Notes on Egyptian Costume in The Mummy  Page 2

Imhotep's Costume

I’m afraid, as with a lot of problems with the costumes in The Mummy Imhotep’s costume is based on very little fact and a lot of filmatic conjecture. To get him sorted out we have to strip him of his robe (incorrect) and leave him running about in his loincloth which the ladies should be happy about. There has been a lot of discussion about what exactly the Anubis head is doing hanging from Arnold Vosloo’s waist in The Mummy and now I can explain it all. You see there has been a mistake and it all goes back to William Henry Pratt's (a.k.a Boris Karloff) outing as an Egyptian. If you look at the picture below very carefully (this not too good is the only one I could find so it will have to do) you will see that he is wearing a sash round his waist. It has a lion’s head on it in a similar place. Admittedly Karloff is wearing a bit more than Mr Vosloo but of course 1930s sensibilities had to be taken into account.

Karloff wearing a lion!

Vosloo wearing Anubis

Now if you look at the picture here, you'll see where I think the whole lot of filmmakers got their idea for these strange 'sporran' thingys (well the Egyptians did wear kilts didn't they?) hanging from the old and young Imhoteps' waists. Imhotep was a 'Sem' priest if you believe the film, and so is the gentleman in the picture above. He as a priest who read out the services in the temples and wore a leopard skin hanging over his shoulder with the head hanging in about the the same height as Mr Vosloo and Mr Karloff. Originally the skin would be the genuine article but then later (due to a scarcity of leopards?) they made artificial ones, with the spots made of sequins and the head made of gold leaf covered wood or even cast out of gold. Tutankhamen also had one of these in his tomb. I think this is where the filmmakers had their ideas from, and Mr V was given an Anubis to do with his job as 'keeper of the dead'. Anubis (or Inpu in Egyptian) was of course the God credited with creating the technique of Embalming.

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