Мумия

Chapter one

Anck-su-namun

Thebes, Egypt, 1290 BC

Thebes was the city of Imhotep, the High Priest of the Dead. It was also the city of Anck-su-namun. Anck-su-namun was the Pharaoh's lover. But she loved Imhotep.

Imhotep walked into her bedroom and took the beautiful woman in his arms.

"My love for you is more important than life," he said.

Outside the bedroom door, Imhoteps priests watched. But when Pharaoh Seti the First of Egypt walked in, they couldn't stop him.

Imhotep quickly ran into the next room. Pharaoh Seti heard something, but he didn't see him.

"Who was here?" Seti asked Anck-su-namun. "I know somebody was here, in your bedroom."

And then, the Pharaoh looked into the next room.

"Imhotep!" he said. "My High Priest!"

Anck-su-namun looked at Imhotep. They had to kill the Pharaoh before the Pharaoh and his soldiers killed them. Anck-su-namun took her knife and pushed it hard into the Pharaoh's back. The Pharaoh's eyes opened wide. Then, Imhotep took the Pharaoh's sword and killed him.

They heard something outside. The Pharaoh's soldiers - the Med-Jai - were there. But Imhotep's priests came in first. They took the Pharaoh's sword from Imhotep's hand.

"Come with us," the priests said to him. "Quick." They pulled him away from his lover.

"No!" said Imhotep. "I will stay with Anck-su-namun."

"Please go," said Anck-su-namun. "Please live. They will kill me, but you can bring me back to life. Only you, the High Priest, can do it."

The priests took Imhotep with them. The Pharaoh's soldiers ran in. Anck-su-namun didn't say goodbye to Imhotep; there wasn't time. She took the Pharaoh's sword and pushed it into her heart.

Imhotep saw her die.

***

The Pharaoh's soldiers found Anck-su-namun's knife in the Pharaoh's back. But they didn't find Imhotep in her room. So Imhotep, the High Priest, had to send his lover - the killer of the Pharaoh - to the underworld.

Imhotep had to mummify Anck-su-namun. First, he cut out her heart. He put it in a gold box. Then, he read from the gold Book of Amun Ra. The Book of Amun Ra sent the bad people of this world to the underworld, a dark place with no hope.

They all watched her go - the Med-Jai, the people of Egypt, and the priests. Only the priests, with their white cats, weren't afraid. Nobody could hurt the priests when their white cats were with them.