1200’s BC, Egypt. An enslaved boy rises to the position of high priest in Thebes, taking on the name Imhotep. Despite his best efforts, he cannot save his family, nor help his people. His only comfort was the love of Anck-su-namun, the Pharaoh’s mistress. When the affair is discovered, Anck-su-namun claims Inhotep forced himself on her. Enraged, Imhotep kills her and then tries to kill the Pharaoh but fails. For this, Imhotep is buried alive, and to remind him of his place, he is cursed to obey the commands of anyone holding the golden book of Amun-Ra, the book of the dead. An eternal slave, even after death.
1930’s, Cairo. Ardath Bey, a disgraced historian, is forced to work for foreign archeologists and grave robbers, pillaging once-sacred sites. On one such expedition, Bey discovers the book of the dead, which is used to reanimate Imhotep before it is carelessly destroyed. The cursed man now roams free, but immortal. Desiring nothing more than death, Imhotep rampages through his unfamiliar settings, agonizing and seeking a way to break the Pharaoh’s curse once and for all.
