The Mummy’s Curse: Reality or Fiction?

Figure 1 (Google Images)

 

Idea of mummy curses started early in history in ancient Egypt, according to Egyptologist Dominic Montserrat.  Embalmers and priests spread rumors that the disturbance of the deceased pharaoh would lead to a curse being put on the disturber.  These curses were associated with the godly status of the pharaoh, who was believed to have been a god reborn to rule over Egypt, but they were largely spread in order to prevent grave robbing and looting that was common even then.

The curses were largely forgotten and not taken seriously until Howard Carter’s team started to die shortly after the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb.  Every death associated with the team, including that of Carter’s pet canary, was scrutinized by the media, and newspapers flew off the stands over reporting of ancient mummy curses.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes novels, even entered his opinion, supporting the mummy curse hypothesis and further estimating the death dates for members of the team.  The idea of curses did not stop there.  Very recently, former Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, Zahi Hawass, fueled the notion of curses by claiming that over his career he had seen numerous archaeologists fall on hard times, be it losing property or family members mysteriously, after unearthy new and undisturbed tombs throughout Egypt.

Figure 2 (Google Images)

This curse has stayed at the forefront of popular culture due to popular media showcasing it through comics and cartoons (Figure 1), a continued and trendy movie theme (Figure 2), and even in video games (Figure 3).  All of this is a testament to our refusal to give up on this curse.  It is permanently engrained in our popular culture, and in many ways, our world culture.  So much so that when I tell people that I work with mummies, I often times get a snide remark about being cursed myself. 

But is there any truth behind the pharaoh’s curse or a greater curse in regards to mummies?  Do they actually exist?  Are there cosmic powers that enable mummies to curse those who approach them with horribly bad luck?  Is there any evidence of a mummy’s curse?

Figure 3 (Google Images)

As you can imagine, this is a topic that is personal to those of us who have studied and continue to study mummies, so several scholars looked into this matter, in part to dispel the public’s, as well as our own, fears on the matter.  Scholars have noted that some mummies will carry certain bacteria and molds that could be harmful to those who come in contact with them, but in general, these bacteria and mold spores are in extremely small concentrations that they will not be overly harmful to a healthy human being.  In fact, many of us who study mummies love that mummies carry evidence of past diseases, parasites, bacterial infections, etc. because we can study these to gain a better understanding of past societies and peoples, as well as trace the evolution of certain diseases and bacteria. 

So what about Carter’s team?  They all passed away shortly after Tut’s discovery. What happened to them?  Two died of a blood born infection, another of an infection, one from malaria,  all the result of poor sanitation in northern Egypt, one never died but his house was burned to the ground (probably because they used oil lamps), and several were murdered. One committed suicide. Carter himself is believed to have died from the stress associated with his expected bad luck, which occurred a decade later. Therefore his death is most likely the result of a self-fulfilling prophecy.  All of these deaths are, however, are results of the situations and times, not necessarily a mummy’s curse.    

Furthermore, we have no evidence of curses being associated with other mummies world wide.  In fact, in South America, mummies were brought out several times a year to join the living for celebrations, so their discovery and display today is considered by many to be a new way to celebrate them as occurred in the past.  So in general, there is no evidence of a curse.  It is just a figment of our imaginations.

To learn more about mummies, please see these posts:

  

Debunking Mummy Myths: The Mummies Rise from Death (AKA Mummies as Zombies)  

The Chinchorro Mummies: The World's Oldest (and Greatest)!  

Keepers of the Dead: Embalmers, Morticians, and Mummy Practitioners

 

References Cited

Dowdy, Sarah.  “Was there really a curse on King Tutankhamen's tomb?”  HowStuffWorks.  http://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/king-tut-tomb.htm

Handwerk, Brian.  “Curse of the Mummy”.  National Geographic.  http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/curse-of-the-mummy/

“Howard Carter and the Curse of Tut’s Mummy”. http://www.unmuseum.org/mummy.htm