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Kori Baskin
Mrs. Johnson
BMA 1 ( A-period)
3 February 2016
Pharaoh's Curse
The legends of the Pharaoh's Curse is well know to those who study archaeological. In
fact this curse is so well known that it relates to one of the biggest Egyptian tomb discoveries
ever. Specifically this curse states any one who disturbs a tomb of a pharaoh will have
misfortunes for as long as they live. These misfortunes can include illness and even death. King
Tutankhamen, commonly known as King Tut, was an Egyptian Pharaoh in around 1332 B.C. This
would also be the eighteenth Dynasty or the " New Kingdom". King Tut became king when he
was about eight or nine. He was believed to gain the throne after his father; Akhenaten
( Amenhotep IV) and mysterious mother, who is believed to be Queen Nefertiti. However, King
Tut's reign did not last long. He reigned about a decade compared to kings and queens such as
Queen Hatshepsut who reigned an estimated fifty-years or his parents who reigned over twenty
years.
Until about over three thousand years earlier, King Tut was not as familiar as he is today.
In fact during this time King Tut would become one of the most well- known pharaohs in history.
In 1907 a man named Howard Carter was offered a job by a man named Lord Carnarvon to help
discover a unknown Pharaoh named Tutankhamen. In this year it would began the journey to

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new discoveries, and these new encounters would determine these men's fate. Since Carter would
have been an archaeologist by the age 17 in 1891 he would have much experience going into this
new adventure. Now the two would head to Egypt to start their expedition.
In the November of 1922 the crew would finally find the stairway to King Tut's tomb.
After having a cold trail from the months prior Lord Carnarvon was ready to end the expedition
after spending $250,000.00. Carter continued his search keeping notes in his journal by the day.
Knowing that the King's hieroglyphs where in other locations gave proof he existed. Now that
their troubles seemed to be going away the tomb was discovered November 26, 1922. After
moving 70,000 tons of rocks, weighing, and packaging all artifacts the crew finally finished
discovering the tomb. Inside the tomb was two life size statues of the King, chests, a jeweled
encrusted chair, and golden jars. The crew would go into the next February emptying out the
tomb. Some of the sacred animals removed were thought to be guardians of live and death by
the Egyptians. Would this expedition lead to one of the many tail of Egyptian curses or would
they prosper from their discoveries?
In the year 1922 the alleged curse began to effect those who opened the tomb. To begin
Carter brought a pet canary to the expedition to join him on the journey. The same night the tomb
of Tutankhamen was opened the bird was eaten by a snake that was believed to be guarding the
tomb. This innocent brought many questions and concerns. Was this a coincidence or was this
the curse of the Pharaoh's come to life. The trails of misfortunes continued, a the was opened
February 16, 1923. The financer and sponsor Lord Carnarvon, died that same April. He passed
away April 5, 1923. He died four months and seven day after the tomb was opened. His death
was caused by a simple mosquito bite that led to an infection. Could a simple innocent mosquito

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bite cause this man's death or would his fate be different if he did not enter the tomb.This began
to disturb and scare other worker who enter and help dig out the tomb. This second death caused
works to quit and even left carter without an interested volunteers in all of Cairo. Two innocent
about the same tomb this brought even more suspicions about the curse. In addition 11 other
worker died who entered the tomb. This included a heart Finally, this proclaim curse ended with
the illness that over came Carter himself. This illness left him very sick and even caused his
death. There were no reported deaths of diggers and other workers only of the ones who disturbs
the King's slumber.
In conclusion, the curse of the Pharaoh have been connected to man stories that involve
the important figures of Egypt. This curse may have effected the discovers of King
Tutankhamen, there are not any specific hieroglyphs that support the cases that were shown in
this historical discovery. Now King Tut rest in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.The lives of Carter
and Lord Carnarvon will not be forgotten as they are remembered for one of the highest quality
and unknown tomb discoveries ever. Even though King Tutankhamen life was short his name
now lives forever as one of the greatest and interesting person in Egyptian royalty.

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Work Cited Page

" : Curse of the Pharaohs." : Curse of the Pharaohs. Mohamed


Ahmed, 12 Oct. 2011. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.
<http://wwwmaseronecom.blogspot.com/2011/10/curse-of-pharaohs.html>.
"King Tut The Boy Pharaoh." King Tut. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.
<http://www.kingtutone.com/tutankhamun/>.

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Times/ Latson, Jennifer. "The Origins of the 'Pharaoh's Curse' Legend." Time. Time, 26
Nov. 2014. Web. 01 Feb. 2016. <http://time.com/3594676/king-tut/>.
"Howard Carter." HISTORY. 2013. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.
<http://history.co.uk/biographies/howard-carter>.
The Curse of the Pharaohs. Hulu. 13 Jan. 2015. Pharaoh's Curse Movie. Web. 1 Feb.
2016. <http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=pharaoh's curse
movie&&view=detail&mid=1E0F5E6A49A8DE0F90F31E0F5E6A49A8DE0F90F3
"Investigating History." Investigating History- The Pharaoh's Curse. History Channel. 30
Apr. 2015. Television.
Campbell, Dallas. "Watch Tutankhamun The Truth Uncovered - National Geographic Discovery Channel - History Channel." Watch Tutankhamun The Truth Uncovered. National
Geographic - Discovery Channel - History Channel. 16 Apr. 2015. Television.

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