The Curse of King Tut

Whether you’re an aspiring Indiana Jones or a horror-movie aficionado, there is a good chance that you’re aware of the Curse of King Tut, also called the Curse of the Pharaohs. This legend spread around the world in 1922 and stirred the imaginations of people all over the world. There was endless speculation on the Curse of King Tut and what it meant for the people involved.

In 1922, archeologist Howard Carter made an incredible discovery when he uncovered the rich tomb of pharaoh Tutankhamun deep in Egypt’s Valley of Kings. Further exploration revealed that the tomb was filled with unbelievable riches despite being ransacked by robbers at some point after the young pharaoh’s death and burial.

According to ancient Egyptian custom, royalty was mummified and buried in elaborate tombs. They were buried with all the riches needed to provide for them in the afterlife. This contributed to the widespread belief that mummies were powerful creatures and contained magical properties. This belief only exploded once Tutankhamun’s tomb was unearthed, sparking the imagination of people all over the world.

These pyramids and tombs were of keen interest to thieves and archeologists alike and didn’t allow for a very restful afterlife. Therefore, the priests would inscribe curses along the walls of the pyramids to discourage looting and encourage the long-term maintenance of the elaborate burial plots. Between the first excavations of the tomb and the resulting tragedies that befell people associated with the project, the world began to speculate that there was indeed some truth to the Curse of the Pharaohs.

Lord Carnavon was responsible for the financial backing of Howard Carter’s Egyptian explorations. After many seasons of not finding anything new, Carter returned to England and met with Lord Carnavon. Carter was able to convince Carnavon to finance one more season of digging, and he came back to Egypt with a pet canary.

His team believed that the golden bird was a sign that they would soon uncover great wealth. Legend has it that the day Carter discovered the first steps to the tomb; he returned home to find that the canary had been killed by a cobra, which is a symbol that is closely related to the pharaoh.

King Tut’s Curse became a media sensation following the death of Lord Carnarvon in 1923. As an odd twist of fate, a mosquito bit him, and he subsequently died from the infection. While that fact isn’t too strange, what is more fascinating is that there was allegedly a citywide power outage in Cairo at the moment of his death. It’s also been reported that his beloved dog in England howled uncontrollably and suddenly died at the exact same time.

While Howard Carter and his team discovered untold riches in treasures and cultural artifacts, the real treasures of their discovery lie in the abundance of rich legends that emerged as each object was moved from the tomb to the museum for display. Thanks to these stories, the Curse of King Tut lives on in our collective cultural heritage and will continue to inspire artists and scare young children for decades to come.