Inside the Pyramids
Valley of the Kings, Egypt—While now considered erroneous, it was once plausible to believe that the mummies of Ancient Egypt sought revenge from beyond the grave through a curse. A mummy’s curse to be correct. In some circles, these curses are still very real, while to others they are no more than coincidental correlation. Nonetheless, Egyptian curses still inspire wonder and spectacle today.
The Mummy’s Curse
The term “Mummy’s Curse” is idiomatic, serving as a common expression to explain a complex idea. Death, the honor of burial, and the desecration of a tomb being the complex idea. That is to say, those buried–typically private citizens–sought extra protection for their tombs. Writing cryptic messages on a wall for superstitious folk worked well to deter graverobbers, and, therefore, the tomb was safe.
Yet, some curses persist in small ways here and there across Egypt. For instance, the tomb of Ankhtifi states that any ruler who so disturbs the tomb will be punished (albeit punitively) by the deity Hemen. Meanwhile, Khentika Ikhekhi’s tomb warns that trespassers will feel be strangled by Ikhekhi’s own hands “like a bird.”
The earliest recorded encounter with a mummy comes from a 1699 account of a traveler who brought two mummies to Alexandria. Two spirits than haunted him, causing dangerous waters for him while sailing. The cataclysmic reaction of his misdeed (mummy theft), forced him to throw the corpses overboard.
King Tut’s Curse
Perhaps the most famous, and the one I was familiar with included King Tut’s curse. In his day, he was known as Tutankhamen and he died at the age of 19 years old. Buried in the Valley of Kings in Egypt, incoming rulers discarded his tomb and it became lost to history.
Archeologist Howard Carter and financier George Herbert, 5th earl of Carnarvon, had no qualms about investigating King Tut’s tomb. His tomb was considered dangerous due to existing warnings: “Do not disturb this resting place lest ye be harmed.” Unfortunately, according to lore, they should have listened to the literal writings on the wall, because death assailed all those who entered.
As Britannica writes: “Inside his small tomb, the king’s mummy lay within a nest of three coffins, the innermost of solid gold, the two outer ones of gold hammered over wooden frames. On the king’s head was a magnificent golden portrait mask …”
Lord Carnarvon died of blood poisoning shortly afterward from a mosquito bite. Then, his brother reportedly succumbed to sepsis, supposedly due to the curse on his sibling. Additionally, another member of the expedition experienced both a house fire and a flooding. And, George Jay Gould, an American railroad executive, visited the tomb and then died of pneumonia.
The Reality of the Mummy’s Curse
According to researchers and scientists, the mummy’s curse is no more than either a fungal growth or happenstance. Some researchers attribute the supposed curse to Aspergillus flavus, a mold found in tombs that can infect human lungs.
Tim Newcomb wrote in Popular Mechanics in 2023 that “The latest fungal scare came this year in Mexico City, when The Mummies of Guanajuato again went on a traveling display, with experts concerned the mummies weren’t properly sealed off from the viewing public. An improper viewing event could lead to additional fungal exposure.”
At the same time, the British Medical Journal conducted a study in 2002 that said, statistically, there is little relationship between King Tut’s mummy curse and the death of those who entered it on expedition. Lord Carnarvon, in this instance, was probably just “chronically ill” and so died of natural causes related to his ailments. There is similar research connected to The Bermuda Triangle as not being statistically significant as far as the rate of accidents.
Finally, researchers note that the mummy’s curse also originates in literature. These examples include Louisa May Alcott’s short story “Lost in a Pyramid: The Mummy’s Curse.” Other stories may have originated from tales by Joseph Smith, a U.S. painter. Fiction stories do have a lasting power and imprint on our understanding of reality, so it should go without saying that these stories may have changed public perceptions.
Regardless, the story of the mummy’s curse still persists. We see it in Hollywood movies to this day, and people still imagine the dangers of exploring the darkest depths of a Pharaoh’s pyramid.
