The Mummy: The Tomb Robbers' Secret

Introduction

Egypt was called "The Gift of the Nile" by the ancients. Each year, the snow melted in the highlands of Ethiopia and sent the floods, along with the rich silts they carried, that allowed the Egyptians to produce the rich crops of grain that made them the envy of the ancient world.

I have studied archaeology since I was 12.It began with the story of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in the first issue of Children's Digest I received. I read every archaeology book in my school libraries, and then my mother started subscribing to National Geographic, which is a source of wealth when it comes to archaeology articles.

I took an archaeology class when I was recovering from a severe illness and got an "A". My presentation was on Heinrich Schliemann and his discovery of the ruins of Troy (which he left basically a ruin of a ruin).

My knees shook the whole time I gave my presentation, complete with as many pictures as I could find. I was lucky, the teacher liked me and was impressed with my work, and offered to introduce me to members of the faculty in the archaeology department of the University of Washington. For better or for worse I declined and eventually went back to work because that's what I thought I should do.

I wish I had started this when everyone else was posting Mummy stories, I think it would have more reads. I was concentrating on writing other stories and didn't think about trying my hand at this genre. Oh well, live and learn as they say.

The story is exclusively my own. I don't like borrowing anything but characters or settings, but I've been known to do it for the benefit of my story. If you read this, please vote and leave a comment or two and let me know if I've done the movie justice!

There is no "Imhotep" no "Ancksunamun", those are the characters in the original "Mummy" movie staring Boris Karloff that Sommers based his movies on. And no Hamunaptra because it didn't exist. I really didn't care for that storyline though I love the movies. What I'm giving you instead is some real and pretend archaeology and Egyptian history. I hope you're intrigued enough to go out and read on your own.

I thought that linking Ardeth-Bey romantically with my OC Roma Wilkes-Emberly would fill out the story character-wise. My expectations were not fulfilled and I did not reckon with the fact that Rick O'Connell and Evelyn would prove necessary to the story. This is why I am skeptical about outlining--I think that stories will write themselves if you let them. If you go off the rails, well, that just makes it more interesting.

For my story, Rick O'Connell is our beloved Rick and married to his Evelyn. Evelyn is as curious as ever, as well as persuasive. Including Rick and Evelyn was not my original intention, but by the time Ardeth and Roma got to Minya, I knew that they would be there.

My characters Roma Wilkes-Emberly and her professor father are my creations. I hope you enjoy reading their story as I have writing it.

A note: I present the Med-Jai (or Med-Jay, depending on who you're reading) in their real function. They existed but they were not "Pharaoh's sacred bodyguards". They guarded the worker's village of Deir el-Medina. Their job was to shake down the workers as they came and left the village to make sure they weren't stealing something that belonged in the Pharaohs' tombs!

You'll notice (eventually) that I've left out Jonathan. I like the character, like John Hannah and think he's a very good actor. He provided a lot of the comic relief in the "Mummy" series, but there's no humor here, I'm not a "funny" writer. I wish I had that gift but I don't.