meridian_rose

Title: The Tragic Tale of Imhotep and Anuk-su-Namun
Fandom: The Mummy / The Mummy Returns
Content: PG13, spoilers for both movies
Summary/Prompt: For the

hc_bingo prompt "cursed": 21 icons, mini picspam (12 pics), 3 wallpapers, and explanatory/background meta (400 words approx)

The Tragic Tale of Imhotep and Anuk-su-Namun

Imhotep [icon 2], the Pharaoh's high priest, fell in love with Anuk-su-Namun [icon 3], the Pharaoh Seti's mistress. When their affair was discovered, Anuk-su-Namun killed the Pharoh, assisted by Imohotep. She urged him to flee and then sacrificed herself, knowing that Imhotep could resurrect her. [icons 4-5]

Imhotep and his priests broke into her crypt and stole her body, determined to resurrect her, but Pharaoh's bodyguards (the Medjai) followed Imhotep and stopped him before the ritual was complete.

Imhotep's priests were condemned to be mummified alive; while Imhotep was condemned to endure the Hom Dai. This was the worst of all ancient curses, one never before enacted. . For the Egyptians, the afterlife was almost a continuation of their life on Earth, though free from pain, and thus the body must be preserved. Imhotep was condemned to never pass into the afterlife, but was to remain sealed inside his sarcophagus, for all eternity.

The Medjai swore never to allow him to be released. For the payment for this terrible curse was that, should Imhotep be released, he would arise to bring a plague upon mankind, re-born an unholy flesh-eater, supernaturally strong, with power over the sands, and impossible to kill. [icons 6-7]

The first movie has Imhotep released from his prison, wreaking havoc on Egypt. The sequel once again sees Imhotep resurrected. Meela Nais [icon 8] orchestrated his release this time. She was the physical reincarnation of Anuk-su-Namun and wished to have Imhotep kill the Scorpion King.

Here is Imhotep's comfort: the hope and promise of resurrection (made whole by stealing body parts from others) and the resurrection of his beloved Anuk-su-Namun. Meela kisses Imhotep, and we see not Meela embracing the decayed form of the mummy, but Anuk-su-Namun kissing Imhotep. Imhotep is determined to raise Anuk-su-Namun's soul from the underworld and into the body of Meela. [icons 9-15]

Imhotep regenerates and he and Meela race toward their goal, the Scorpion King. Imhotep is, for a brief time, happy, as he recalls their love affair and anticipates regaining Anuk-su-Namun in both body and soul. [icons 16-18]

Imhotep and adventurer Rick O'Connell fight both each other and the Scorpion King. [icon 19]. The Scorpion King is defeated. Alas, while Evie, our fearsome heroine (and, as the reincarnation of the Pharaoh's daughter, Anuk-su-Namun's most hated rival) risks her life to save Rick, her husband, Imhotep's beloved forsakes him. He falls to his doom, though with a smile, perhaps because he is finally free of the curse, free to die a final death and perhaps pass into the afterlife at long last. [icons 20-21]

Sources include:
The Mummy & The Mummy returns
http://www.themummythemummyreturns.blogspot.com/
Rickipedia: The Mummy Wiki
http://mummy.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
Internet Movie Database
http://www.imdb.com

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