Previously, on 26 November 1922, Carter and fellow archaeologist
Lord Carnarvon had entered the tomb, finding it miraculously
intact. Lord Carnarvon, the English Earl who funded the
Tutankhamun expedition, died less than six months after the
opening of the tomb. And so began the legend of the Curse of
King Tut. As news of Lord Carnarvon’s death was reported around
the world, stories of the curse began to surface almost
immediately. It was reported that the tomb had contained an
ancient Egyptian curse: “They who enter this sacred tomb shall
swift be visited by the wings of death.” Despite the fact that
no such hieroglyphic text existed, the public seemed fascinated
by such misinformation — they preferred the dramatic story of
the curse reported in the newspapers, rather than listening to
experts and scholars. At this point in time it was not easy for
the media to receive direct information regarding what the
excavators were doing in the tomb, as access was restricted to
only a select few. Journalists therefore