It is believed that one’s life gets cursed, upon entering the tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs. Even many of the archaeologists who entered the tombs used to believe the same. After the discovery of the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun (BCE 1341 – BCE 1323) in 1922; members of a team of archaeologists, led by British Egyptologist Howard Carter, could not escape the curse. There are also some interesting stories about the two trumpets discovered inside the tomb of King Tut.

A cobra reportedly killed Carter’s pet bird after the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Many believe that the items found in King Tut’s tomb did not bring any curse to anyone. However, the case of a pair of trumpets is different. One of them is made of silver, while the other of copper or bronze. Historians are of the opinion that the antepenultimate pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt used to prepare his warriors for the battlefield by playing these two musical instruments. Their sound was loud enough so that everyone in the crowd could hear. However, historians did not imagine that these trumpets could be a part of the curse.

The two trumpets, along with many other belongings of Tutankhamun, found their places at a museum in Cairo after their recovery. The trumpet made of bronze was stolen from the museum in the 1930s. Later, it was found inside a bag that was lying inside a train in Egypt. In 1939, the BBC announced that two trumpets recovered from Tutankhamun’s tomb would be played at an event (after 3,000 years). This announcement shocked most of the Britons, as they were afraid that those instruments might spread the curse, if played. At the same time, many were enthusiastic to hear the sound of the 3,000-year-old musical instruments.

Those trumpets were played at a function in the spring of 1939. In September of the same year, Adolf Hitler‘s Nazi Germany invaded Poland, triggering the Second World War! The emperor of Egypt used to play these trumpets before declaring war in the past. The Britons started believing that the Second World War began because of those instruments. In other words, the sound of trumpets acted as a signal. Thereafter, people across the globe spread various rumours. Some said that many of the team of archaeologists who had entered Tutankhamun’s tomb fell ill, while others lost their near and dear ones. Another group of people claimed that a trumpet fell from the hand of a musician during the rehearsal of a show, and this accident triggered the Second World War.

It is also heard that the trumpet made of silver broke to pieces. And the lives of those who collected those pieces of silver became cursed. The incident reportedly occurred in the presence of King Farouk I (February 11, 1920 – March 18, 1965) of Egypt. Farouk I, the 10th ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali Dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and Sudan, came to enjoy the rehearsal. An engineer, who broadcast the event where the trumpet was played, reportedly met with an accident. On his way to the studio, his car was hit by a horse carriage. Somehow, the engineer survived.

Organisers faced a problem during the event, too. Suddenly, several lights went off. Organisers had to light candles during the event that was heard by 150 million people on radio all over the world. It was not known what exactly caused the lights to go off on that day. Many still believe that the incident happened due to the curse of pharaoh.

The silver trumpet was played yet again in 1967. And then, the Six-Day War between Egypt and Israel (also known as the 1967 Arab-Israeli War or Third Arab-Israeli War) took place from June 5-10 (1967). Incidentally, the 3,000-year-old silver trumpet of King Tut was also played just before the Gulf War in 1990 and the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. A great many historians believe that all these claims are baseless, as no curse was found inscribed in the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. However, many have opined that it is better not to play the trumpet found in the tomb.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das