I love all things Ancient Egypt, and in my several decades of life, I have been able to view King Tut exhibits twice in Los Angeles, as well as visit the pyramids in Egypt (which are not “along the Nile,” as a famous song once intoned).
It was thus fascinating for me today, on the anniversary of Howard Carter’s uncovering the tomb of Tutankhamun in1922, to read again of the Curse of the Pharaohs. The curse was supposedly unleashed by the opening of Tut’s tomb.
According to legend, the most prominent victim of the curse was Lord Carnarvon, who financed the Carter expedition to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. Lord Carnarvon (whose house is featured in the TV series “Downton Abbey”) died just four months after the Tut discovery from an infection borne from shaving. He had two half-brothers who also suffered bizarre deaths.
Prince Ali Kamel Fahmy Bey of Egypt was fatally shot by his wife not long after having his picture taken at the Pharaoh’s tomb. American railroad magnate George Jay Gould died suddenly of a fever after visiting the tomb. He was vacationing on the French Riviera at the time of his demise.
In all, only eight of the original crew excavating Tut’s tomb died mysteriously, enough so, however, to lend credence to the Curse of the Pharaohs, myth or not.
Careful if you visit Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. The curse awaits! (Take me seriously at your own peril.)
[PICTURED: King Tut’s tomb after its opening in 1922]
