The truth of the curse.. Why did those responsible for opening a cemetery die
Tutankhamun under mysterious circumstances
On November 26, 1922, the archaeologist
Howard Carter's expedition achieved an extraordinary feat, funded by the aristocrat Lord Carnarvon; With the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, King of Egypt between 1332 and 1323 BC, preserved in an amazing condition.
Next to the pharaoh's mummy, and in a very small room for a person of his stature, 5,398 items were found, including a majestic golden sarcophagus, a stunning golden burial mask, thrones, arches, trumpets, chests, jewels, wine, food, sandals, and underwear made of linen, and a dagger made of meteoric iron.
Carter spent ten years cataloging the items that the pharaoh had to take with him on his journey to the afterlife.
And if the pharaoh, who ruled from the ages of 9 to 18, was so famous, it is not because he was a great king, but because his tomb was among the best-preserved, according to writer John Manship: “The pharaoh who was one of the least esteemed pharaohs in Egypt When he was alive, he became the most famous after his death.”
There is another fact that contributed to the fame of the little pharaoh, that after the discovery of the tomb, some of its discoverers began to die in strange circumstances, and within a short time, rumors began about the curse of Tutankhamun: Was the pharaoh taking revenge while he was in the afterlife on those men who dared to disturb him? ? Have researchers unleashed a force that has been dormant for thousands of years?
Not a curse.. it may be microbes
Microbiologist Raul Rivas wrote in his book La maldición de Tutankamón y otras historias de la microbiology, The Curse of Tutankhamun and Other Stories of Microbiology, that the explanation may lie in the little creatures that have slept for thousands of years: microbes.
“A few months after the opening of the royal chamber,” Rivas wrote, “a series of deaths occurred under mysterious circumstances of people connected with the discovery of the t
omb.
Rumors spread like wildfire among mystical readers, and figures like Arthur Conan Doyle contributed to the belief that a terrible curse from the other world was killing scientists and explorers.
Surprisingly, English newspapers attributed as many as 30 deaths to the pharaoh's curse, including Lord Carnarvon himself, the financier of the expedition.
The aristocratic lord died of pneumonia at the Continental Savoy Hotel in Cairo on April 5, 1923, just four months after the tomb was opened.
List of deaths
Then came the deaths of other people who opened the tomb, or who participated in moving the pharaoh's belongings.
In September 1923, Carnarvon's brother, Aubrey Herbert, and later Sir Archibald Douglas Reed, who was responsible for the mummy's photography, died.
Shortly after, Arthur Mass, one of those who opened the royal chamber with Howard Carter, died under mysterious circumstances, and railroad tycoon George Jay Gould, who was also present at the opening of the tomb, died of pneumonia.
Richard Bethell, Carter's secretary, died bizarrely in 1929. As if that weren't enough, his father and wife later committed suicide.
Later, Albie Lithgow of the Metropolitan Museum in New York died of a heart attack, and Egyptologist George Bendett died in the Valley of the Kings.
The circle of death was closed only with the death of the directors of the Antiquities Department at the Cairo Museum, who participated in the exhibitions of the remains of the pharaoh in Paris and London, after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage.
“Howard Carter always rejected the theory of the curse, and to anyone who suggested it, he would answer that smart people keep themselves away from such stupid ideas,” says Raul
Rivas
In fact, subsequent studies revealed that of the 58 people who were present during the opening of the tomb and the coffin, only eight died, and this happened within 12 years.
What killed Lord Carnarvon?
As for the others who were in the tomb, they died after several decades.. headed by Howard Carter, the same archaeologist who discovered the tomb, who did not die until 1939, after suffering from lymphoma, and he was 64 years old at the time.
The last to die in Tutankhamun's tomb were Lady Evelyn Herbert, daughter of Lord Carnarvon, who died in 1980, and the archaeologist J. Kinnaman, in 1961.
So, why did the rumor of Tutankhamun's curse spread?
