This day in history: Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon become the first people to enter the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in over 3000 years on this day in 1922. This incident had received worldwide press coverage. With over 5,000 artifacts, it sparked a renewed public interest in ancient Egypt, for which Tutankhamun's mask, now in the Egyptian Museum, remains a popular symbol. He has, since the discovery of his intact tomb, been referred to colloquially as "King Tut".
It is claimed that many have died following this discovery in what many believe is the "Curse of the Pharaohs." The curse of the pharaohs or the mummy's curse is a curse alleged to be cast upon anyone who disturbs the mummy of an ancient Egyptian, especially a pharaoh. This curse, which does not differentiate between thieves and archaeologists, is claimed to cause bad luck, illness, or death.
For instance, Lord Carnarvon, who financed the excavation of King Tut's tomb was the first to succumb to the Mummy's curse. Lord Carnarvon accidentally tore open a mosquito bite while shaving and ended up dying of blood poisoning shortly thereafter.
Lord Carnarvon's half-brother Aubrey Herbert died of sepsis a few months after Carnarvon did.
A friend of Carnarvon, American Egyptologist Aaron Ember, died when his house in Baltimore burned down in 1926. Ember could have survived, but he went to fetch a manuscript he was working on: The Egyptian Book of the Dead.
Howard Carter gave his friend (Sir Bruce Ingham) a mummified hand as a gift. Ingham's house burned down, and the house was also hit with a flood when he tried to rebuild it.
American financier George Jay Gould visited the tomb and fell sick afterward. He died of a pneumonia a few months later.
British archaeologist Hugh Evelyn-White who may have helped on the dig committed suicide, but not before writing, "I have succumbed to a curse which forces me to disappear"...IN HIS OWN BLOOD.
Lord Carnarvon's secretary Richard Bethel was found smothered in his room at an elite London gentlemen's club in 1929.
Radiologist Sir Archibald D. Reid x-rayed King Tut, but fell sick almost immediately and died three days later.
A member of Howard Carter's team, Egyptologist James Henry Breasted, died after a subsequent trip to Egypt in 1935. His canary had been eaten by a cobra on the earlier trip, which was believed to be an omen.
Skeptics have pointed out that many others who visited the tomb or helped to discover it lived long and healthy lives.
See also Babylon, Sumer and Ancient Egypt - 200 Books on DVDrom and Over 250 Books on DVDrom on Mythology, Gods and Legends
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