Legend of 'curse of mummy'

Movies about mummies often have two outstanding features, which are unbelievably large and evil curse that makes all treasure hunters tragic. But Hollywood did not invent the concept of 'mummy curse'.

The 'mummy's curse' was first received worldwide after the discovery of the tomb of King Tutankhamun in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor, Egypt.

When Howar Carter opened a small cave that revealed the tomb inside the buried treasure for 3000 years, he also sparked a global passion for ancient Egypt.

King Tut's huge headlines about sparkling treasures appeared along with the titles of the then shocking death of Lord Carnarvon - the sponsor of the expedition.

In fact, Carnarvon died of blood poisoning and only 6 out of 26 people who entered the tomb died within a decade. Carter, certainly not the goal of the curse , lived until 1939.

While Pharaoh's curse may be lacking, it does not lose its ability to attract people, especially for its first appearance.

Birth curse

Egyptian researcher Dominic Montserrat conducted a comprehensive survey and concluded that the concept started with a strange striptease in London in the 19th century.

Interview with Independent (UK) a few years before his death, Montserrat said: 'My research shows quite clearly, that the concept of the curse of mummies occurred before Carnarvon discovered the tomb. King Tutankhamen's grave is like his death for about 100 years'.

King Tutankhamun's mummy spread the concept of the pharaoh's curse.But the origin of the newly discovered legend is rooted in a play in London, 100 years from the time of the young king's tomb excavated in 1922.(Photo: Kenneth Garrett).

Montserrat believes that a live performance on stage in which dismantled Egyptian mummies inspire a writer first, then several others to write revenge stories of mummy.

The theme was also included in 'Little Women' by Louisa May Alcott in her little-known book entitled 'Lost in a Pyramid; or, The Mummy's Curse '.

Montserrat emphasized: 'My research not only confirms that there was no ancient Egyptian origin of the mummy's curse, but more importantly it also revealed that the legend does not stem from the 1923 article about the discovery of King Tutankhamen's tomb '.

But Salima Ikram - an American university researcher in Cairo, who is also a grantee of the National Geographic Society - believes that the concept of the curse has existed since the time of ancient Egypt as a a component of the ancient security system.

She said that some of the tombs (tombs without an early pyramid) at Giza and Saqqara were actually engraved with a curse that terrified the intruders or thieves of the royal resting place. .

Ikram said: 'They often threaten those who desecrate sacred places with divine punishment. Or is the tragic death caused by crocodiles, lions, scorpions and snakes'.

The threat from the poison in the tomb?

In recent years, some argue that the curse of Pharaoh has a natural biological basis.

Whether the stolen tombs contain dangerous pathogens or even cause death for those who open coffins buried for thousands of years, especially for those with poor immune systems such as Lord Carnarvon. is not?

The tomb contains not only dead bodies of humans and animals but also food for the dead after reaching the afterlife.

The coffin of King Tutankhamun. The so-called "mummy's curse" spread widely among the population around 1922 after the man sponsored Egypt's tomb-making expedition to Tutankhamun six weeks after the tunnel. The grave is opened.(Photo: Kenneth Garrett).

Laboratory studies have demonstrated that some ancient mummies carry mold on their bodies, including Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus flavus . They can cause congestion or bleeding in the lungs. Lung attack bacteria such as Pseudomonas or Staphylococcus also develop on the tomb wall.

The above factors can make the tomb dangerous, but scientists do not agree with that view.

F. DeWolfe Miller - professor of epidemiology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa - agrees with Howard Carter's original view that: Based on local conditions, Lord Carnarvon is probably inside King Tut's tomb. It is safer than outside.

Miller said: 'Egypt around the 1920s could not be considered hygienic. The idea that tombs in the ground after 3000 years of silence carry some strange forms of microorganisms that can kill someone in just 6 weeks, causing blood poisoning to become the exact cause is hard to believe. ' .

In fact, he did not know of any archaeologist, or a tourist who was in trouble due to the tomb toxin.

But like mummies executing a verdict of revenge on the film, the legend of the curse of the mummy seems to exist forever.