The Curse on Mummy Finders and Owners
Posted by Jess Dayuno on October 17th, 2008
A story about an evil curse that will befall upon those who excavate Egyptian mummies has been depicted many times over on many Hollywood movies, thereby, creating a deeper mystery about the Egyptian Antiquities.
It all started with the discovery of the mummy of King Tutankhamen. The most famous and youngest Pharaoh ever discovered in any excavation and perhaps the most talked about in our pop culture.
When it was found by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon back in 1922, so many rumors spread out. A persistent story from the newspapers and any printed material came about the mysterious deaths of those people who first went inside the tomb of King Tut. It started with Lord Carnarvon untimely death due to a mosquito bite that later on became infected and eventually led to blood poisoning.
The media went frenzy over the story. Since there was no such thing as Internet during those times, everyone can make speculations without anyone correcting them with facts immediately. It was only recently that one can easily research from the World Wide Web of the true story behind the so-called curse.
There were around 58 people who entered King Tut’s tomb and no one suffered supernatural evil accidents. As a matter of fact, Howard Carter died in 1939, many years after the discovery due to an illness called lymphoma. Lord Carnarvon died earlier but of natural cause.
Even up to this day, the legend of the curse of Pharaohs is still a popular belief. The curses even expanded and extended their reach. Interesting stories will always make headlines just like this one:
There was this 3000 year old mummy which was being traded of so many times until it found a home in an antique shop in Maine. When the Egyptian officials found out about it, they demanded for its return. The shop owner was agreeable but for a certain amount of money, which was around US$20,000. The Egyptians were quite shocked with the price and so no one negotiated any deals.
US Customs then stepped in and impounded the mummy. They agreed for it to be displayed but they ordered that it must stay in the shop. The Egyptian officials were so mad at the shop owner that they were so sure that the curse of the mummy will fall on the shop owner.
However, the shop owner was raking money ever since the story about it leaked to the press. Business is doing so well. The so-called curse helped in marketing the shop.
Photo Credit: Wiki1, Wiki2, NatGeo