1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,960 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: I'm editor Kandiskison, joined day by staff writer Joshua M. Clark. 4 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:21,639 Speaker 1: Josh How are you? I'm good? How are you? I 5 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:24,279 Speaker 1: am hot? It is a scorching day here in Atlanta. 6 00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:26,600 Speaker 1: It is really hot here, but not quite as hot 7 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:29,560 Speaker 1: as ancient Egypt. No, no, it's not. And that's funny 8 00:00:29,560 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: that you bring that up, because they just happen to 9 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:34,280 Speaker 1: have a question for you today about each of Egypt. Well, 10 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:37,000 Speaker 1: I'm a treasure trove of knowledge trying, Okay, I will 11 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:41,800 Speaker 1: so um my questions about King Tut and his tomb specifically. Okay, So, 12 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 1: back in the British had pretty much plundered all of 13 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:49,400 Speaker 1: the Valley of the Kings, which is where the um 14 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: the kings of Faronic Egypt were all buried, right, and 15 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: egypt Amania is what they called it. It was sweeping 16 00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 1: the world. People were fascinated by ancient Egypt. And after 17 00:00:58,600 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: the Rosetta Stone was desighed for it and people could 18 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:03,959 Speaker 1: actually read hieroglyphics and make sense of the past, it 19 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: was just taking every like crazy. It was a whole 20 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:08,959 Speaker 1: New World. And actually there's an argument that um, this 21 00:01:09,160 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 1: this basically this plunder of these Egyptian tombs really kind 22 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:15,920 Speaker 1: of opened up this part of the world to the West, 23 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: which had never really been too aware of it. The 24 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: thing is with this one tomb, in in particular King 25 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: Tut's tomb. When they when they finally made it, made 26 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: their way into the burial chamber, they found it was 27 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:32,560 Speaker 1: intact and when they went in, they they walked underneath 28 00:01:32,600 --> 00:01:36,040 Speaker 1: an inscription. It was actually kind of um, kind of scary, 29 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:38,600 Speaker 1: but it said something like death will come on swift 30 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,000 Speaker 1: pinions to those who disturbed the rest of the pharaoh 31 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:44,399 Speaker 1: well being. Of British sensibility, these people kind of ignored it, 32 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:47,320 Speaker 1: and they went in and they got the king's mummy 33 00:01:47,400 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: out and uh, people started dying. It looked like there 34 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: was a curse on the tomb. And actually that was 35 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: international news. So my question to you is is that 36 00:01:57,240 --> 00:01:59,919 Speaker 1: fact or fiction. I'm gonna have to get with fiction 37 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 1: on this one. The mummy's curse was a big deal 38 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: back then, and people still joke about it a little 39 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: bit today. But even Howard Carter, who was the expedition's 40 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,240 Speaker 1: leading archaeologist, he called it bowl hockey, and quite frankly, 41 00:02:13,280 --> 00:02:15,520 Speaker 1: he was a little ticked off that all of the 42 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:19,840 Speaker 1: superstition was stealing thunder away from the great archaeological find. 43 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: And the project's main financial backer, Lord Carnarvon, died and 44 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:29,079 Speaker 1: actually his dog did too, his little dog too. And 45 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: again people tangentially connected to the expedition started dropping. People 46 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,639 Speaker 1: who were actually there when the tomb was open started dropping, 47 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 1: And so the press got ahold of the story and 48 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,920 Speaker 1: blew it up. But I'm going to counter that because 49 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:45,119 Speaker 1: there's actually some pretty scientific evidence the points to why 50 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:47,959 Speaker 1: they could have died. In the first case, the main 51 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,560 Speaker 1: financial backer here, he actually died from blood poisoning from 52 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:57,560 Speaker 1: mosquito bite. Yeah, and his little dog too. Yeah. And 53 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: there were some agents from the two that were released 54 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: when it was opened. And these are things that were 55 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 1: used to help mommify the body and keep it intact. 56 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: And you have been closed for several million years, but 57 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 1: now quite things like formaldehyde and ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, 58 00:03:15,880 --> 00:03:19,359 Speaker 1: and these are agents that can attack your respiratory system. 59 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: So that got into people's lungs and killed them too. 60 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: And let's not forget that ancient Egypt and ancient Cairo 61 00:03:25,960 --> 00:03:29,600 Speaker 1: in particular, was a pretty dirty place, and so a 62 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:31,359 Speaker 1: lot of the things that these people picked up that 63 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 1: caused them die were quite frankly airborne viruses that they caught. 64 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 1: And in addition to that, the ancient Egyptians left food 65 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 1: offerings for the Pharaoh, and so things like moldy food 66 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,839 Speaker 1: and bird and bat drop things would have promoted fun 67 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: guy that could have affected these people too. I imagine 68 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 1: the food would have turned after a few years. Yeah, 69 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: not exactly the best defay. So if you want to 70 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:56,720 Speaker 1: learn more about all of the different factors that attributed 71 00:03:56,760 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 1: to the cursed, read was there really a curse? On? 72 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: King Tut's too? On how stuff works dot com. For 73 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: moral this and thousands of other topics, is at how 74 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Let us know what you think, 75 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:18,520 Speaker 1: send an email to podcast at how stuff works dot com.