This story has been told many times, but fact and fiction are usually blended. Two recent authors who have separated the facts from the myths are Christopher Frayling and Nicholas Reeves.
First, the facts: Lord Carnarvon, who had funded the search for King Tut's tomb, and archaeologist Howard Carter entered the king's burial chamber on February 17, 1923. On or about March 6, Lord Carnarvon was bitten by a mosquito on his cheek and became ill. Reported in the media, this event caused many people to jump to the conclusion that King Tut's tomb was cursed.
Many famous people volunteered their theories to the press. For example, Marie Corelli, a popular novelist at the time, expressed her thoughts in a letter published in New York and London newspapers. In part, her letter read:
I cannot but think some risks are run by breaking into the last rest of a king in Egypt whose tomb is specially and solemnly guarded, and robbing him of his possessions. According to a rare book I possess . . . entitled The Egyptian History of the Pyramids [an ancient Arabic text], the most dire punishment follows any rash intruder into a sealed tomb. The book . . . names 'secret poisons enclosed in boxes in such wise that those who touch them shall not know how they come to suffer'. That is why I ask, Was it a mosquito bite that has so seriously infected Lord Carnarvon?
Corelli reported that the Egyptian author also warned: "Death comes on wings to he who enters the tomb of a pharaoh."
Her concerns seemed to be on target when Lord Carnarvon's condition worsened. The mosquito bite became infected, he contracted pneumonia, and on April 5, he died. The legend of the curse became fact and was enhanced by many rumors. Here are five of the most famous rumors - and the real truth behind them:
Rumor 1: On the day of the tomb opening, Carter's pet canary was eaten by a cobra (a symbol of the ancient pharaohs). The truth is that, although Carter had a pet canary, he gave it to a friend named Minnie Burton to watch, and she gave it (alive and well) to a bank manager.
Rumor 2: At the moment that Carnarvon died in Cairo Hospital, the lights across Cairo went out for five minutes. Actually, around the time that Carnarvon died, the hospital lights did go out for a few moments. Within a few weeks' time, this fact was twisted into the more interesting rumor. As Christine El Mahdy points out, the lights in Cairo are notorious for going out without warning - even today.
Rumor 3: Carnarvon's dog Susie, back in England, howled and dropped dead at exactly two o'clock in the morning, the time that Carnarvon died. No one knows whether this story is true or not, but it seems suspicious, especially since Egypt and England do not share the same time zone. The story might be a bit more believable if Susie had died at two o'clock Egyptian time.
Rumor 4: Over the door to King Tut's tomb was an inscription that read "Death shall come on swift wings to him that toucheth the tomb of the Pharaoh." Notice that this inscription closely matches the quotation Marie Corelli cited from the ancient Arabic text. Even today, it is easy to find books that report this inscription as fact. For example, in his recent book about mummies, author John Vornholt writes, "In an outer chamber, they [Carter and Carnarvon] found a clay tablet that read: 'Death will slay with his wings whoever disturbs the peace of the Pharaoh.'" This is simply not true.
Rumor 5: Most of the people present at the opening of the tomb met untimely deaths. Again, Vornholt writes that "13 of 20 people who were present at the opening of King Tut's burial chamber died within a few years." Vornholt does not give his source for this information, but it is clearly incorrect. The truth is that the newspapers at the time had a field day with the curse. Whenever anyone related to Carnarvon or the discovery of the tomb died, the death was taken as proof that the curse was in effect.
However, Egyptologist Herbert E. Winlock examined the evidence some 12 years after the tomb's opening. Of the 26 people present at the opening of the burial chamber, only 6 had died within the next 10 years. When King Tut's sarcophagus was opened, 22 of the 26 people were present, but only 2 of them had died within 10 years afterward. Finally, only 10 of the 26 people had watched the unwrapping of the mummy. And none of them had died within the next decade! In fact, many of the people who had the most contact with the king's mummy lived long and productive lives
Zahi does believe in a curse, but its not what you may think
Zahi Hawass wrote:I believe that men like Frederick Schultz, whom a New York judge convicted of stealing and dealing in stolen Egyptian antiquities and sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 33 months and a fine of $50,000, are the real "Egyptian curse". They destroy Egyptian monuments and erase segments of the historical record.
