It was one of the greatest moments in archeology ever. On February 16, 1923, a hundred years ago today, Tutankhamun’s burial chamber was opened in the Egyptian “Valley of the Kings”. What followed was one of the most important archaeological finds of all time. What also followed was the worldwide spread of the legend of the “curse of the pharaoh”.
A grave and a death
In October 1922, the British Egyptologist Howard Carter and his helpers began looking for pharaoh tombs again after years of rather moderately successful excavations. After long discussions, the financier and owner of the excavation license, Lord Carnarvon, agreed to support what is now definitely the last excavation season.
Six months later, Carter was a world star. And Lord Carnarvon was dead.
Accidental find in the sand
In early November, Carter’s associates found a buried staircase near Ramses VI’s tomb and at the end a walled-up doorway with impressions of seals. The actual discoverer of the first step was a child named Hussein Abdel-Rassoul. He supplied the researchers with fresh drinking water and earned money from it. As he was making a hollow in the sand to safely place a jar in it, he came upon that step.
When Carnarvon arrived, the seal of King Tutankhamun was actually found, at least according to the official account of the process. Exactly whose grave Carter had hoped to find. The grave was opened in November, and then the actual burial chamber on February 16 of the following year. It contained, among other things, the iconic death mask of the pharaoh.
Just a mosquito bite
Carnarvon was bitten in the cheek by a mosquito shortly afterwards. The sting became infected. His lordship didn’t take it seriously, but was soon seriously ill with a widespread skin infection. Pneumonia followed shortly afterwards. He died on April 5th.
The legend of the “curse of the pharaoh” – that is, magic formulas or substances that protect the royal tombs and punish intruders – was not new at that time – soon took up almost as much space in the press as the finds themselves. Further deaths were soon associated with the alleged brought curse. There are various hypotheses as to whether the contents of the graves are actually harmful to health, such as special moulds.
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