Ahm Shere, also known as the Oasis of Ahm Shere and the Sacred Desert, was a great ancient oasis created in a desert within the African country of Egypt and it is once considered holy, and infamous for being completely hidden from the world, and, as it was written, all who found it would never return to tell the tale. The Sacred Desert itself plays a major role in The Mummy Returns and its videogame adaption of the same name.
Description[]
Sacred Desert[]
The Sacred Desert
The Sacred Desert was a vast primordial jungle hidden from the world inside a large crater-like formation, and a river could be spotted in the bottom of the Oasis. Bats, insects, monkeys, and other creatures resided in the Oasis. The jungle was filled with such hazards as quicksand, vast chasms, and even a tribe of murderous mummified pygmies created by the Scorpion King because he does not want any trespassers setting one foot in his oasis. Within the Oasis were the remains of men that had attempted to explore it but had failed, being killed by the residing undead pygmies: indeed, among those deceased were soldiers sent by Alexander the Great, Roman troops sent by Julius Caesar, and even legionnaires sent by Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Golden Pyramid[]
The Golden Pyramid
At the center of the jungle was an enormous pyramidal temple called the Golden Pyramid, built with blocks of gold, and made to function more as a vast, elaborate temple than an actual tomb as other pyramids were. Atop the pyramid, held by a golden sculpture of a scorpion-like beast, was a large priceless diamond, said to ‘wink’ at distant travelers, beckoning them to their deaths. Within the Golden Pyramid was a maze of corridors, rooms, passageways and battle chambers, the biggest of which was where the Scorpion King himself waited to be awakened into battle.
The O’Connell family in Ahm Shere, the Sacred Desert.
Scattered throughout the temple were statues and altars abundant with removable weapons. In one chamber there resided a large golden statue of a scorpion-monster with an arm-sized hole intended for the wearer of the Bracelet of Anubis to insert his or her arm, with the wearer's inserted arm being stripped clean of flesh, and would activate a spell that would awaken both the Army of Anubis and the Scorpion King.
History[]
Creation[]
The Scorpion King in the Oasis of Ahm Shere.
An oasis was created from the sands of Ahm Shere by the Egyptian god of mummification, Anubis, who had struck a bargain with the dying warrior named Mathayus, who is known to the world as the Scorpion King. As Mathayus made a last request to the god that if his life was spared he would pledge his soul to Anubis' will, and would grant the god what Mathayus claimed he was denied: a golden pyramid. Instantaneously the vast jungle sprouted from the ground as grass, foliage and massive trees stretched out across the desert in front of the awed warlord.
Over time, Mathayus returned to his conquests, taking looted gold and slaves with which to build the great golden pyramid, located in the heart of the oasis and topped with a giant diamond that acted as a beacon to unwary travellers, inviting them to their doom.
When the Scorpion King fulfilled his end of the bargain, using the Army of Anubis to destroy his enemies in the land of Sumer (also known as Sumeria), Anubis himself claimed the warrior’s soul and transformed the Scorpion King into a fearsome half-human, half-scorpion, creature. He was imprisoned inside the golden pyramid, and, along with the Army, the beast was sent into a deep slumber from which he would only awake every 5,000 years to try and re-conquer the Earth.
The Scorpion King’s magical bracelet became enchanted so that, when worn, it would depict a map to Ahm Shere visible only to the wearer and removable only once the wearer entered the Golden Pyramid. The Bracelet of Anubis was soon found by the Egyptians, and was put under the guard of Princess Nefertiri, in the hope that it would never be worn and thus awaken the Scorpion King or his Army of Anubis once again.
Discovery and Destruction[]
Throughout history, many had heard tell of the Oasis, with some setting out to find it: indeed, such rulers as Rameses IV, followed by Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte, respectively, all sent out troops to find the Oasis, none returning. The legends told that atop the Golden Pyramid of Ahm Shere was a great, shimmering diamond that acted as a beacon to unwary travellers, beckoning them to the Oasis as an invitation to their deaths.
