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...City of the Dead, ancient burial site for the sons of Pharaohs, and resting place for the wealth of Egypt.

Ardeth Bay's description of the City of the Dead., The Mummy

Hamunaptra, also known as the City of the Dead, was an ancient lost city that served for many centuries as the resting place for the Pharaohs of Egypt and their wealth. The vast necropolis contained precious artifacts and antiquities from the wealthiest of Egypt's Pharaohs, as well as their remains and was guarded intently by the Pharaoh's elite guards, the Medjai in ancient times and for centuries into modern times.

Location[]

Set in a remote area of the vast Sahara, Hamunaptra held such high importance that none but the Medjai and the High Priest of Osiris could ever know its location. The city was fiercely guarded by the Medjai warriors and by warrior priests, with any that found the city silenced so as not to divulge its location; a burial within the city could only be attended by the High Priest of Osiris and his priests, accompanied by soldiers and slaves. Slaves were made to do the hardest work when in the city, digging graves, wherein they were promptly killed off by soldiers who were in turn murdered by the priests so that none might ever reveal the exact location. The City of the Dead had been established some time into the ascent of the New Kingdom, replacing the Pyramids of old as the resting place of the Pharaohs and their possessions and was host to a number of different booby-traps and deterrents to ward off plunderers. One of those booby-traps would cause the city to sink into the sand taking with it the bodies of the Pharaohs and their treasure with them.

History[]

Destruction and rediscovery[]

Following Imhotep being cursed with the Hom-Dai and the subsequent collapse of Hamunaptra, the city lay buried for many years, secluded beneath the sand. In 1923, an excavation of the ruins begun and the body of Imhotep was located near the Statue of Anubis, along with the Book of the Dead and the Book of Amun-Ra.

Second Destruction[]

After Beni Gabor was released from Imhotep's service, he started taking treasure from the vast vault. However during his attempt, he accidentally set off a booby-trap when he placed one of his bags of treasure on the lever activating the trap. The city sank into the sand taking the treasure with it. Rick O'Connell, Evelyn, Johnathan, and Ardeth managed to escape the city while Beni ended up getting trapped in the treasure room where he's later devoured by scarab beetles.

Behind the Scenes[]

Historically, there was no such place as Hamunaptra. Several necropoleis existed in Egypt, most notably at Saqqara, Giza, Amarna and Thebes, but these were associated with living cities (Memphis, Akhetaten, and Thebes, respectively), and their locations were, at least in ancient times, public knowledge.

Appearances[]

External link[]

Locations in The Mummy film series

Egypt locations
GizaCairoHamunaptraThebesAhm ShereKarnak
China locations
Hong KongShanghaiShangri-La
England locations
London


Other locations
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