'Curse of mummy' a myth
2002-12-20 14:07
London - King Tutankhamen's infamous "curse of the mummy's tomb", supposed to have killed off many of those involved in the opening of the pharaoh's tomb 80 years ago was a myth, Australian researchers say.
The British Medical Journal published a study on Friday which found that, contrary to the legend that sprung up around Tutankhamen's mummy, most of those present at its opening of his tomb in 1922 lived to a ripe old age.
"(The myth) was almost certainly generated by rival newspapers that were shut out of the find of the century when exclusive rights were given to The Times of London," the study's author, Mark Nelson of Monash University in Melbourne, said.
According to archaeologist Howard Carter - who led the team that discovered the burial chamber - 25 Westerners were present when the tomb was opened. They found the pharaoh's mummy, complete with splendid gold burial mask and a treasure trove of golden artefacts.
The find made headlines around the world and sparked a craze for all things Egyptian. But when Carter's sponsor Lord Carnarvon died just weeks after the opening of the chamber, the legend of the curse was born.
Newspapers at the time reported that the tomb was engraved with a curse promising that "death shall come on swift wings to him who disturbs the peace of the king" although there is no record of such an inscription being found.
The curse was blamed for a series of deaths - many with only the most tenuous links to the tomb - including that of Carter's pet canary which was reportedly swallowed by a cobra on the day of the opening.
Even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, said he believed an ancient curse was at work.
Nelson established dates of death for all of those exposed and found the average age at death was a respectable 70 years. Carter himself lived well into his 60s before dying of natural causes.
"I found there was no evidence that being present at the opening of the tomb, sarcophagus, coffin or the unwrapping of the mummy shortened a person's life," Nelson said.