The Mummy’s Curse

The Mummy’s Curse: A Literary Archaeology of the Tutankhamun Excavations

This talk uncovers the fascinating interplay between archaeology and fiction in the wake of Howard Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Drawing on Carter’s diaries, his published account of the excavation, and the enigmatic narrative The Tomb of the Bird—co-written with his friend, novelist Percy White—Eleanor Dobson (University of Birmingham) reveals how storytelling shaped the myths surrounding the tomb, including the enduring legend of the mummy’s curse. She also explores how the tomb’s discovery revived earlier literary visions of Egypt, with works by bestselling Victorian author Marie Corelli and Arthur Conan Doyle re-emerging in new editions just as these authors framed the excavation in terms of mystery, danger, and the supernatural in communications with the press after the death of the excavation's financier, the Fifth Earl of Carnarvon. Together, these works reveal how archaeology and imagination intertwined to create one of the most enduring and sensational myths of the modern age.