Was It a Mummy's Curse

Just over a century ago, when King Tut's tomb was discovered and opened, the world became enthralled not only with the treasures but stories of a curse.

A few early entrants to the tomb died soon after, including an earl, and the media played up the deaths. The likely cause was a fungus. Not as fun as a curse but certainly more scientific.

That a fungus may be the likely culprit is nothing new. In May of nineteen-seventy-three, ten of twelve people who opened the tomb of Casimir IV Jagiellon, a famous 15th century Polish King, died within weeks.

Scientists found a fungus called Aspergillis flavus in the tomb. Just several years later, the mummy of Ramses II was also found to harbor the same fungus.

To be fair, it's a common fungus, but it can pose a threat to weakened lungs and immune systems. Since fungal spores can persist for centuries, they may have grown on the mummies and items in the tomb. So, opening a long-sealed tomb would disturb the spores.

Lord Carnarvon died five months after opening King Tut's tomb. But he had gone to Egypt to recover from a bad car accident and suffered many lung infections.

The media reported after his death that he had pain of the nasal passages and eyes which are symptoms of aspergillus caused sinus infection. And it may have progressed to the pneumonia that killed him.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes suggested that priests planted the fungal spores to punish grave robbers. Alas, even he couldn't resist a twist on the story.

You can now hear additional episodes on many of your favorite podcast providers - visit Buzzsprout to subscribe.