Book of the Dead
From Rickipedia: The Mummy Wiki
The Book of the Dead was an Ancient Egyptian book made of pure obsidian.
Known colloquially as "the Black Book”, the Book of the Dead contained ancient spells and incantations that could resurrect the dead. To keep it safe from interference from unworthy men, the ancient Egyptians kept the Book inside a statue of Anubis at Hamunaptra, where it was declared forbidden to use. The Book of the Dead was fashioned so that only one with a "key" might open it: indeed, the Book had a small puzzle-box-like object that, when opened, acted as the key with which to open the Book.
[edit] History
In 1290 B.C, the treacherous High Priest of Osiris, Imhotep, along with his disciple priests, stole the Book of the Dead from its resting place in order to resurrect his deceased lover Anck-Su-Namun. However, before he could complete the ritual that would bring his lover back, he was captured by the Medjai, who then declared the punishment of being buried alive unto the High Priest and all of his disciples. Imhotep himself was condemned to endure the Hom-Dai, the most severe of all ancient curses, so powerful was the curse that it had never before been acted out.
The Book of the Dead was returned to its place beneath the statue of Anubis, along with five canopic jars, all placed inside of a wooden chest that carried a curse that condemned whoever dared to open the chest to death. If Imhotep were to arise he would be bound by sacred law to kill the unfortunates who did the deed by draining their organs and fluids: in so doing, Imhotep would be reverted back to his human form, and would have the power of invincibility.
Three thousand years after the Book of the Dead was last used, a number of treasure hunters found the city of Hamunaptra and had begun to probe around the ruins in the search of treasures. One group of treasure hunters, who had staked out the base of the statue of Anubis as their dig site, had found the wooden chest that contained the Book. As three treasure seekers had decided to pry open the chest, their Egyptologist, a man named Allen Chamberlin, had advised them all to not open the chest, as the chest carried a curse upon it. The chest had been pried open, regardless of any curse placed upon it, and with that the Book of the Dead was revealed. Chamberlin stood in reverent awe at the sight of the Book, as his three fellow treasure-seekers derided the Book as worthless. With the Book in his possession, Chamberlin then had obtained a canopic jar as well, as Henderson, one of the three treasure seekers, accidentally tapped his foot against the chest, revealing a secret compartment in the side where the canopic jars were kept. Each man present took a jar for himself, leaving the fifth canopic jar behind, as it was broken. Meanwhile, in the chamber above, another group of treasure seekers had found a mummy that was bound by the Hom-Dai curse.
That night, Dr. Chamberlin tried in vain to pry the Book of the Dead open with his hands, and was seen by Evelyn Carnahan, another scholar seeking the treasures of Hamanaptra, who informed the Egyptologist that he needed a key to open the Book. Chamberlin mused upon this idea and fell asleep with the Book in his grip. Evelyn sneaked into the sleeping Egyptologist's tent and took the Book from his grip, taking care not to awaken the professor, though Rick O'Connell, who had guided Evelyn and her brother, Jonathan Carnahan, to Hamunaptra, had criticised Evelyn's actions as theft. Evelyn, however, stated it was just reading from a book, a harmless action. At that, Evelyn used the key to open the Book, which released a long gust of wind from around the campsite of the treasure hunters, and proceeded to read the text inside. Evelyn did not know it at the time, but the incantations that she was reading were causing the mummy that she and her friends had previously found to return to life.
The mummy awoke roaring in the chambers below, and Dr. Chamberlin awoke as well, screaming that Evelyn must not read from the book. The curses that ensued, however, had already begun to take effect, as a great swarm of locusts descended upon the campsite, forcing all those that could run to escape the insects by running into the catacombs, with the exception of several native diggers and Dr. Chamberlin, who remained in the campsite, covered in locusts, clutching the Book and wondering what they had done. Later, when the Medjai returned to the campsite, they took Dr. Chamberlin as a prisoner, the Book of the Dead still in his grasp. Ardeth Bay, the leader of the Medjai, informed the expeditionaries that they had unleashed an ancient evil, and ordered them all to leave the city. Upon being ordered to leave, Dr. Chamberlin held the Book of the Dead tight and did not lose it.
Two days later, Dr. Chamberlin ran through the streets of Cairo with the Book in his grip, along with his canopic jar. Unbeknownst to the Egyptologist, he was being hunted by the mummy that had been brought back to life with the Book previously. The mummy, Imhotep, had found the Egyptologist and proceeded to suck the man dry of his organs and fluids, killing him. From Dr. Chamberlin's withered hands, Imhotep took back the Book of the Dead and the canopic jar. The Book now in Imhotep's possession, Imhotep proceeded to emit a great cloud of flies that swarmed through the streets of Cairo and engulfed the townspeople. As the townspeople frantically swept away the flies, the mummy calmly walked away with another canopic jar and the Book of the Dead in tow.
