Curse of King Tutankhamen's Tomb

Curse of King Tutankhamen's Tomb

King Tutankhamen’s tomb presents an authentic record of a time gone by, one that many only read about. This has made it fascinating, and the events that occurred after its discovery are controversial even now. To be more precise, the tomb of Egyptian boy- King, Tutankhamen was discovered in 1922 by Englishman Howard Carter, under the direction of Lord Carnarvon (Sayre, 2012). The tomb was largely untouched, meaning that many of the artefacts, as well as the sarcophagus were still intact. This was a great find by the archaeologists, which generated worldwide attention. However, a few months after the discovery of the tomb, people present during the find, and those closely related to them started dying. The first of the lot was Lord Carnarvon himself, who passed on just a few months later. Afterwards, several members of the excavation party as well as those related to them started dying mysteriously (Handwerk, 2005). In a few years, more than a dozen of them had passed on, a fact that raised questions. Most importantly, what was behind the mysterious deaths?

Many theories have been put forth to explain the deaths, and the most prominent one is that the tomb was cursed. It is said that an inscription at the entrance of the tomb read, ‘Death will slay with his wings whoever disturbs the peace of the pharaoh’ (Kruszelnicki & Yazxhi, 2006, p. 118). Kruszelnicki and Yazxhi state that placing curses on tombs was a common practice in those days and was meant to dissuade tomb raiders from carting away everything that had been placed in the tomb to enable the pharaohs to live a better life in the spirit world. This theory was generated by the media who played it up and made it seem like fact. Consequently, the deaths of all these men were attributed to their having disturbed the tomb.

The second theory, states that because the tomb was hundreds of years old, and because the dead in those days were buried with an assortment of food, numerous potentially toxic molds and bacteria were present in the tomb. When disturbed, the theory goes; these different toxins can cause numerous complications, especially if inhaled in large quantities (Handwerk, 2005). Two of these toxins, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus, the theory adds, can be very harmful to people whose immune systems are not strong enough to withstand the assault. This theory, propounded by Egyptologists also argues that some of these toxins can stay for thousands of years, so long as the conditions are favourable.

Although the theory of ‘tomb toxins’ still has its weaknesses, it is nevertheless a more plausible explanation for the unexplained deaths than the theory of the curse. The reason for this is that research has indeed shown that different toxins, fungi and bacteria are usually present in such conditions and have been found in other tombs (Handwerk, 2005). Moreover, it is common knowledge that such toxins do affect people’s immune systems, enough to be fatal. It is then wise to assume that when the archaeologists entered the tomb, they inhaled the toxins, which affected their health, leading to their deaths.

References

Handwerk, B. (6 May 2005) Egypt’s ‘King Tut’s curse’ caused by tomb toxins? National Geographic News. Retrieved October 24, 2011 from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/05/0506_050506_mummycurse.html

Kruszelnicki, K. & Yazxhi, A. (2006) Great mythconceptions: The science behind the myths. Kansas City, MS: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Sayre, H. (2011) The humanities: Culture, continuity & change, Volume I (2nd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.