History Main / CurseOfThePharaoh

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Diana, Etta, Bobby, Glamora and two Holliday College professors run afoul of a curse in an Egyptian tomb, which is relayed to them by the spirit of the pharaoh there entombed. Once the ancient Egyptian is defeated his mummy, which had been missing before, materializes in his tomb calling into question if the entire adventure was some kind of mass hallucination.

* Seems to be happening in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOrigins'' in the "Curse of the Pharaohs" dlc where deceased pharaohs seem to be coming back to life to attack the people of Thebes in response to the amount of grave robbing that's was occuring in the area. [[spoiler: subverted though as the Pharaohs were brought back due to a priestess named Isidora who used an ancient artifact called the Apple of Eden. Her motive involves punishing grave robbers but it is more because they murdered her mother rather than a curse the pharaohs themselves placed in their tombs.]]

* ''VideoGame/TheSims3'': In the World Adventures pack, if one disturbs their sarcophagus ornsteals their treasure, the Sim would be subject to their curse. If the curse is not treated for two weeks, they would die, and their ghost color will be dusty black.

This concept became popularized in Western media after the discovery of King {{UsefulNoted/Tutankhamun}}'s tomb in 1922 led to a rise in interest in AncientEgypt. Shortly after the excavation, over twenty people died in short order, including its financier Lord Carnarvon. Magazines took these events to be the "Curse of Tutankhamun", printing stories claiming that King Tut's tomb was engraved with hieroglyphs warning that "death would swiftly follow" those who disturbed the Pharaoh's eternal slumber. In reality, nothing of the sort was written anywhere in the tomb, the idea being entirely made up to sell a story and all the deaths being basically accidents befalling a tiny portion of the over a hundred people involved in the excavations.[[note]]The curse was awfully slow to kill Howard Carter, the guy in charge of the Tutankhamun expedition and the guy who physically opened the tomb. He died of cancer 16 years later.[[/note]]

This concept became popularized in Western media after the discovery of King Tut's tomb led to a rise in interest in AncientEgypt. Shortly after the excavation, over twenty people died in short order, including its financier Lord Carnarvon. Magazines took these events to be the "Curse of Tutankhamun", printing stories claiming that King Tut's tomb was engraved with hieroglyphs warning that "death would swiftly follow" those who disturbed the Pharaoh's eternal slumber. In reality, nothing of the sort was written anywhere in the tomb, the idea being entirely made up to sell a story and all the deaths being basically accidents befalling a tiny portion of the over a hundred people involved in the excavations.[[note]]The curse was awfully slow to kill Howard Carter, the guy in charge of the Tutankhamun expedition and the guy who physically opened the tomb. He died of cancer 16 years later.[[/note]]

* After the tomb of King Tutankhamun was discovered in the early 1920s, rumor quickly spread that it was cursed, with things like the strange death of the British nobleman who sponsored Howard Carter's expedition to find it. Carter himself, however, remained unscathed by any hypothetical curse.

SubTrope of {{Curse}}. May have been set by a NephariousPharaoh and/or involve a {{Mummy}}. The pyramid itself is an AncientTomb.

* Tomb Kings in ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy'' have the ability to speak a powerful DyingCurse as their physical bodies are [[ResurrectiveImmortality (temporarily) destroyed]], [[MutualKill usually killing their opponent(s) in the process]]. The setting's lore also describes the Tomb Kings' pyramids, mausoleums or palaces as being cursed, though often that 'curse' consists of making a mortal enemy of an immortal mummy king and his gigantic army, both of whom will stop at nothing to repay the insult you have offered by plundering his kingdom -- Settra, the first of the Tomb Kings, is renown for being one of the only beings in the Warhammer world to invade [[GrimUpNorth Norsca]] after a Norscan chieftain plundered his realm and stole his crown.

This concept became popularized in Western media after the discovery of King Tut's tomb led to a rise in interest in AncientEgypt. Shortly after the excavation, over twenty people died in short order, including its financier Lord Carnarvon. Magazines took these events to be the "Curse of Tutankhamun", printing stories claiming that King Tut's tomb was engraved with hieroglyphs warning that "death would swiftly follow" those who disturbed the Pharaoh's eternal slumber. In reality, nothing of the sort was written anywhere in the tomb, the idea being entirely made up to sell a story and all the deaths being basically accidents befalling a tiny portion of the over a hundred people involved in the excavations.

[[quoteright:350:[[TabletopGame/ClashOfTheDragons https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/curse_of_the_pyramids.png]]]]

* In Chapter 3/Episode 3 of ''Manga/SoulEater'', the necromancer witch Samantha tries to create an army of mummies for her own bid at world conquest. However, when she tries this with the mummy of the Pharaoh Anubis, he is resurrected as an UndeadAbomination that devours her, proclaiming that anyone who dares violate the sanctity of his tomb will share her fate.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' Season 23 episode "Tegridy Farms Halloween Special", Butters visits a museum and collects stamps for his sticker book. He comes across a mummy in a sarcophagus, with a museum employee warning Butters not to put its sticker in his book or a "love curse" will befall him. Butters ignores the warning and does it anyway, causing the mummy to awaken and rampage through South Park and pin the blame on him.