In 1933 A.D., 5,000 years after the Oasis had been brought forth, the O’Connell family: Rick, Evelyn, and Alex discovered the Bracelet of Anubis, which was sought after by a cult that had resurrected Lord Imhotep, a cursed mummy with immortal powers, as the cultists believed that Imhotep was the only being that could combat the Scorpion King and win. While the O'Connell family was unaware of this, they took the Bracelet to London, England for further study, and as Alex tried on the Bracelet out of curiosity, it revealed the path to the Oasis of Ahm Shere, thus beginning the search for the Oasis in order to stop the cultists and Imhotep from finding the Oasis. Imhotep’s followers kidnapped the boy, intending to use the Bracelet as their guide to the long-lost land, and Alex’s family, along with Medjai warrior Ardeth Bay, set out to save Alex from the cultists' grasp.
En route to the Oasis, the decrepit dirigible that Alex’s mother and father had been traveling in crash-landed, due to an attack by Imhotep in the form of a massive tidal wave, into the jungle of Ahm Shere, hidden within a massive canyon where the Blue Nile River flows out of Egypt. The dirigible's pilot, Izzy Buttons, was infuriated that his craft was brought down, shouting out that it required gas and not hot air, and remarking that while the dirigible could be finagled to take hot air, it would take many cubic metres. The two competing factions set out for the Pyramid, with young Alex’s life at stake; during the trek through the Oasis, Imhotep’s followers were ambushed by pygmy mummies, which resided in the Oasis, preying on all who reached it, previous victims having been such individuals as Roman troops and Napoleon's soldiers because they were ordered by their master, the Scorpion King to kill any trespassers who dares goes in his oasis. Using this distraction to rescue his son, Rick O’Connell managed to get Alex inside the Pyramid just in time before the sun arose, releasing the Bracelet's grip as it was cast aside.
However, Evelyn was stabbed and mortally wounded by Anck-Su-Namun who is now reincarnated as Meela Nals, and as Rick was left to mourn his dying wife. Imhotep and his lover entered the Golden Pyramid with no trouble at all. During this exploration, Baltus Hafez, the only survivor of the jungle massacre, came across the Bracelet of Anubis as it lay in the sand inside the Pyramid, forgotten, and placed his arm inside a great statue of a scorpion within the Pyramid. Activating a magical surge of energy and returning the Pyramid to its former state of gold, the Army of Anubis was awakened along with the Scorpion King, who then engaged Rick O’Connell and Imhotep in battle.
Death of the Scorpion King, marking the Ahm Shere's destruction.
Rick had discovered the existence of the Spear of Osiris he was tossed against a wall bearing engravings which show the Spear's use, and called for Jonathan to throw the Spear and kill the Scorpion King. As Jonathan threw the Spear it was caught by Imhotep, who was about to kill the Scorpion King so as to gain control of his armies himself. O’Connell took back the Spear and succeeded in stabbing the Scorpion King. With an inhuman bellow, the Scorpion King exploded into dust, along with the Army of Anubis having been sent back to Hell by Rick's command. Outside the Oasis, the Medjai forces watched as a ghostly cloud-mist of ash billowed out of the Golden Pyramid, forming the screaming visage of the Scorpion King. The mist was sucked back into the Pyramid and a mighty shock wave it blasted outward from the golden structure.
The O’Connell family escaped just as the Oasis was finishing its self-consummation, reaching the top of the Pyramid, seemingly doomed until Izzy Buttons came into the scene with his newly repaired balloon, rescuing them all before they were taken as well. Before the Pyramid was fully gone, Jonathan managed to snatch off the giant diamond from the Pyramid’s summit. The Oasis was finally sucked away into the very earth itself, spewing a massive cloud of black sand and than sunken into the earth. The Oasis of Ahm Shere was no more.
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