TUTANKHAMUN’S CURSE

TUTANKHAMUN’S CURSE

The unveiling of Tutankhamun’s tomb was one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time, and caused a media frenzy. However, The Times of London had exclusivity of the story, meaning only they could report the discovery. Starved of objective reporting, many news. papers turned to speculative stories, with the most persistent being ‘Tutankhamun’s Curse.

The boy king died in 1323 Bc, leaving a gap of over 3,000 years before his tomb was unsealed. The story went that the tomb then unleashed a ‘curse, killing people connected to the discovery. Lord Carnarvon, who funded the excavations, died just six months after the unsealing. Many other people who died after the event were associated with the curse:
Name -Lord Carnavon ; Cause of Death – Blood poisoning; Age- 57 ; Year of Death 1923

Name – Ali Fahmy Bey; Cause of Death –
Fatally shot; Age – 23; Year of Death – 1923;

Name- Audrey Herbert; Cause of Death – Blood poisoning; Age – 43; Year of Death – 1923;

Name- Hugh Evelyn-White; Cause of Death – Suicide; Age – 40; Year of Death – 1923;

Name- Georges Bénédite; Cause of Death – Possible stroke; Age – 69; Year of Death – 1926

Name- Arthur Mace; Cause of Death- Pneumonia; Age – 53; Year of Death – 1928

Name – Richard Bethel; Cause of Death – Natural causes; Age – 46; Year of Death – 1929

Name – Mervyn Herbert; Cause of Death –
‘Malarial pneumonia’; Age – 46; Year of Death – 1929

Name – Richard Bethell Snr; Cause of Death – Suicide; Age – 78 ; Year of Death 1930;

Name – Albert Lythgoe; Cause of Death- Arteriosclerosis; Age – 66; Year of Death –
1934;

Name – Howard Carter; Cause of Death – Hodgkin’s disease; Age – 64; Year of Death- 1939;

But this supernatural tale doesn’t stand up to much scrutiny. Of 26 people who were present at the opening of Tutankhamun’s tomb, six died within a decade. Averaige life expectancy for males in the 1920s was just under 57 years of age.