King Tutankhamen, Lord Carnarvon And The Pharaoh’s Curse
October 23, 2007
Lord Carnarvon silently descends the 16 steps from the desert to the entrance of Tutankhamen’s tomb, to face the curse that has haunted his family for a century.
He is retracing the footsteps of his great grandfather Lord George Herbert Carnarvon, who in 1922 discovered the 3000-year-old tomb. Within 6 months of the discovery the Lord was dead. Many believed he was the victim of the Pharaoh’s curse which struck him down for disturbing the boy King’s resting place.
Now 85 years later, the current Lord Carnarvon, has become the first member of his family to step inside the tomb. Followed by cameras for a Channel 5 documentary Tutankhamen-The Secrets Of The Boy King, Carnarvon, 51, whispers, “Some people would think I am mad for even thinking about coming here.” But Carnarvon became more famous for his death than his life. Five months after entering the tomb, he died a painful death in Cairo. Doctors said that he had suffered blood poisoning after accidentally shaving a mosquito bite infected with the bacterial infection, erysipelas.
Those who believed in the curse pointed to the evidence that they felt there proved a more sinister explanation for his untimely death at 52. They told how at 1:55 am on 5th April 1923, as Lord Carnarvon lay dying, the lights across Cairo inexplicably faltered and went out. Others mentioned reports from the staff at his estate in Hampshire that at the same time his dog Susie kneeled over, and let out a great howl. A decade after his death, at least a dozen others who had been inside the tomb had perished.
It is said that the boy King Tutankhamen ruled Egypt for just nine years in the second century BC. It was believed that he was murdered by a blow to the head when he was just 19-years-old. He was laid to rest in a vast tomb. The legend of the curse states that any man who disturbs the mummy of a Pharaoh will die for his actions.
Source: Daily Mirror, Cairo.
Random Posts
Comments
Got something to say?