The story begins with the death of Lord Carnarvon, weeks after the tomb was opened, of bacterial septicemia after contracting erysipelas, a contagious skin disease apparently caused by a mosquito bite while shaving.
However, other researchers have established a different cause of death for Lord Carnarvon: death from a fungal infection.
It was said that some fungi, such as “Aspergillus niger”, “Aspergillus terreus” and “Aspergillus flavus”, may have remained for thousands of years in Tutankhamun’s room and attacked the weakened Carnarvon.
“These fungi are capable of forming resistant spores that can survive for centuries,” Rivas wrote. “According to some theories, the aristocratic lord inhaled these spores, penetrated his respiratory tract and caused pulmonary aspergillosis of the invasive type.”
killer fungi
What could happen next? Scientists say that this disease is a serious infection that is still today one of the most important causes of morbidity and death in patients with severe immunodeficiency virus, and that in Carnarvon's case, "it could have led to pneumonia, as a result of the weakening of his immune system since he had a serious car accident before A few years after his death, this had repercussions in his suffering from frequent lung infections.
Many recent studies dealt with theories about the fungal origin of Tutankhamun's curse, and found different types of this fungus called Aspergillus living on many mummies in Croatia or Chile.
Therefore, Rivas concludes: The presence of different types of Aspergillus on multiple types of mummies assumes that both the royal chamber and the mummy of Tutankhamun, which carry germs from this fungus, can infect visitors, and cause great harm to those who were there, such as Lord Carnarvon.
Furthermore, the fact that Aspergillus spores can remain dormant for long periods of time in the lungs may explain that Lord Carnarvon showed no symptoms of infection during the five months after entering the tomb, and this is also consistent with the infections he had in his eyes and nose.
Then the famous curse of Tutankhamun reappeared in another, less well-known tomb.
Curse of Casimir IV!
On April 13, 1973, the opening of the tomb of Casimir IV, Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland, led to the death of the twelve scholars who were inside it shortly after.
Years later, it turned out that there were Aspergillus fungi on the creatures in the room.
It is known today that these fungi can be found in very large numbers in closed and dark places in the case of moderate temperatures and stable conditions, just as it happens in a forgotten cemetery.
The teenage pharaoh
The deaths associated with the curse of Tutankhamun are not the only mystery surrounding this pharaoh who ruled during the Egyptian New Kingdom period, around the height of ancient Egypt, and it is not known why he died when he was only 19 years old.
The reign of Tutankhamun was distinguished because he changed many of the measures taken by his father, Akhenaten, and perhaps under the supervision of his minister and successor Ay.
And he put an end to honoring the god Aten, and restored Amun as a supreme deity, and also restored the traditional privileges of the priests, and moved the capital to Thebes and left the city of Akhetaten.
To highlight the religious changes he made, the pharaoh changed his name from Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun, and dedicated many temples to this god, especially in Karnak.
The pharaoh paid particular attention to improving relations with neighboring powers, though he ended up fighting against the Nubians and Asians. For this reason, probably, he was buried with a leather shield and several bows, though it is certain that he did not fight on account of his physical condition.
Scoliosis, lameness and genetic diseases
Tutankhamun was about 1.67 cm tall, had scoliosis and necrosis in his left foot, and was suffering from malaria.
Various studies have tried to shed light on his life and death, and it is said that he died of wounds in his foot, along with malaria, or that he was killed or hit by a vehicle.
Other researchers have provided evidence that he had some genetic disease because his parents were cousins, and that these factors added to the complications of his infected leg and malaria to cause his death.
It seemed that the pharaoh's early death was sudden, because he was buried in a small tomb compared to a person of his stature, and this place may have been originally for someone else, with the aim of burying him within a maximum period of 70 days, according to tradition.
Currently, the mummy of Tutankhamun rests in the Valley of the Kings in southern Egypt, in a closed glass coffin in protected conditions, to hundreds of tourists who are curious about the mystery that surrounds it.