| The “Mummy’s Curse” | HUM 111 − World Cultures I | | Franceda Coleman | January 28th, 2012 |

Professor Pettigrew |

The “Mummy’s Curse”
The “Mummy’s Curse” is explained as a series of unexplainable, unfortunate or tragic events that happened to people who were present at the opening of Tutankhamen’s tomb. Unable to explain why many people present during the opening suffered such loss and the mix of media hype and facts, people started to speculate that the curse was real. “Legend has it that anyone who dared to open the tomb would suffer the wrath of the mummy, because mummies have been associated with many magical powers throughout history” (http://www.kingtutone.com/tutankhamun/curse/). Another possibility is that “New findings are showing that bacteria on the wall of the tomb might have been the cause of the curse” (http://www.kingtutone.com/tutankhamun/curse/).
From all that I have read, I believe that the “Mummy’s” most likely is the real thing. I say this mainly because I do believe in things such as “curses” and magic, but also because the likely hood of the mold or bacteria found at the tomb ( Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus Flavus) can cause congestion and bleeding of the lungs, but scientist have confirmed that they are not. In fact, “F. DeWolfe Miller, professor of epidemiology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, concurs with Howard Carter's original opinion: Given the local conditions, Lord Carnarvon was probably safer inside Tut's tomb than outside”. (http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/curse-of-the-mummy/), additionally Miller stated, "Upper Egypt in the 1920s was hardly what you'd call sanitary," Miller said. "The idea that an underground tomb, after 3,000 years, would have some kind of bizarre microorganism in it that's going to kill somebody six weeks later and make it look exactly like [blood poisoning] is very hard to believe." (http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/curse-of-the-mummy/), which I happen to agree with.
Many still speculate on why Howard Carter (discovered Tutankhamen’s tomb and was the first to enter) was able to side step tragic misfortune (aside for the death of his pet canary). My thoughts on this topic are that because Howard Carter was more interested in the history of the finding and not for monetary purposes and being that he “spent his last years logging and recording every artifact found in the tomb” (http://www.kingtutone.com/tutankhamun/curse/) for preservation, he was saved from the “Mummy’s curse”.

References 1. http://www.kingtutone.com/tutankhamun/curse/ 2. http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/curse-of-the-mummy/