The Book of the Dead was eventually taken back to Hamanaptra, where Imhotep intended to use it to perform the ritual that would bring his lover back to life. Summoning his mummified priests to kill O'Connell, Jonathan, and Ardeth Bay and to participate in the chanting of verses, Imhotep made his way into the ritual chamber with Evelyn chained to the sacrificial altar. As Imhotep read the verses aloud, his attention was disrupted as Jonathan announced to Evelyn that he had found the Book of Amun-Ra. The Book of the Dead ultimately ended up in the ritual chamber in Hamanaptra as the ruins came crashing down.
Nine years after the Book's previous use, a number of cultists had recovered the Book of the Dead as well as the Book of Amun-Ra, both of which they kept a close hold on. The Book of the Dead was subsequently used in London when the cultists, led by British Museum curator Baltus Hafez, used the Book's incantations to resurrect the mummy Imhotep. The cultists believed that by resurrecting the High Priest and having him duel against the legendary Scorpion King, they might be able to claim the rewards of the control of the Scorpion King's army, the Army of Anubis.
The Book of the Dead was soon after taken with the cultists on their journey to Karnak, where they stopped for a night so as to set up camp after the son of O'Connell and Evelyn, Alex O'Connell, who had been taken captive by the cultists, had tried to escape them. The Book of the Dead was once again used when Imhotep used his powers to entrance the cultist Meela Nais into recalling her past life as Anck-Su-Namun, at which point Anck-Su-Namun had acted out the events of the last night of her life, ending her actions with a stab to her stomach, killing herself. Imhotep used the Book of the Dead to call forth Anck-Su-Namun's soul from the Underworld, bringing her back to life.
The Book of the Dead was taken by the cultists to Ahm Shere, the next location on their journey, where it was taken by Shafek so as to keep it safe, and the Book eventually ended up in the hands of Anck-Su-Namun, who brandished it before a disbelieving Alex O'Connell, after Anck-Su-Namun killed the boy's mother. The Book of the Dead was taken by Imhotep into the Pyramid of Ahm Shere, and was given to Anck-Su-Namun, at which point where Alex stole it so as to resurrect his mother.
After the Pyramid had been taken back to the Underworld as a result of the Scorpion King's defeat, the Book of the Dead, which was within the Pyramid, was taken along back to the Underworld. By some undisclosed means, however, the Book had been recovered by Evelyn and placed on display in the British Museum of Antiquities, where it remained until it had been stolen by Colin Weasler, a rival colleague of Evelyn's, who utilised it to resurrect Imhotep, heading to Hamunaptra to find Imhotep's remains. Weasler first used the Book to knock out a guard that was guarding the ruins' entrance to Hamunaptra before reading the enclosed incantations; Imhotep had been brought back to his regenerated state and kidnapped Alex O'Connell, taking him to the Step Pyramid at Saqqara.
With the Book, Imhotep had intended to forcibly extract the Manacle of Osiris, an ancient bracelet with magical powers, from off of Alex's wrist, but O'Connell, Evelyn, Jonathan, and the Medjai chieftain, Ardeth Bay, intervened before Imhotep could harm Alex. The Manacle of Osiris responded to Alex's distress at seeing his father in danger as Imhotep was about to crush him with a statue piece, and summoned the Book of the Dead, which Evelyn used to attempt to send Imhotep back to his death. Before she could finish the incantations, however, Colin Weasler knocked her aside and sent the Book of the Dead sliding across the floor of the temple, where it fell in a crack in the floor that extended into a deep abyss: the Book lost, Evelyn could not finish the incantations to once more kill Imhotep, and he was left in a state between death and life.
[edit] Traits
- "I believe you need a key to open that Book."
- ―Evelyn Carnahan to Dr. Chamberlin on his discovery[src]
The Book of the Dead was an ancient volume that was held in such reverence for the ancient Egyptians that to speak of it was blasphemy, and so was kept stowed away from any interference in the necropolis Hamanaptra. Made of pure obsidian with golden hinges, the Book of the Dead could only be opened by the use of a puzzle-box-like object that would fit directly onto an emblem on the cover.
[edit] Appearances
- The Mummy (First appearance)
- The Mummy (novelization)
- The Mummy Returns
- The Mummy Returns (novelization)
- The Summoning
