It would be helpful from the start to define what a mummy is. It is any dead body (human or animal–from anywhere in the world or possibly beyond) that has been preserved, through artificial or accidental means.
In other words, either someone made the mummy (that’s why it’s artificial) or something (such as an unusual act of nature) produced the mummy naturally (that’s why it’s accidental). In both cases, the body, after death, does not decay and become a skeleton; the skin (or fur) is somehow preserved. Even a fossil (such as the fossil of a baby dinosaur) in which the soft tissue and organs are preserved (even though they are now stone) can be considered a mummy.
In the history of filmmaking, the most featured mummies are the ones in Egypt. Most visitors to Egypt see only the best known pyramids, what you might call the ‘Giza three’, but there are 108 known royal tombs, the latest discovered only recently.
Most of the 25 great pyramids of the Old Kingdom, from the Third to the Seventh Dynasty, lie within easy reach of Cairo in a region known as the Memphite necropolis.
Perhaps the most popular mummified pharaoh is Imhotep, as popularized in film. Its pyramid is the father of all pyramids: the Imhotep’s Step Pyramid, located south of Cairo, at King Zoser’s funerary complex in Saqqara.
The complex, built during Zoser’s reign from 2628-2609 BC, has a more abandoned feel than some of Egypt’s other must-sees. This means you’re unlikely to jostle with trinket vendors and other fellow tourists when you visit it. However, this might change if current excavations to find Imhotep’s tomb and real-life mummy at Saqqara are successful. The site is dominated by King Zoser’s tomb - its distinctive pyramid shape representing steps to the horizon, the rays of the sun god Ra or the sacred mount rising from the Nile in Egyptian creation myths.
For the ancient Egyptians, man consisted of body, Ba (soul) and, in the case of the king, Ka - a life force bestowed by his father, Ra. All three had to be united after death for the king to reach judgment with Osiris, god of the underworld and the afterlife.
The indestructibility of the stone used to build the pyramids, along with the preservative rites of mummification, were vital to protect the unity of Ka and king.
