In fact, various short stories, including one by author Louisa May Alcott, had appeared before then using the device of a mummy coming back to life. The idea that those who opened a pharaoh’s tomb were cursed did not originate with Howard Carter and the opening of King Tut’s resting place. Because of his stature in the archaeological community, Carter has often been represented in fiction, becoming a key character in the popular 'Amelia Peabody's Egypt' mystery series by Elizabeth Peters and “The Tutankhamun Affair” by Christian Jacq, as well as being portrayed by actor Pip Torrens in the “Young Indiana Jones” TV series and by John Cleese as part of a Monty Python sketch. The artifacts discovered in the tomb and various lectures that Carter delivered about his discoveries were largely responsible for America's sudden interest in Egyptology. He probably didn’t realize he’d be bringing another cultural phenomenon as well: the superstition of a curse of the pharaohs.Ĭarter, an English archaeologist who began working in Egypt when he was 17, became primarily known for his discovery of the tomb of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun in 1922.
When archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun, he may have anticipated he’d be bringing unprecedented knowledge about the Egyptian culture to the world.
