Leap Date:
March 2, 1957

Episode Adopted by: Becky & Jennifer L. Rowland
Additional info provided by: Lou Davidson and Brian Greene

Teaser:

Strange accidents begin to happen when Sam leaps into an archaeologist who has uncovered the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Ptah-Hotep. As the legend begins to take face, the curse will bring forth a sandstorm that will bury the site of Sam's camp - and the tomb - forever.

Audio from this episode:

Al: Boy, she had a nice asp.

Project Date:
1999 (according to Al in this episode)

Name of the Person Leaped Into:
Dale Conway

Synopsis & Review:

The Leap releases Sam on all fours, a kerchief over his face, as he crawls through an opening from a bright sunlit day, dust motes floating about, into a dark space. He has a flashlight in his hand as a woman behind him urges, “C’mon, Dale, get moving. Let’s go, let’s go.” Continuing headfirst, Sam slowly rises to his feet in the dark space. He is completely captivated by what he sees, unaware of his colleague’s request for help as she follows through the hole. As he finally registers her, he shines the flashlight directly into her eyes. Sam quickly follows her protest with an apology. When she demands to know what’s gotten into him, Sam breathlessly says, “I just can’t believe where I am, that’s all.”

“Ohmigod,” exhales the woman, now as rapt as Sam by where they are. Sam shines the flashlight around the room, illuminating hieroglyphics on the wall, a myriad of Egyptian tomb treasures, statues, and other ancient wonders. The pair continues to slowly examine the historical treasure they’ve uncovered when Sam finds a lengthy hieroglyphic message he interprets.

“As for anyone who will disturb the tomb of...”

“...King Ptah-Hotep...” supplies his colleague.

“...death will swallow him.” Sam finishes with a whispered, “Oh boy.”

As they continue examining the hieroglyphics, the woman decidedly states that they have definitely found the tomb of Ptah-Hotep II because they see his cartouche. Sam is still amazed, declaring that he’s dreamed about standing in Ptah-Hotep’s tomb his entire life. Unfortunately, moments later the woman realizes the sarcophagus isn’t where it should be. “Where’s Ptah-Hotep?” she asks. Sam hypothesizes that the mummy is in another chamber, but the other archaeologist points her flashlight to scars and scrapes in the floor as she sighs, “Somebody beat us to him.”

Sam argues that no one is going to steal an entire sarcophagus, but his colleague argues that if it’s made of solid gold someone would. She theorizes that the thief broke it up and took it out in pieces. Sam realizes she is right, because “Both the Deir El Bahri and the Ineni Papyrus both talked about a sarcophagus of solid gold. But everybody thought it was a myth.”

This perplexes the woman, who doesn’t know what Sam is talking about; she’s never heard of these supporting documents before. Sam explains that Keller and Hoskins discovered it in 1963, which he quickly self-corrects to 1863 when the woman queries, “Six years from now??”

She is distracted from Sam’s time traveler goof as she examines one of the many statues in the tomb, but she’s still disappointed that the mummy of Ptah-Hotep isn’t there. Almost in a daze, Sam insists that he is. “I feel it.”

This attitude concerns the woman who suggests they go back outside and let the place air out for another few minutes. Her concern shifts to glee as they prepare to crawl out. “Dale, Dale. We did it!” she enthuses. “We found Ptah-Hotep.”

They emerge to an archaeological dig site, walking up temporary wooden stairs as Al walks to meet Sam at the top of the steps. “Man, what an ugly horse,” he comments as a camel passes before the array of work and sleeping tents. “What a gorgeous woman,” he remarks as Sam’s colleague moves past him, proceeding to extol the virtues of shorts. Sam has no patience for this as he hisses for Al to help him find his own tent. Al suggests the one that has a shaving mirror is the most likely site as he pulls up information from the handlink.

He informs Sam that he is Dale Conway, a professor of archaeology at Kansas State University, on a dig.

“In Egypt,” grins Sam, as he checks out the reflection of Dale Conway, a blond blue-eyed good looking man despite being covered in dust, dirt, and sweat. He cuts Al off to excitedly tell him how they just found the tomb of King Ptah-Hotep II before ushering the Observer into the tent so they can freely talk.

