Ancient Egypt mystery of Tutankhamun's cursed battle horns that 'sparked' WW2

Tutankhamun: Expert discusses archaeologist Howard Carter

Tutankhamun is the best-known pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, despite his relatively short time presiding over the kingdom.

He spent just nine years on the throne before his death at 18, though his time in power saw several pivotal changes, many led by his aides and courtiers.

Unlike other pharaohs, Tutankhamun's tomb lay untouched for thousands of years, that is until British archaeologist Howard Carter finally discovered his tomb in 1922.

Inside, he found thousands of relics, each intended to help Tut in his journey to the afterlife, with some having taken on a life of their own in the years afterwards.

Of the most mysterious and chilling items was a set of trumpets, of battle horns, which were played for the first time in 3,000 years in early 1939 — just months before the outbreak of World War 2.

Inside Tutankhamun's tomb, only discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter (Image: GETTY)

On April 16, 1939, the BBC broadcast the sound of the trumpets to a staggering 150 million listeners.

Just a matter of months later, in September of that same year, World War 2 broke out in Europe and would rage for six years.

The timing of the trumpets and the conflict — though extremely far removed from each other — have in hindsight been linked in what is a bizarre yet chilling theory.

It states that Tut's trumpets, whenever blown, start a war somewhere on the planet — and the theory isn't just contained to World War 2.

Back in 1939, the trumpets were played by bandsman James Tappern of Prince Albert's Own 11th Royal Hussars regiment.

James Tappern of Prince Albert's Own 11th Royal Hussars regiment seen playing Tut's trumpet (Image: GETTY)

Five minutes before Rex Keating, a prominent figure in radio at the time, presented the broadcast the electricity went out in Cairo so he was forced to read his script by candlelight.

The broadcast went ahead, and in the three-minute recording, both of the trumpets are sounded for the first time in 3,300 years, transmitting a truly haunting noise, which you can listen to here.

Mr Keating mentioned that neither of the instruments was easy to sound, "particularly" the copper one.

It wasn't the only time the trumpets' sounding had stirred unrest and conflict.

Many mysteries and tales continue to surround the Boy King's tomb (Image: GETTY)

The trumpets were blown just days before the 1967 Six Day War in the Middle East.

Later, before the 1991 Gulf War, the trumpets were similarly sounded ahead of the bloody conflict.

And, in 2011, a staff member at Cairo's Egyptian Museum blew one of the trumpets during a documenting and photographing process. Just a week later, the Egyptian Revolution broke out.

According to Al-Ahram, an Egyptian newspaper, Hala Hassan, curator of the Tutankhamun collection at the Egyptian Museum, claimed that it had "magical powers" and that "whenever someone blows into it, a war occurs"