difficult to move it intact and open [it] in a museum," Ayman Ashmawy, the head of ancient Egyptian artifacts at the antiquities ministry, told The Guardian. "It's 5 meters underground, and the whole thing weighs over 30 tons. The lid alone is 15 tons."

I say it's all worth the risk. Let's figure out what we're dealing with here.

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