Inspired by Egypt

Egypt as a country is one of mystery, intrigue and fascination, or at least it always has been for me, when I was naught but a wee boy, I loved anything and everything to do with it, having model sarcophagus, Egyptian statues and even a pop out book on mummification. Its safe to say that my childhood was well and truly coloured with ancient Egyptian secrets.

As I grew up my tastes changed somewhat but I found myself being drawn back again and again into the mysterious world of ancient Egypt by the sheer number of fiction inspired by it, so in this post i'm going to talk to you about a couple of my favourite bits of pop culture inspired by Egypt.

Before I get a bunch of hate mail for not including Brendan Fraser's “The Mummy” films in this list, while enjoyable and definitely fitting into the category, they are in essence a remake of something else I want to talk about and I would rather talk about the things that inspired me as a child and not the things I enjoyed as an adult.

The Mummy (1932 film)

I got into horror at a very young age, and I can't have been much more than 9 or 10 the first time I saw Universals take on the classic “Ancient Egyptian Mummy comes back from the dead to seek revenge on the people who disturbed its tomb” story.

Inspired by real rumours and legend surround writings round on Egyptian tombs The Mummy tells the story of an ancient Egyptian priest called Imhotep revived by archaeologists recklessly reading aloud an ancient spell and bringing the mummy back to life. Imhotep then proceeds to attempt to complete the task he was mummified alive for and bring his lover back from the dead.

The role of the Mummy was filled by classic horror super star Boris Karloff probably best known as Frankenstein's monster in the classic Frankenstein films, but to me he will always be Imhotep, and I will always think of him first when ever people talk about mummification.

Stargate. (1994 film)

The helmet of one of Ra's Anubis warriors, please pardon my simplified drawing.

Stargate is a film that inspired a long running TV show complete with 2 spin off shows, and while I have gotten into and watched most of the TV series its the original film that holds a special place in my mind.

Stargate tells a alternative history of ancient Egypt, in which the Pharaohs and gods of ancient Egypt where in fact a parasitic race of highly advanced aliens. That is until the enslaved human race overthrew them, burying their intergalactic teleporter (a ring shaped portal) to keep them from returning.

Cut to present day (well... 1994) and this teleporter is found and dug up by an archaeologist dubbed “The Stargate” and with the help of the US air force and a down on his luck ancient Egyptian linguist professor the Stargate is opened once again, this leads to a meeting with ancient Egyptians living on another planet still under the rule of Ra (an alien) and a climatic battle with Ra himself.

Stargate, is a 90's action Film through and through. It's not bad, but it is in no way great. it's dated and re-watching it as an adult I have to wonder why my younger self liked it so much.

But Stargate's greatest strength, is an compelling concept that draws on my, and other peoples love of the mystery of Egypt, it offers an science fiction explanation that while otherworldly, seems somehow plausible and it's this concept that spawned the massively successful Stargate SG1, and its two spin off shows.

Mummies alive. (1997 TV show)

Now from the seriousness of Stargate and the mummy to the silliness of Mummies alive.

Mummies alive is a American animated TV show about, as the (frankly awesome) theme song puts it; “A little boy named Presley found a secret out this year, that he was once a Pharaoh when Egyptians ruled the world, and now some sorcerer named Scarab tries to get him day and night, but Presley has four guardians to protect his very life.”

His guardians are four ancient Egyptian Mummies magically brought back to life to protect him in the modern world. Each complete with a magical suit of armour inspired by an ancient Egyptian god.

This show is cheesetastic, if you imagine the Power Rangers as Egyptian mummies you are half way there, each week the Mummies fight Scarab or some kind of monster, normally a representation of an ancient Egyptian god. These fights always include a “transformation” sequence only instead of the Power Rangers shout of “It's morphing time” the mummies opt for the much more inspiring “With the strength of Ra!”

While silly, wildly anachronistic and only lasting a single series, I have to admit that I love Mummies Alive, I recently found the entire series on Youtube and have had it playing in the back ground while doing my university revision. Who needs classical music, when you can simply shout out “With the strength of Ra!” when something stumps you?

There are a lot of other things I could talk about here, a number of computer games have levels or whole worlds inspired by Egyption cultures, I can think of a few comic books and novels also, but for this post at least I wanted to share with you the things that inspired, and continue to inspire me.

In my time I have written stories and poems about ancient and modern Egyptian culture, (and before you ask me, even if I still had them, I would not share them here) I learned a simplified version of hieroglyphics from a kid's book, and can still write my name with it,

and today when I find myself searching for my next comic strip idea I find myself drawn back to Egypt, so here for the first time I present to you the first concept art for this potential comic strip.

Who knows if I will ever write any more, maybe it could become the next big thing with the proper inspiration, (for example from the trip to Egypt I could win from entering this post in EasyJet's Inspired by Egypt competition *wink wink*...Please send me on a holiday to Egypt)

The only thing I can say for sure is that the next time I get stuck on a difficult drawing, or find myself suffering from writers block, you will hear me shouting...

“With the strength of Ra!”