There were many exciting archaeological discoveries in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but none have excited the public imagination as much as the discovery of Pharoah Tutankhamon's tomb. Five members of the team led by British archaeologist Lesley Carter died within one year of the discovery, fuelling the theory that the young Egyptian king had laid a curse upon those who defiled his tomb.
Though he came to power at a time (1342 B.C) when Egypt was a powerful military state, Tutankhamon was not an important ruler in ancient Egypt. He was the son-in-law of King Amenophis IV (better known by his assumed name of Akhnaton), who carried out sweeping reforms in Egyptian religion and arts.
He changed his name, and ordered the monotheistic worship of the sun disc, Aton, banning the traditional polytheism. Akhenaton moved the capital from Thebes to a place near the modern Tel-el-Amarna, causing a revolution in the arts. The famous bust of his queen Nefretete shows a degree of female emancipation hitherto unknown in Egyptian art.
But Tutankhamon could not continue his father-in-law's heritage. His actual name was Tutankhaten. But powerful followers of the old religion of Amon forced him to abandon Akhnaton's reforms, and also made him change his name to Tutankhamon. The young king was either too weak or too immature to resist the old guard. The capital was returned to Thebes by the general Karemhab, who actually controlled the country and assumed power after the death of Tutankhamon.
Despite his lack of real power, Tutankhamon received the full honours reserved for an Egyptian monarch after death. His mummified body was enclosed within a magnificent golden sculpture, and his tomb was filled with magnificent treasures made of precious metals, wood and ivory - for the king's use in his after-life. The consensus today is that Tutankhamon received undeserved fame because of his tomb.
This tomb in the Valley of Kings remained miraculously undiscovered by tomb robbers for over three thousand years. It was discovered only in 1923 by Carter's team, when almost all the other important monuments and tombs in Egypt had been discovered. Archaeological teams working in the Valley of Kings had missed it earlier because workmen had pitched their tents on the exact spot, covered by sand.
In England, the wealthy Lord Carnavon became convinced that Tutankhamon's tomb remained to be discovered. He hired Lesley Carter to find it. It turned out that he had chosen the right man for the job. On January 17 1923, after a painstaking search, Carter realized every Egyptologist's dream - to find a tomb untouched by robbers.
It seemed the most exciting discovery of the century. But Lord Carnavon died at the hour of his triumph. He'd been visiting the Valley on a daily basis since Carter's discovery. In mid-Mars, he was bitten by a mosquito and the spot became infected. He was taken to Cairo for medical treatment. But Lord Carnavon became critically ill with a respiratory infection towards the end of Mars. On April 5 1923, at five minutes to two, he was dead.
Two other events which seemed related to his death took place at that precise moment. All the lights in Cairo were mysteriously extinguished. In England, also exactly at 1.55, Lord Carnavon's dog began howling. No one could stop him, and the howling stopped only after the dog had died.
These events were noted by a French historian called Christianne Desroches-Noblecourt, who believed that they were inter-related. She postulated that there was a mysterious power behind Lord Carnavon's death and the two events which took place in places so far apart at that precise moment. It couldn't have been, she maintained, pure co-incidence.
That was more than enough to launch the legend of Tutankhamon's curse. There were already all kinds of myths and fabulous stories associated with ancient Egypt, the kings' tombs and their mummies. The Egyptians workers who worked under Carter now added one of their own.
They recalled how Carter's pet canary was eaten by a cobra - and the cobra was a royal symbol of the Pharaos, found at the head of all ancient sculptures of Egyptian kings. This was Tutankhamon's revenge, for Carter and his team had trespassed into territory protected by long-disappeared gods and spirits.
The story about the canary reached Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes and a believer in the occult. He made a public statement that there was a connection between Lord Carnavon's death and Tutankhamon's curse. Following this, a newspaper spoke of a curse by an ancient goddess: "Those who enter this sacred sepulchure shall be touched by the wings of death." Even though nobody bothered to verify this at the time, no one has yet found such a statement written anywhere within Tutankhamon's tomb.
One occultist wrote that Carter had discovered the formula of a curse written engraved on a stone, and that he had hidden it before anybody else could see it. This was false, but nobody could verify anything in the prevailing atmosphere.
One journalist spiced up what was a sober archeological inscription which was found on a precious object within Tutankhamon's tomb. The inscription, attributed to Anubis, the god who protected the necropolis, said: "It is I who shall keep the sand from invading the sacred chamber. I keep watch over the dead." The journalist added to this: "And I shall slay all those who dare penetrate the tomb of the divine king, who lives eternally."
Five members of Carter's team were dead by 1924, leading to hysteria. In England, hundreds of people who possessed Egyptian artifacts now dispatched them hurriedly to the British Museum. In the United States, a number of politicians demanded that a special investigation should be carried out on Egyptian mummies in U.S. museums, to see if they posed any danger medically.
Today, with the benefit of hindsight, all this seems silly. After all, several members of Carter's team lived to a ripe old age. Lacau and Sir Alan Gardiner lived till 1963. The latter was 74 when he died. Douglas Kerry, the man who removed the bandages that covered Tutankhamon's mummy, died peacefully at 86. In fact, those "struck by the curse" were a minority. The majority lived long lives.
The sober-minded always believed that a viral infection may have caused the five deaths. This led to a number of theories. One theory has it that a pulmonary disease called histoplasmosis was responsible. Its symptoms are similar to those suffered by Lord Carnavon.
This illness is caused by the inhalation of a mushroom called histoplasma capsulatum, found in caves where bats live. Unfortunately for this theory, though, Tutankhamon's tomb remained sealed for 3000 years, and no bats ever lived in it.
It is more likely that another, more recently discovered, fungus may have been responsible. In 1973, the tomb of the Polish king Kasimir (who died six centuries ago) was opened. A team of 14 researchers carried out this task. No less than 12 of them died soon after.
One of the survivors was able to identify the cause of these deaths - a mushroom called aspergillus flavus, found on the Polish king's femur. It was found to be the most virulent of the mushrooms found on the corpse, and scientists were able to bring it back to life with a thermic shock. The research was able to prove beyond any doubt that this mushroom was the 'curse' that killed 12 people.
Under normal conditions, this organism is often not harmful to humans. But inside a tomb, its toxicity can become more concentrated. It leaves anyone with a phthisical condition with no chance. Following this line of reasoning, it was possible to establish that the same mushroom was present in Tutankhamon's tomb and was responsible for the five deaths.
In 1923, Lord Carnavon already suffered from bad lungs as a result of a car accident. George Benedicte, George Gould and Lafleur (three members of the Carter team) died of pulmonary congestion, just like the Polish scientists. Arthur Mace, the fifth member to die, died in 1925 after repeated treatments to a lung condition. The curse of Tutankhamen had a scientific basis after all.
Gamini Akmeemana