Al informs Sam that his find was never reported. Sam is relieved that he didn’t forget about the discovery. Al assures him, “As of 1999, it’s never even been discovered, ever.” He proceeds to explain that Sam’s partner on this expedition is Ginny Will, who is a professor of Egyptology. Sam interrupts, amazed that he is working with “Ginny Will from Brown University?” He is in an academic form of being star-struck, excitedly telling Al that he’s read all of her papers.

The handlink finally yields the original history. Al informs Sam that Dale Conway and Ginny Will disappeared on a dig in 1957—the very dig they are currently at—“swallowed up without a trace.”

Sam recites the warning he and Ginny had read inside the tomb, unnerved by Al’s description and the warning that “death will swallow” anyone who disturbs the tomb. Al remarks, “I’d say he’s a man of his word.” Sam shakes his head, though, because thousands of tombs have inscriptions like that inside them to scare off tomb robbers. Al says, “Okay, I’m scared. Let’s go.”

“No, no, no,” insists Sam, who declares, “This is bigger than King Tut.” He doesn’t want to give up this chance, in part because he wrote his thesis on Ptah-Hotep. Al counters that inventing a time machine is also bigger than King Tut and that Sam should quit while he’s ahead. Sam wants to know exactly how much time they have before they disappear. All Al can pinpoint is sometime between now and March 15th, which was when the authorities finally came to search the site to discover the archeological team missing. Sam, who does not want to lose this discovery, argues that the best way to find out what happened is to stick around. Al sarcastically answers, “Yeah, and get swallowed up.”

Ginny has determined it is safe to return to the tomb and calls for “Dale” to head back down. Since she probably has heard him talking “to himself,” Sam makes the excuse that he was rehearsing what he would say to the press. Ginny grins and says she can see the headlines now. Annoyed at Sam’s stubbornness, Al says, “Yeah, I can see ‘em, too. ‘Genius has death wish. Nobel Prize winner is really a knucklehead.’” Ginny is hopeful that press over this discovery will lead to more funding for a proper dig. Whatever she was going to say next is broken off by her discovery of an empty bird cage. Sam spies a hole in the top of the cage and suggests that “Jerry Lee,” his pet bird, flew the coop. As Ginny remarks that it’s too bad, she bends to pick up a piece of cloth. A cobra promptly hisses and rises up, flaring its hood. Screaming, Ginny falls backward into Sam. The snake falls to the ground and slithers out of the tent as Sam holds Ginny still and Al cautions him.

Ginny’s screams have drawn the worry of two local men who are part of their dig team. They hurry to the tent opening, asking why she was screaming. Calmer now, Ginny explains that there was a cobra that had eaten Mr. Conway’s canary. As she details the events to the men, Al remarks to Sam that the same thing happened to Howard Carter when he discovered King Tut. The local men urge Sam that they must leave this place because it’s evil. Ginny regretfully tells Sam that she told them about the curse written on the tomb walls. Sam explains that there is no curse. He insists that it’s all just a coincidence and “Nothing else bad is gonna happen.”

At that moment, a dusty car pulls up and a gentleman in a white suit and straw hat gets out, greeting Sam and Ginny. “Dr. Rassul,” responds Ginny politely. Dr. Rassul observes that they have changed the location of their campsite, commenting, “Imagine my surprise when I find that out, how do you say? The... the hard way.” Ginny explains that it wasn’t a really big move and they were running out of time and money, and with it being such a long trip back to Luxor. She trails off and Dr. Rassul fills in, “You didn’t want to go back and waste your time filling out endless mountains of paperwork.” He laughs and agrees with their decision.

Al informs Sam that this is Mustafa el Rassul, head of the Department of Antiquities at the Luxor Museum, which is partnering with their dig. Dr. Rassul says it took him all day to find them and remarks that they have found something too as he gestures down to the uncovered tomb. He is amazed when Ginny says they’ve found Ptah-Hotep II, but the tomb has already been raided, and that they’ve been beaten “by about 3000 years.” Dr. Rassul rails against tomb robbers. When Ginny comments that Dale things Ptah-Hotep is still there, Sam explains that he just has a feeling about it. Dr. Rassul hopes Sam is right and asks to go down to see what they found.

Sam explains the evidence that this tomb is 18th Dynasty. Dr. Rassul agrees and asks for better light. Ginny asks Gamal to bring one, and he and Ali swiftly begin discussing something in Arabic. Al gets Sam’s attention, complaining that he doesn’t like it down in the tomb as fear fills his expression. Sam suggests that Al go back topside, and the hologram promptly keys the handlink to pop him elsewhere.

