100 years after its discovery, the tomb of King Tutankhamun is still very famous. Besides, it is also a mystery that captures the public’s imagination: nine people have died after reaching the king’s tomb, making people think of the ‘curse of the mummy’.
Statue of King Tutankhamun – Photo: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CREATIVE
9 deaths in a decade
According to Newsweek, on November 4, 1922, in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, British Egyptologist Howard Carter came across a ruined ladder, half hidden beneath fragments from the mausoleum. tomb of Ramesses IV. Digging deeper, he discovered more steps leading to a sealed stone door.
Mr. Carter called on his sponsor, Lord Carnarvon, and together they discovered one of the most impressive treasures in the history of Egyptology.
The tomb contains more than 5,000 artifacts: gold, jewelry, offerings and ornate statues.
Five months after the excavation, Lord Carnarvon died, believed to be from pneumonia and blood poisoning from infected mosquito bites.
A month later, George Jay Gould, the wealthy American financier who visited the mausoleum, also died of the same illness.
In 1924, British archaeologist Hugh Evelyn-White hanged himself and left an inscription: “I have succumbed to the curse of the mummy”.
Later that year, the doctor who X-rayed the mummy before it was handed over to museum authorities, died of an unspecified illness…
Within a decade, at least nine people involved in the excavation had died. Many believe that this is evidence for the rumor of the “curse of the mummy”.
Is there another explanation?
In the 1970s, the 500-year-old tomb of the Polish king, Casimir IV Jagiellon, was opened for the first time at the Wawel church in Krakow. Within a few days of the excavation, 4 of the 12 researchers died and several others died in the months that followed.
Despite rumors of an ancient curse, scientists were quick to find an explanation.
Samples taken from the dead king’s body showed that he was infected with spores of the fungus Aspergillus flavus.
“Most people breathe in Aspergillus spores every day without getting sick. However, for people with weakened immune systems, breathing in Aspergillus spores can cause lung or sinus infections and can be contagious. spread to other parts of the body,” Tom Chiller, director of the CDC’s Mycotic Diseases branch, told Newsweek.
According to him, there are different types of Aspergillus. Some are mild, but some are very dangerous and can be deadly.
Chiller said Aspergillus produces a toxin called flavitoxin on preserved grains. This toxin can be harmful or fatal to humans and animals and is a major source of crop damage.
The treasures in Tutankhamun’s tomb contained bags of bread and coarse grain, which may have supported the growth of this fungus.
But, if Aspergillus was indeed responsible for the mummy’s curse, it would have to lie “wait” inside the king’s tomb for a very long time.
For most disease-causing organisms, killing their host is not beneficial because it prevents their transmission. However, if an organism can survive for a long time outside of their host, the organism can evolve to be more lethal. This theory is called the waiting hypothesis.
In 2017, Michael Wise, a computer scientist from the University of Western Australia, and his team found genetic evidence that bacteria using this tactic tend to be more persistent and more virulent than other species, this provides support for the above theory.
To survive this long wait, bacteria must enter a vegetative state that persists until they come into contact with a host again. As for Aspergillus, it will be in the form of a spore.
Aspergillus fungi are known to live on corpses and decaying matter and have been discovered on other ancient Egyptian mummies.
Therefore, while there is no definite conclusion, Aspergillus infection could be science’s answer to the “Tutankhamun curse”.
