Newly found letter reveals joy at ‘Tutankhamun curse’ creator’s death

The letter was penned by Howard Carter, who discovered Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922
A scathing letter penned by renowned archaeologist Howard Carter, in which he celebrated the death of the man he believed invented the “Tutankhamun Curse”, has come to light 92 years after it was written.

Mr Carter was credited with discovering Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922.

He unequivocally dismissed the curse as having “no basis” and being “a menace to archaeology”.

He further described the passing of Egyptologist and journalist Arthur Weigall, whose sensational theory gained traction following the unexpected death of Mr Carter’s financial backer, Lord Carnarvon, as a “real blessing”.

Mr Weigall had reportedly observed Lord Carnarvon entering the tomb in a jovial mood, remarking to a fellow reporter: “If he goes down in that spirit, I give him six weeks to live.”
Weeks later, Mr Carnarvon succumbed to a mosquito bite, an event Mr Weigall seized upon to propagate his theory that anyone disturbing a Pharaoh's mummy would face bad luck, illness, or death.

In a letter dated January 1934, addressed to Helen Lonides, Mr Carter expressed his true feelings about Mr Weigall: “The death of the Duchess of Alba was very sad – the more so, poor woman, she had been for years gradually fading away.

T.

B.

is an awful disease.

“I fear I must admit that I have not the same sentiments with regard to Weigall.

In fact, his death is a real blessing.

For although he was a clever writer, he was cunning.

“His inventions had no basis and thus a menace to Archaeology.

Those of them for temporary excitement and amusement at the expense of others.

“The ‘Tutankhamun Curse’ was his invention.

“He was never at the opening of the discovery.

He was the last of the correspondents to arrive, several minutes afterwards.

“But enough of this venom I must direct to a more pleasant subject.”
The three-page handwritten letter, bearing a Curna, Luxor, Egypt letterhead, recently surfaced when it was put up for auction.

It surpassed its estimated value, selling for £12,530 ($16,643) at RR Auction in Boston.

An RR Auction spokesperson provided further context on the intense media rivalry surrounding the discovery.

"Lord Carnarvon, the financial backer for the search for and excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings, had granted The Times exclusive access in exchange for £5000 plus 75 per cent of profits generated from the King Tut story," they said.

"Although this helped to finance the work, it created resentment both from other newspaper reporters—most notably Weigall, an Egyptologist covering the story for the Daily Mail —and from the Egyptian authorities, whose own press was also excluded.

"Weigall reportedly witnessed Lord Carnarvon joking as he prepared to enter the tomb, turned to a fellow reporter, and said: 'If he goes down in that spirit, I give him six weeks to live.'
"Carnarvon died after being bitten by a mosquito within the allotted time, and the 'curse of the pharaohs' was born."
Mr Carter himself passed away in 1939.

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