’Deaths linked to Curse of Tutankhamun were orchestrated by a man’

By Kim Do-yeun

A historian has claimed that at least six of the more than 20 deaths previously believed to be linked with the “Curse of Tutankhamun” in the 1920s and 30s were the work of an obsessive Satanist named Aleister Crowley.

Historian Mark Beynon studied Crowley’s diaries and other writings, as well as inquest reports, which led Beynon to conclude that he had murdered more than six people related to the famed discovery of King Tutankhamun’s ancient tomb in Luxor, Egypt.

The mysterious series of deaths following the opening of “King Tut’s” tomb more than 80 years ago had caused a stir worldwide, spreading a legend that the pharaoh’s mummy had unleashed a curse upon being disturbed in his burial place.

The pharaoh’s tomb was discovered in 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter, from which an expansive trove of treasures including a 110-kg golden coffin and other jeweled figures came forth. It marked an important event in Egyptology.

Within six weeks of the discovery, Lord Carnarvon, who had opened the tomb with Carter, reportedly died from an insect bite. A wound was later found on the left cheek of Tutankhamun’s mummy, on the exact position of Carnarvon’s insect bite.

More strange deaths soon followed, including Carter’s personal secretary who was suspected to have been smothered to death, a former keeper in the British Museum’s department of Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities, and an Egyptian prince who was photographed visiting the tomb.

Beynon claims that Crowley, who was obsessed with ancient Egypt, had sought revenge for the desecration of Tutankhamen’s tomb. His theory has been published in his book London’s Curse: Murder, Black Magic and Tutankhamun in the 1920s West End, and breaks much of the cloud that had remained around Tutankhamun’s Curse.