Dr. Rassul, meanwhile, translates another inscription, “Let Thoth record the pureness of my heart...” He follows it with a joke, delivered with a saucy wink to Ginny, “...and for a good time, call Nefertiti.” Sam rolls his eyes, impatient with the lack of seriousness, and shines a light on the inscription they found earlier. Dr. Rassul begins to recite it, but before he can finish “death will...” they hear a scream from above ground. All three doctors plus the local man, Gamal, rush upstairs as Al directs Sam to the supply tent. The man who had gone for the light, Ali, lies on the ground and several scorpions run out of his sleeve. Dr. Rassul stomps on them, cursing their existence. Sam quickly examines him to discover that he’s dead. Al insists that it’s the curse.

Sam closes the dead man’s eyes and Al repeats that it’s the curse of Ptah-Hotep. “It’s not the curse,” Sam mutters. Dr. Rassul laughs hollowly and tells him, “My dear friend, you are a student of Egypt, but you’re not one of its sons. And until you have heard what I have heard and seen what I have seen, I would not expect you to believe that such a thing as a curse could be true. But it is.” When Sam argues that 3500 year old dead men do not walk around, Rassul responds it isn’t the dead man, but his “ka.” Al explains that means his spirit body. Sam retorts that he knows what it is. Rassul, assuming Sam is speaking to him, points out that Ptah-Hotep’s ka could be standing guard in his tomb to protect him. Sam realizes that this means Ptah-Hotep’s body is still nearby. Despite his belief in the veracity of the curse, this reignites Rassul’s enthusiasm as he acknowledges that Sam could be right. He remarks that legend tells of a diamond scarab the size of a cow’s eye, called “The Heart of Ptah-Hotep” that the pharaoh supposedly used to do magic. Nodding, Sam adds, “With it he would one day walk again on Earth.” Al mutters, “He’s already doing it.”

Ginny protests that Ali is dead. Although she knows they are onto something amazing, she feels that they should take care of his body. Sam apologizes and suggests they notify his relatives. Rassul offers to take Ali’s body to his family and pass along his condolences. After glances at the ominous tomb below ground, Sam and Gamal heft Ali’s body, now wrapped in a rug, into the backseat of Dr. Rassul’s car. The museum head vows to return as soon as he can, but his car travels only a few feet before grinding to a halt. Gamal bends to check the vehicle and informs Dr. Rassul that one of his steering rods is bent. The frustrated man flings his hat from his head as Al, wide-eyed, states, “Ptah-Hotep strikes again.” Ginny assures Rassul that Gamal can fix his car. Gamal agrees but cautions that it will take some time.

Sam returns to the tomb with Al, who relays a story of an Egyptian girl he once dated who believed she was the reincarnation of Cleopatra. He finishes by quipping “she had a nice asp.” Sam is not amused and asks Al to leave if he can’t be helpful. Offended, Al claims he’s being helpful by keeping Sam company “down here in the tomb of King Heebie-Jeebie.” As he continues to examine the space, Sam chides Al that it’s just a room. Al brings up the canary and Ali and the car but Sam insists they were coincidences. Al now suggests that the incidents were planned, that one of the group is a murderer who wants the treasure for themselves. He brings up the history of tomb robbers who would use a tomb as “their own private piggy bank.” When he asks Sam who’s been acting fishiest, Sam recalls Gamal and Ali’s argument over who would get the light. Al seizes on this and suggests that Gamal set up the scorpions and the car’s breakdown. Sam refuses to believe this theory and continues to insist it was just a coincidence. Al suggests that Sam “sleep with [his] eyes open, tonight.” He expresses again how uncomfortable the tomb makes him and that Sam should leave. Sam acknowledges that the place bothers Al but requests his help in finding the real burial chamber first. Al argues that he’s a hologram, not a bat—if he goes into a dark room all he sees is dark, nor will he be able to bump into anything and feel it. The handlink squawks and Al complains that Ziggy can’t do a spatial comparison search because a chip is acting up. Sam points out that makes Al useless. He begins thinking through the problem of locating Ptah-Hotep’s true burial chamber with Al, but Ginny comes down and thinks Sam is talking to himself.