** ''Film/TheMummy1932'': Explorers enter an ancient Egyptian tomb and find the remains of a High Priest named Imhotep who was buried alive. His casket contains a warning that death will meet anyone who opens the casket. This is ignored by the explorers and the Priest is brought back to life when one of the explorers reads the "Scroll of Life" which causes the rising of Imhotep. Imhotep then proceeds to try to revive a dead lover (which was why he was buried alive as it was sacrilege), killing anyone who gets in his way.

* ''VideoGame/TheSims3'': in the World Adventures pack, if one disturbs their sarcophagus ornsteals their treasure, the Sim would be subject to their curse. If the curse is not treated for two weeks, they would die, and their ghost color will be dusty black.

SubTrope of {{Curse}}. may have been set by a NephariousPharaoh and/or involve a {{Mummy}}. The pyramid itself is an AncientTomb.

-> ''"There is no one in this world who can ever be my master. All who enter beware the Wrath of the Pharaoh."''

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

--> '''Class M: Mummies'''
-->
--> A rather iconic form of ghoul, class M's are, naturally, the result of dark magic infusing the bodies of dead lords and pharaohs who have been mummified. Why such beings felt the need to remain bound to the mortal plain to terrorize anyone who enters their tombs is unclear, but no one can debate that they are effective deterrents.
-->
--> Highly Contagious, as classs tend to ensnare their victims. The original class M's have no known cure, but secondary classs can be easily cured.

[[folder: Film]]

** ''Film/TheMummy1932'': Explorers enter an ancient Egyptian tomb and find the remains of a High Priest named Imhotep who was buried alive. His casket contains a warning that death will meet anyone who opens the casket. This is ignored by the explorers and the Priest is brought back to life when one of the explorers reads the "Scroll of Life" which causes the Imhotep. Imhotep then proceeds to try to revive a dead lover (which was why he was buried alive as it was sacrilege), killing anyone who gets in his way.
** ''Film/TheMummy1959'': Similar to the 1932 version except that an egyptian warns the explorers to not enter the tomb at all and the Mummy (named Kharis in this version) is specifically focused on killing the people who entered his dead lover's tomb.

* In ''Discworld/{{Mort}}'', the pyramids of Tsort are filled with statues of horrible monsters. The priests say they come to life at night and prowl the corridors for tomb robbers.
-->'''Ysabell''': What a horrible superstition.\\
'''Mort''': Who said anything about superstition? ... When the Tsorteans put a curse on a place, they don't mess about.

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

[[folder: Music]]

[[folder: Video Games]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb ''episode "Hip Hip Parade". Candace and her mom Linda are taking a girl's day, but Linda makes Candace promise not to try to bust her brothers, or she will suffer the pharaoh's curse. At the end of the episode, Candace gives in to her busting habit, and so an overweight man dressed as a pharaoh shows up to say, "Curse you."
-->''Linda: "I tried to warn you."
* In the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' Season 23 episode "Tegridy Farms Halloween Special", Butters visits a museum and collects stamps for his sticker book. He comes across a mummy in a sarcophagus, with a museum employee warning Butters not to put it's sticker in his book or a "love curse" will befall him. Butters ignores the warning and does it anyway, causing the mummy to awaken and rampage through South Park and pin the blame on him.

* After the tomb of King Tutankhamun was discovered in the early 1920s, rumour quickly spread that it was cursed, with things like the strange death of the British nobleman who sponsored Howard Carter's expedition to find it. Carter himself, however, remained unscathed by any hypothetical curse.
* The other 'Curse of the Pharaoh' is a euphemism for the sort of "tummy trouble" people get in hot places which only have a sketchy grasp of good food hygeine and water purity: also known as Delhi Belly and Pharoah's Revenge.

* The ''Literature/HerculePoirot'' short story "The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb" is set at the excavation of the fictional Pharaoh Men-her-Ra. Poirot is employed by the widow of the curse's first victim to protect her son, who has joined the expedition. [[spoiler: Poirot quickly realises the "curse" is a combination of natural causes and murder, and the book ends with him saying that anyone who believes in the Curse of the Pharaohs doesn't understand the Ancient Egyptian belief system at all. (Creator/AgathaChristie was married to an archaeologist.)]]

* Subverted on ''Series/MysteryHunters'': One episode explores the alleged curse of Tutankhamun's tomb, noting how many of the explorers who discovered the tomb, along with some other people who later visited his tomb, seem to have ended up dying not long afterwards. It is pointed out though that some of deaths were not related to the tomb (one visitor was sick before coming to egypt while another died from a shaving related incident) not to mention that one explorer who discovered it, Howard Carter, lived quite a while after finding the tomb. Other egyptian curses are briefly mentioned but are dismissed as being more like "do not trespass" signs rather than being actual curses

* Possible subversion in ''Recap/TintinCigarsOfThePharaoh'': Tintin is exploring the pyramid of Pharaoh Kih-Oskh, and finds a room full of [[DeadGuyOnDisplay dead, mummified Egyptologists]], which he initially thinks is "The Pharoah's revenge!" However, it turns out there's a more mundane explanation -- the tomb is being used as the base of operations for an international drug-smuggling gang, and they've been murdering anyone who gets in.

Adopted by Morgenthaler
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