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King Tutankhamen’s Tomb: A Mummy‘s Curse

24 July 2014
Humanities
Strayer University

Do curses really exist? Louis Sachar stated, “A lot of people don't believe in curses. A lot of people don't believe in yellow-spotted lizards either, but if one bites you, it doesn't make a difference whether you believe in it or not (Goodreads, 2014).” Many people believe that the death of King Tutankhamen generated a curse. The speculation of the curse originated when people began to die after finding his tomb. The newspapers published the text of the alleged curse: "Death shall come on swift wings to him that toucheth the tomb of a pharaoh” (The Curse of the Mummies, 2014). However, some people do not believe that such a curse exists because there is not enough evidence to support this claim.
King Tutankhamen’s tomb was discovered by Howard Carter between 1922 and 1923. He and Lord Carnarvon, Carter’s supporter, were the first to enter the tomb. Several weeks after entering King Tut’s tomb, Carnarvon died due to a mosquito bite that led to pneumonia. By 1929, eleven people connected with the discovery of the Tomb had died early and of unnatural causes (The Curse of the Mummies, 2014). This included two of Carnarvon's relatives, Carter's personal secretary, Richard Bethell, and Bethell's father, Lord Westbury (The Curse of the Mummies, 2014). Westbury killed himself by jumping from a building (Howard Carter and the Curse of Tut's Mummy, 2014). This sparked a lot of rumors. It did not seem to be just a coincidence that the family and friends of these two men were dead within six years. The curse had to be true according to the people of Cairo.
Some people did not believe the curse of King Tut because many people that entered the tomb did not die. There were 26 people present at the opening of the tomb, but only 6 died within 10 years. At the opening of the sarcophagus, a funeral receptacle for a corpse, there were 22 people present, and only 2 died within 10 years. There were also 10 people at the unwrapping of the mummy, and not a single person died within 10 years. It is suggested that the people actually died from the effects of mold that had built up on the tomb. Dr. Ezzeddin Taha, of Cairo University, examined the health records of museum workers and noticed that many of them had been exposed to Aspergillus niger (black mold), a fungus that causes fever, fatigue and rashes. He suggested that the fungus might have been able to survive in the tombs for thousands of years and then was picked up by archaeologists when they entered (The Curse of the Mummies, 2014). This theory explains why Howard Carter, the first person to enter the tomb, died 16 years later. Even Douglas Derry, the doctor who performed the autopsy on King Tut's mummy, lived for another 20 years (The Curse of the Mummies, 2014). If it was indeed a curse, then everyone that entered the tomb or examined the body would have died suddenly and mysteriously.

References
Goodreads. (2014, 07 22). Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/curses
Howard Carter and the Curse of Tut's Mummy. (2014, 07 22). Retrieved from http://www.unmuseum.org/mummy.htm
The Curse of the Mummies. (2014, 07 22). Retrieved from http://www.gizapyramid.com/articles/mummies-curse.htm

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