She laughs and says that there are legends about Egyptian magic that say if the right incantation or inscription is read, invisible objects will appear. Sam explains that he was thinking out loud. Ginny tells him that dinner is ready; when Sam declines because he’s not hungry, she reminds him, “We gotta make nice-nice with the company. The museum is footing half our bills.” As Sam prepares to go topside, Al says he’ll go back and find more information on the disappearance. The Imaging Chamber door sluggishly opens with an unusual sound, which causes a brief concern to cross Al’s face.

After the team has finished dinner, Dr. Rassul compares their sitting around the campfire with the men and women of 3500 years ago who were waiting to bury their pharaoh and now “are like the grains of sand around us.” He wonders what their efforts are about. Sam reminisces of being a child and finding it hard to believe there was anything as old as the Pyramids. He compares his fascination with them and the pharaohs to leaping back in time or journeying to the other side. Ginny segues to asking Gamal about the car. He surmises it will take another hour or two for him to complete the repairs. Dr. Rassul determines that he will leave tomorrow.

Al walks past the camels, who grunt at him. He has arrived to inform Sam of Ziggy’s new theory on why everyone disappeared, namely that a major sandstorm is coming the next day which will leave everything buried under 50 feet of sand dunes. He advises Sam that they should “think about scramming out of here.” Sam asks the others if they feel that a sandstorm might be coming. Ginny doesn’t think the breeze feels any different than other nights. Al insists a sandstorm is coming and draws Sam away so they can talk.

Inside his tent, Sam argues with Al that he can’t leave now because of how huge a discovery they’ve found. Al reminds him that it’s going to be a major catastrophe and wants to know why Sam is being so stubborn. Sam doesn’t want to lose Ptah-Hotep now that they’ve found him. Al explains that once the chip is repaired Ziggy will be able to pinpoint the location for Sam in 1999, but he breaks off with an “uh-oh.” There is a 99.8% chance that the tomb will be destroyed in the 60’s when the Aswan Dam is built. Sam takes this as validation that he has to stay. He promises to leave with Rassul in the morning, but insists that he has to do everything he possibly can to find Ptah-Hotep while he can. Sam promptly returns to the campfire for his lantern and tools, stating to Ginny that “every minute counts.” She tells him she’ll be down after she writes up her notes.

Down in the tomb with Al, Sam wonders if he’s overthinking the situation. “And this just occurred to you?” snaps Al. Sam postulates that the door could be hidden in plain sight, which Al compares to the Edgar Allen Poe story, “The Purloined Letter.” Sam stares at a painting of Ptah-Hotep standing surrounded by a series of hieroglyphics with a frame painted around them as he wonders if the answer is “staring us in the face.” Al follows Sam’s gaze but isn’t sure what his friend is seeing. Sam explains that a pharaoh’s ka was said to inhabit his burial chamber and that the Egyptians would either create a false door or paint one so the ka could come up to the upper space to access grave offerings of food and drink. Grabbing a long handled chisel, Sam approaches the artwork as he suggests that false door could be the real door. Sam proceeds to drive the chisel into the wall as Al watches.

Above ground, Ginny sits at her desk in her tent working on her notes and drinking tea. Dr. Rassul stands in the moonlight smoking a cigarette as he surveys the night sky.

Sam continues to attack the wall with the chisel.

Both Ginny and Rassul have left what they were doing previously.

Gamal reaches for a tool and crawls back beneath Dr. Rassul’s car to continue his repairs.

Sam breaks through to the other side and shines a lantern into the dark room before proceeding to crawl through the access hole he’s made. Al cautions him against doing so to no avail. He cringes as he watches Sam’s feet disappear into the hole. “Sam, are you all right?” he calls. “Sam!” he repeats when Sam doesn’t answer.

“Unbelievable,” breathes Sam, his voice quivering, as his light shows him what he has found. He is in another chamber, filled with treasures and statues, and a large, dusty sarcophagus. Al gapes through the hole at the sight. Sam blows dust off the carvings, but before he can read them, Ginny screams from above.

Dr. Rassul runs to join her and exclaims in Arabic. Sam makes it to their side to see that the car has collapsed onto Gamal, killing him. Rassul assumes the jack slipped. As Sam confirms the death, Rassul whispers, “Ptah-Hotep.” Al agrees, “Ptah-Hotep.”

