Return to my Egyptology pages
Go to my home page
© Copyright 2001, Jim Loy
There is a legend that Egyptian tombs (in particular, the tomb of Tutankhamun) had a curse written, perhaps above the door, warning that whoever opened or entered the tomb would die. Here is an example, from the book Curse of the Pharaohs:
Death will slay with his wings whoever disturbs the peace of the Pharaoh.
This was supposedly on a small stone tablet discovered in Tutankhamun's tomb. Of course, Tutankhamun was never called "Pharaoh," as that expression was invented much later in Egyptian history. It would seem that this curse first appeared in a British newspaper, and not in any tomb. Lord Carnarvon, funder of Carter's dig which discovered the tomb, died within a few months of the opening of the tomb, of an infected insect bite (diagnosis blood poisoning). His death supported (or perhaps inspired) the story of a curse.