‘Even in the life of a bacteriologist there are romantic moments.’ Such were the words of Henry Bunker, assistant bacteriologist to the UK’s Royal Naval Cordite Factory, in 1925. The romantic moments centred on his barely concealed excitement at the arrival of six tubes of dust collected from Tutankhamun’s inner tomb by Alfred Lucas, Chemist to the Egyptian Antiquities Department, immediately upon the chamber’s first official opening in 1923.

All the tubes were sterile, save one which contained two micro-organisms. Proof that that bacteria had survived thousands of years in the tomb? No. If bacteria had survived in the tomb, presumably the tubes would have contained millions of them. The single mould spore and the micrococcus must have been blown in upon the draft when the tomb was opened. If bacteria could not survive, Bunker concluded, it was most unlikely that any seeds found in the tomb would still be capable of germination. The results of this little experiment, therefore, appeared to hammer another nail into the coffin of the 'mummy wheat' myth. So, had Bunker debunked 'mummy wheat'? Apparently not. The ‘mummy wheat’ myth had been in circulation for at least a century before and belief in the myth of ‘mummy wheat, capable of germination persisted years after the opening of the Tutankhamun tomb.

In any case, Lucas must have known that his experiment was far from conclusive on several counts, at last partly because excavation sponsor, Lord Caernarvon, his daughter, Lady Evelyn, and archaeologist, Howard Carter, had secretly entered the inner chamber shortly after its discovery in November, 1922. Given that the chamber would not have been sterile after the November 1922 entry, Lucas must have known that his experiment could well have yielded quite a different result.

Ironically, one explanation, still entertained although controversial, for the death of Lord Caernarvon weeks after the inner chamber's official opening, relates to the possibility that he succumbed to Aspergillosis caused by fungi harboured by the wheat which was present in the tomb. In other words, living things, potentially in the tomb, were enrolled into providing a purportedly scientific explanation for the ‘Mummy’s Curse’. Lucas’ experiment made little difference to the circulation of such myths. Mummy wheat, the Mummy's curse and microscopic organisms (ancient or modern) seem destined to be inextricably, if ambiguously, linked to provide yet more romantic moments for bacteriologists.