The Curse of King Tut Told by Rumplestiltskin
Oh, King Tut. The boy king who just couldn’t stay dead without making a little drama. Let’s dive into this one. Born around 1341 BCE, Tutankhamun was a teenager when he became the ruler of Egypt, and let’s be real, he didn’t have much of a reign. In fact, historians aren’t entirely sure what he actually did—other than dying young and making a posthumous splash. But that’s not the interesting part, is it? No, no—it's the curse that allegedly followed him to his grave, and beyond. Let’s get into that, because who doesn’t love a good haunted tomb tale?
So, King Tut’s tomb was discovered in 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter, and naturally, the world lost its mind. I mean, we're talking about a tomb that had been untouched for over 3,000 years. Do you know what that smells like? Oh, just the finest untouched, ancient wealth. So Carter and his team open it up, and boom—the curse starts to take center stage. The whole “King Tut’s curse” legend kicked off when a series of mysterious deaths followed the opening of the tomb.
Let’s break this down: George Herbert, the Earl of Carnarvon who funded the expedition? Dead within a year after the tomb’s discovery. Poisoned by a mosquito bite, allegedly. How convenient. This was followed by a bizarre string of other deaths: people who were involved in the excavation just started dropping like flies. The press went wild with it. “Tut’s curse!” they screamed. "You defied the gods and now, they will have their vengeance!" So now, the legend’s off and running. Suddenly, everyone’s convinced that the dead pharaoh’s spirit is out there cursing anyone who dares disturb his eternal slumber. Spooky, right?
But—surprise, surprise—let’s dig a little deeper. See, the curse didn’t quite work out the way people expected. Some of the folks who uncovered King Tut’s tomb actually lived long lives. The whole “curse” idea seems a bit too convenient to me, considering the widespread belief in ancient Egypt about burial rites and protection from the afterlife. It’s almost like people forgot the whole concept of modern medicine—but hey, ancient Egypt, modern world, same old myths, right? The deaths connected to the tomb didn’t happen all at once; in fact, most of them could be explained away by normal, everyday causes like disease or bad health.
So, maybe it was just bad luck, or perhaps the real curse was a media-created monster—a way for people to sensationalize the discovery of something that had no real explanation. Oh, and let’s not forget, the tomb was full of gold. Maybe it was the treasure that cursed everyone—no one wanted to just admit they were in it for the riches, so instead, they blamed an ancient pharaoh’s wrath. Classic.
Now, let’s talk about King Tut himself. He had a lot going on in that short life of his. He ascended the throne at around 9 years old (how’d you like that for a career trajectory?), and by the time he kicked the bucket at about 18, he’d already been married to his half-sister, had a bunch of health problems, and probably didn’t even know how to truly rule an empire. Great job, kid. A lot of scholars believe he might have suffered from genetic disorders, thanks to the fact that his royal family was, let’s say, unusually close (and I mean really close), and that led to some physical ailments that may have cut his life short. But hey, why bother with all that science when you can just blame a supernatural curse, right?
So, here's the kicker. The "curse" of King Tut was really just one big cultural moment, full of superstition, drama, and a whole lot of press manipulation. People latched onto it because, let’s face it, a tomb filled with treasure, the potential for dark magic, and a handsome dead king? That's the perfect story. But the fact remains: King Tut didn’t really do much of anything in life, and his “curse” didn’t exactly follow the normal rules of cause and effect. It’s more likely a series of unfortunate, yet conveniently timed events that turned into a legend of mysterious deaths. Or maybe someone just didn’t like the idea of a teenager becoming the ruler of an ancient empire and decided to make the whole thing a bit spookier.
➡ The Takeaway
The "curse" of King Tut is a prime example of how human beings love to spin a good tale. Sometimes, it’s not enough to just discover the tomb of a boy king—you have to add a little extra mystery to spice things up. The truth? King Tut’s death probably wasn’t that dramatic, and the so-called curse? Well, it’s likely just a myth made of bad luck, poor health, and a media frenzy. But hey, if you’re ever in Egypt and you see a weird old tomb, maybe give it a wide berth. You know, just in case.