“Death shall come on swift wings to him who disturbs the peace of the king.”
- The curse engraved on the exterior of King Tutankhamen’s tomb.
After decades of searching, Howard Carter finally found the sealed doorway to Tutankhamen’s tomb that was buried in the sands of Egypt, undisturbed for 3,000 years. But a terrible curse engraved on a tablet warned that anyone who disturbed the tomb would be met with death. It is rumored that Carter hid the tablet so it wouldn’t scare his workers.
Months after the discovery, Lord Carnarvon, who funded Carter’s dig, died of mysterious circumstances. Legend says that his death coincided with a power failure in Cairo and the simultaneous death of his dog. By 1929 eleven other people connected with the discovery died of mysterious and unnatural causes. By 1935, King Tut’s curse was credited with 21 victims.
Was there really a “mummy’s curse”? It is true that the media sensationalized the deaths associated with King Tut’s discovery and ignored the many that actually survived, including Howard Carter who endured to the ripe old age of 64. But that doesn’t explain the near immediate and mysterious death of Lord Carnarvon, along with others.
While some still believe in the mummy’s curse, researchers have found another more scientific cause – ancient mold spores. Spores have a hardened outside shell which allows them to survive for a long period of time, even under harsh conditions (high or low temperature and without water). Mold spores can survive in almost any climate, even a dark dry tomb. When the tombs were first opened, fresh air gusted inside allowing spores to blow into the air and be inhaled by the archaeologists.
The likely culprit was Aspergillus niger or possibly Aspergillus flavus. These toxic fungi can cause rashes, fever, and fatigue. They usually do not result in death, but it could’ve been possible if they were exposed for a long time and received no medical care. It’s likely that Lord Carnarvon’s immune system was weak since he was 57 years old.
Since then, toxic mold exposure in archaeology has not been limited to King Tut. In the 1970s, 10 out of the 12 researchers died from toxic mold after entering a Polish royal tomb. Museum employees have been known to get sick just from exposure to ancient artifacts which contain mold spores.
Today, archaeologists wear masks, gloves, and respirators to protect themselves from similar “curses” when handling ancient burial ruins just like mold remediators do when removing mold from homes and buildings. King Tut’s curse is just another story that shows how often we underestimate the dangers mold presents to our health.
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