As Sam and Rassul carry the rug-covered body of Gamal into the tent, Al comments that they now know Gamal wasn’t the killer. Ginny explains that she heard a thud while she was writing notes in her tent. Rassul states that he will be very glad to leave in the morning. Al says, “You will be if Lucretia Borgia here lets you live that long.” He tells Sam that he is positive Ginny or Rassul is responsible for the deaths. Sam offers to help with the car but Rassul insists he should have been the one fixing his car in the first place. Al now accuses Rassul of killing Gamal by pushing the car off the jack. Ginny starts to cry and Al turns to suggest that the killer might pretend to be really upset to throw everyone off. Sam tells him to stop it, but Ginny thinks he’s talking to her. Sam says they can’t blame themselves for Ali and Gamal’s deaths because they were accidents. Al mocks him, “Oh yeah, oh yeah. Oops! It was an accident! I accidentally killed everybody. Ho, ho, now I’m stuck with this secret load of secret treasure. Oh, I’m gonna have to give up my measly poor paying professorship and go somewhere and live a life of ease and luxury somewhere else. Ha-ha, give her an Oscar and let’s get the hell out of here.”

Sam gives him a dirty look and calls Ginny and Rassul to see what he found, over Al’s protests.

He shines a light on the golden image of the pharaoh as Ginny expresses, “Oh, it’s incomprehensible." Rassul enthuses that not even Tutankhamen had anything like this treasure. “The wealth of a kingdom buried with their god,” agrees Sam. Ginny continues to walk around surveying their find as she states it would take her a million years to earn that much money. “We’re gonna share this with the rest of the world, aren’t we?” asks Sam as Ginny stares fascinated at a small statue. “Yeah, sure sure sure,” she distractedly says. Dr. Rassul proclaims it will be “the crown jewel of Egypt.” After a moment, Ginny proposes that they open the sarcophagus. Sam agrees and starts to follow Ginny to get the tools they need when Dr. Rassul grabs his arm and cautions him that they need to do it properly, with photographs and mapping of the exact location of artifacts as well as notifying the museum and government. Sam shoots back that he doesn’t have the time. He explains that when they go back with the two bodies they will have to answer a lot of questions which will cause delays. Furthermore, word will get out of what they found and they will be swamped by the press. He suggests that “for the moment” they keep this private.

“My heart hears you. Some moments are not meant to be public,” agrees Rassul. Ginny beams and heads to get her camera. Rassul slaps Sam on the back as he exults, “Ptah-Hotep, intact! Incredible!” He, too, departs the tomb.

Sam attaches a pulley and rope to the sarcophagus lid as Al nervously walks around, asking if he’s told Sam “that this place gives me the heebie-jeebies.” “Only about a million times,” snaps Sam. Fear continuing to build in his voice, Al says, “Yeah, well now you know.” Annoyed as he continues working, Sam tells his friend, “If you don’t want to be here, you can go, you know?” Al tells Sam he wants to watch his back for him and doesn’t want to miss a “one of a kind of any kind.” “Yeah, well, suit yourself,” grumbles Sam. Ginny and Dr. Rassul return with more tools as Sam proclaims the setup just about ready. Dr. Rassul remarks that the breeze is picking up and perhaps a sandstorm is approaching. Al confirms that the sandstorm will arrive in 15 hours.

Rassul and Ginny grab the ropes while Sam wedges the crowbar under the lid. As he levers the crowbar, they pull and gradually the heavy lid slides free, revealing the burial mask wearing body of Ptah-Hotep. Ginny deems it even more amazing than the sarcophagus. Even Al, despite his anxiety from being in the tomb, is impressed. “So far, so good,” says Sam as Ginny documents the find with photographs, stopping when she realizes she is out of flashbulbs. She leaves to go up and get more. Sam tells her to hurry up then turns to Rassul and asks if he wants to pull out the pins. Al announces that Ziggy is revising the ETA of the sandstorm. It has sped up and now will arrive in 12 or 13 hours. Sam and Rassul continue removing pins to open up the inner body covering. Ginny returns as the two men lift the heavy gold coffin from the body.

After they heft the piece onto the sarcophagus lid, Sam gapes and reaches for the light to see better. They have found Ptah-Hotep’s mummy, a bracing metal pair of arms over his chest clasping a jewel scarab in place. “The Heart of Ptah-Hotep,” grins Sam. He reaches for the scarab but freezes when a loud crashing sound comes from above. Al pops away to check as the three archaeologists run from the burial chamber to head outside.

