Ghost Stories: Curse of the Mummies

We switch from the familiar settings of North America and Europe to the exotic locale of Egypt for today’s 31 Days of Ghosts.

The Royal Cobra (Uraeus), representing the protector goddess Wadjet , atop the mask of Tutankhamun

For decades we have been told of the Curse of the Mummies, a supposed curse that affects anyone who enters the tomb of an ancient Pharoh of Egypt.  The curse has been used in varying degrees with many different Pharohs, but newspapers did not begin reporting the curse until Archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun.  Stories of men on the expidition who met an untimely fate began to arise and circulate through European and American newspapers.  In the end, many of the untimely deaths were explained scientifically rather than giving way to belief of something more supernatural.

Many of those on Howard’s expidition in the 1920’s actually lived well into their seventies before dying.  Others that did die weeks after the opening of the tomb, could have, it was explained, succumbed to bacteria that hadn’t seen the light of day for centuries.  Needless to say, there are still those today that believe in the Curse of the Mummies.

The Egyptologist Zahi Hawass who believes the display of Mummies in museums is a lesser evil than allowing the general public into tombs

Egyptologist Zahi Hawass is one modern day scientis who believes that the curse should be heeded.  While there is a great deal to learn about the pyramids, they are still graves.  Hawass believes that the public should not be allowed inside the pyramids, but does resign to the fact displaying the mummified corpses in a museum is the lesser of two evils.  On one dig, Hawass recalled the removal of two mummies, children.  He had nightmares that involved the children until such time as the father was reunited with them in the museum.  Don’t get excited, the father was another mummy put on display.

The death of Lord Carnarvon six weeks after the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb resulted in many curse stories in the press

That’s not to say that down playing the curse wasn’t still intriguing.  It was common in private tombs in the Old Kingdom to have a warning etched into their crypts.  Although, the tombs of Pharohs did not often have a curse, they were severe in their warnings.  “As for all men who shall enter this my tomb…impure..there will be judgment…an end shall be made for him..I shall seize his neck like a bird…I shall cast the fear of myself into him”  This lovely piece was written on the tomb of Khentika Ikhekhi (9-10th dynasty).

Nevertheless, whether this curse has been debunked by science or lives on in the imaginations of millions, the curse is an interesting thing.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle speculated that the deaths of those who opened King Tut’s tomb in 1922 succumbed to a deadly fungus.  In truth, there were only three recorded deaths shortly after the opening of the tomb, but Rupert Furneaux wrote in his book The World’s Strangest Mysteries that many more can be counted for as a result of opening the tomb, and even goes so far as to list them all.

But maybe, as Zahi Hawass quoted once, they are very, very real.

Cursed be those who disturb the rest of a Pharoh.  They that shall break the seal of this tomb shall meet death by a disease that no doctor can diagnose.