Pharaoh's curse or coincidence?
BY JIM RITTER Science Reporter

Scientists who recently conducted a high-tech examination of King Tut's
mummy insist they don't believe in the "Curse of the Pharaohs."
Still, some awfully strange things happened when the team X-rayed the
boy king's body with a medical CT scanning machine.
On the way to the Egyptian site, one researcher's vehicle nearly hit a
child. Then a huge storm hit. The CT machine, usually reliable, wouldn't
work at first. And when researchers finally began the CT scan, one
scientist came down with such a violent coughing attack he had to leave.

"It was a very interesting moment, and a very scary moment at the same
time," said Cairo University radiologist Dr. Ashraf Selim.
But Selim added: "I don't believe in the curse. I'm a scientific man."
National Geographic, which helped fund the study, announced preliminary
results last year. On Monday, Selim detailed the findings for the first
time at a scientific setting -- a meeting at McCormick Place of the
Radiological Society of North America.

King Tutankhamun was about 9 years old when he was crowned around 1332
B.C. It was the golden age of pharaohs, and Egypt was a mighty empire.
What killed boy king?
Unlike other royal tombs, Tut's burial chamber remained undisturbed
through the ages. When British archeologist Howard Carter finally
discovered it in 1922, the tomb was filled with 5,000 breathtaking
artifacts, including jewels, statues, magical amulets, furniture and a
solid gold coffin.

But an inscription on the tomb supposedly warned: "Death shall come on
swift wings to him that disturbs the peace of the king."
Lord Carnarvon, who financed Carter's expedition, died six months after
the discovery. Newspapers blamed this on the curse, along wubsequent
deaths of anyone remotely related to Tut's discovery.

Actually, Carnarvon already was in poor health when an infected mosquito
bite led to blood poisoning and pneumonia. And researchers have shown
that others involved in the Carter expedition lived, on average, normal
life-spans. Carter himself lived another 17 years before dying at age
65.
The Curse of the Pharaohs "fascinates the public and Hollywood
producers. Fortunately there is no such thing," concludes a National
Geographic companion book to a traveling Tut exhibit on display at the
Field Museum through Jan. 1.

Earlier scientific studies of Tut, using less sophisticated X-ray
equipment, found bone fragments in his skull. This supported a theory
that Tut was murdered by a blow to the head.
The new scan doesn't support the murder theory. It appears the fragments
instead came from funerary workers who drilled a hole in Tut's skull.
However, the scan revealed a fracture in Tut's left thigh, just above
the knee. Some researchers believe the injury might have triggered a
fatal infection or blood clot. Other researchers argue the bone was
broken by Carter's team.

"More work needs to be done," said James Phillips, curator of Field's
Tut exhibit. "We may never find out how he died."
Researchers were forbidden to touch Tut. But the fragile mummy hasn't
always received such gentle treatment. Tut's head is cut off, his body
cut in two, and his shoulder, elbow, wrist and other joints
disconnected.

And Tut's penis is missing. The CT machine scanned the bed of sand Tut
lies in, and detected what may or may not be the missing penis, Selim
said.

Researchers concluded Tut was about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and was about
18 years old when he died.

jritter@ suntimes.com