The supply tent is ablaze. Sam tries to retrieve Ali and Gamal’s bodies but Rassul and Ginny hold him back. “It’s too late!” cries Dr. Rassul. Ginny laments that it’s like a horrible nightmare as Al proclaims that he knows how it started. He accuses Ginny of starting the fire after reloading her camera. Sam argues that he doesn’t believe it. Rassul agrees, “It is too much tragedy to understand. Unless....”

Al declares it’s the curse. Sam angrily shouts, “It’s not the curse! How many times do I have to tell you it’s not the curse!” He hypothesizes that a spark from the fire blew and landed on the tent, igniting it. The fire then caused the kerosene lanterns to explode. Equally as angry, Al protests that Ziggy says the odds of everything that happened being a coincidence are 40,000 to 1. “It’s not the curse!” yells Sam. “Yes it is!” Al yells back. Sam declares, “I’ll prove it to you once and for all.” He storms back down into the tomb. Ginny dashes after him.

They crawl into the burial chamber and Sam repeats that he’s going to prove it once and for all “both of you, that this is nothing more than an ordinary mummy, okay?” He explains that if Ptah-Hotep’s ka is guarding the place, nothing could make it angrier than someone stealing his heart. Over Ginny’s protests and Al urgently shaking his head, Sam pulls the scarab free. The metal arms clamp together as Sam hefts the scarab and proclaims, “You see? Nothing happened.” A split second later, a crash sounds and the tomb begins to shake as dust showers from the ceiling. Sam decides they should get out of there, but a stone barrier slides down over the hole in the outer chamber. Sam and Ginny are now trapped and Sam turns to look at Al, whispering “Oh boy.”

Sam and Ginny try to use the crowbar to pry the enclosing barrier, but the lever isn’t long enough to do the job. Al encourages Sam to take a little rest and try again. Sam now turns to try to pry the metal arms apart again with Ginny’s help, but they won’t budge. Sam observes that they are stuck there. Al tries to be helpful with advice, “Sam, the thing you gotta do now is you gotta be cool. That’s the first thing you learn as a pilot, is you gotta keep a level head when those warning lights go off.” He promptly yells in terror as a thudding sound comes from behind him.

“Dr. Will? Dr. Conway?” calls Dr. Rassul from the outer chamber. They call back to him, assuring him they are fine and asking him if he sees a way to move the block trapping them inside. Rassul does not, and Al comments that he isn’t an engineer.

The sandstorm will come in about twelve hours, Al tells Sam, which allows Dr. Rassul the time needed to go to town for help and return for them. Sam relays this to Dr. Rassul who tells them he will do so. Since Ginny and Sam have nothing to do but wait, Al assures him that they have two days’ worth of air but they need to get out of there before then because the sandstorm will bury them under 50 feet of sand dunes. Sam gives him a dirty look for that reminder and Al apologizes.

Sam suggests to Ginny that they search for a backdoor. She remarks that she’s beginning to get claustrophobic, but maybe the search will take her mind off of it. Al finds this humorous until he looks around and thinks about the situation and begins to get claustrophobic himself. He begins to excuse himself from the situation to “get with Ziggy and see if we can find something on tomb design” or a way to get past booby traps. He promises he will be right back. Al keys the Imaging Chamber door but it only opens partway before slamming shut. He directs Gooshie to open the Imaging Chamber door then stands listening. “What do you mean you can’t?” Sam asks, “What’s wrong with the backups?” Al stumbles over the words as he repeats Sam’s question to Gooshie. He relays Gooshie’s answer to Sam that there is some sort of gridlock with signals to the door, caused perhaps by the malfunctioning chip. Sam remarks that Al will be stuck there for a little while.

Ginny hears this and Sam covers by saying “At least things can’t get any worse.” Ginny laughs half-heartedly. She confesses that at one point she thought Dale/Sam was behind the odd occurrences. Sam is surprised and confesses that he thought it was her for a while. They laugh and then Sam returns his attention to the situation at hand.

He suggests they think like Ptah-Hotep, who really believed that he was going to come back to life. “And you also believe that there’s a really good chance that tomb robbers are gonna break into your tomb.” He lifts the scarab as he refers to it as bait. “But, eventually, you want to get out of here, too,” says Sam. This gives credence to there being a back door or a way to reopen the trap. Either way, theorizes Sam, you need a key. Sam rhetorically asks the mummy, “Where do you keep your keys?” Al and Ginny simultaneously answer that they keep theirs in their pocket or purse, respectively. Sam submits the key must be inside the mummy’s wrappings.

