The Curse of Tutankhamun
When Lord Carnarvon died months after Tutankhamun's tomb was opened, the press announced a pharaoh's curse.
What was reported
In November 1922 Howard Carter, funded by Lord Carnarvon, found the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings, almost intact. In April 1923 Carnarvon died in Cairo, from an infection that began with a mosquito bite he had nicked while shaving.
Newspapers seized on the idea of a curse on anyone who disturbed the tomb, helped by stories that the lights of Cairo went out at the moment he died. Other deaths among people linked to the tomb were soon added to the tally.
Explanations offered
A 2002 study compared people present at the tomb's opening with others and found no difference in how long they lived. Carter himself lived until 1939. No curse was inscribed in the tomb; the story was largely a newspaper creation, fuelled by rival papers shut out of Carnarvon's exclusive deal with The Times.
- When
- From 1923
- Where
- Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt
- Witnesses
- Newspapers, archaeologists and the public
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.