The most important discovery was that bacteria on the wall of tomb migh have been the cause of the curse Anyone who enterred the tomb breathed in microscopic spores floating in the air could exposure to toxic pathogens in the tomb have killed carnarvon and the others? Despite these mysterious deaths there is no explanation why Howard Carter lived for another 16 years dying of cancer in 1939 He was 64 years old Today you can visit king Tutankhamen in a Cairo Museum and judge for yourself.