All three editions of the Mummy RPG focus on the Egyptian religion, adapted to the World of Darkness (henceforth WoD) universe.
Thus, the first two editions state that the mummies were ancient Egyptian humans who, upon their death, underwent a special funeral rite, known as the ‘Great Rite’ (a variant of mummification). Through this rite, mummies are reborn into a kind of “immortal” life, where each new death (due to violent death or exhaustion, as these characters do not age or get sick) means that their soul parts are separated and the Ba travels to the Shadowlands, or place inhabited by ghosts in the WoD universe. Here, the mummies regained their magic to re-unify their constituent parts, both physical and spiritual, and thus come back to life.
The Great Rite was revealed by Thoth to Isis, the magician, who wanted to cure her son Horus of the evil inflicted by Set; this took place in the context of the struggle between Set and Osiris, the two vampires vying for power in Egypt. After Set's victory, Horus and his mummies, the Shemsu Heru or "followers of Horus" embarked on a millenary crusade against Set, his followers and Apophis, a representation of chaos and corruption.
The first two editions of Mummy focus on the story of the mummies from their origins, including the aforementioned conflict against Set, and the subsequent struggle on the side of Horus. He is portrayed here as the leader of the 43 mummies created by the Great Rite over the 3 millennia of ancient Egyptian history.
The entire historical setting of these books seeks to immerse the players in the culture of ancient Egypt, constructed from the partial memories of the mummies themselves. There are, therefore, numerous gaps in these narratives, due to the constant process of death and resurrection of the characters and the normal forgetting of their successive lives and long history.
As for the mummy-characters, they live in the present day and have a modern name in our present, but they also keep their ancient Egyptian name. The Ba and Ka are fundamental elements in this game, being the real engines of the mummy's body, while the Sekhem has mainly to do with the use of their powers. In addition, the mummies have access to He Kau or Egyptian magic, which is detailed especially in the second edition where different specialties are described focusing on alchemy, the creation of amulets, the use of necromancy, the control of the weather and the creation of shabties, all closely linked to the Egyptian tradition.
In addition to these Egyptianising elements, the game features in its various editions a multitude of ideas and concepts linked to ancient Egypt, such as the Amenti, a spiritual realm in Shadowlands where the spirits of the ancient Egyptians congregate around the soul of Osiris.
Mummy: The Resurrection deserves a special mention because, although it provides continuity with respect to the previous editions, it updates the story with new events that are decisive for the entire narrative: a catastrophe takes place in the Shadowlands, probably caused by Apophis, a world-destroying character opposed to the order of the Maat. This leads to the destruction of the Amenti and the dispersion and mutilation of the souls of its inhabitants, who will only be saved in extremis thanks to the intervention of Osiris. The powerful spirit of Osiris, with the help of Maat and Isis, sheltered the souls in safe places in the Shadowlands and improved the "Great Rite" so that these souls were brought back to life in the bodies of people who had recently died or were about to die. This concept modifies, as we see, the concept of the mummy as described in the first two editions.

Author: Víctor Sánchez Domínguez