Sam and Ginny carefully cut away the bandages encasing the mummy. As they reveal his face, Ginny remarks, “He’s far better preserved than Seti the First.” Al reminds Sam he needs to find the key so they can get out. Ginny observes the body has no incision marks and Sam adds that there are no canopic jars for the organs. Al urges Sam to hurry because the sandstorm is coming. As Sam lifts the scarab, Al states, “Sam, that’s not a key.” Sam notices markings on the bottom and brings it to the lantern where he and Ginny read aloud, “May Nephthys and Isis guide my way.”

Sam realizes that the two goddesses are painted on the wall. Reaching up to place his hands on each of their faces, he leans in and the wall slides forward. Al notices that the metal hands over the mummy are opening. The barrier block rises and Ginny proclaims, “Dale, you did it. You did it!” Sam replaces the scarab between the hands and advises Ginny that they get out while the trap is resetting. Al pops topside and calls a warning to Sam as he and Ginny emerge from the tomb.

Rassul laughs as he looks down at them, a gun pointed at them. “Well, that was quick trip,” snarls Sam. Rassul says he intended to go but then thought, “Perhaps things would work out a great deal better for me if I just... stayed.” Al insists he always knew it was Rassul behind the incidents. As Ginny accuses him of killing Ali and Gamal, Rassul laughs and assures her he has never killed anyone and that he thought it was her or “Dr. Conway” who had done it. He decides they were just accidents after all. Rassul is excited over the prospect of living like a prince for a very long time as he ushers Ginny and Sam back inside.

Al pops into the burial chamber as Sam, Ginny, and Rassul enter through the hole Sam chiseled away. He urges Sam to stall until he and Ziggy come up with a plan. Rassul wants to know what set off the booby trap and how they got out. Sam avers that “sometimes it’s not a good idea to tempt fate twice.” As Rassul gestures at him with the gun, Sam explains that they took out the heart and then put it back. Rassul reaches for the scarab and pulls it free.

“Thank you, Dr. Conway. I hope you appreciate your accommodations,” sneers Dr. Rassul. He looks uncertainly around as the rumbling begins. Sam kicks the gun away and he and Ginny dash out of the hole before the block drops into place blocking it. Al pops into the outer chamber to rejoin him, declaring “You did it, Sam.” As Sam and Ginny get to their feet, Al updates him on the changed history. “Get this, no matter how hard you try, you—I mean, Dale and Ginny, never find the tomb of Ptah-Hotep again.” Sam asks about Rassul. Al says he doesn’t have anything as the voice of Dr. Rassul comes from the inner chamber, explaining that he can’t get the heart back in. Ginny expresses that they can’t just leave him in there. Rassul begs them to help him get out. Al points out that the sandstorm is going to arrive any second.

Exasperated, Sam directs Dr. Rassul to the back wall. As he waits for Rassul to comply Al informs him that the chip that caused the problems back at the Project didn’t fail. He explains that the whole thing was caused by a new program that Ziggy just got from Egypt. Rassul has located the paintings of Nephthys and Isis and Sam directs him to put his hands on their faces and push. As Rassul does so, a grey withered arm reaches out and grabs his shoulder. Rassul turns, terror fills his face and he begins to scream.

Sam demands Al go in to see what’s happening. As the Observer steels himself, he walks through the stone block, muttering “I really don’t like this.” Seconds later he dashes back out in a panic. “He’s killing him,” gasps Al. “Ptah-Hotep is killing him.” He turns back around to face Sam, terrified, as the screaming stops and the stone block shakes and begins to rise. Al urges Sam to get out. Equally scared now, Sam hustles Ginny to the exit hole over her protests. “What about Rassul?” she asks. “He’s dead. Ptah-Hotep killed him.” As they flee the tomb, Sam Leaps.

He finds himself standing on a small stage with another man, as his companion prompts, “So what did the cop say?” A heckler responds, “Probably said you should get yourself a day job.” The man on stage with Sam sharply responds and points for a rim shot, earning a nasty look from the heckler. “Stay with me, will ya, Davey?” the man grinds out behind a forced smile. Sam stumbles his way through the prompt, “Uh, yeah, well... This cop said that...” His partner has to prod and guide him through the joke, giving details that he was going to be hauled in, because he was naked, hiding in the bushes, and holding a sheep, and so he said....

“Oh boy?” finishes Sam. Synopsis by Jennifer L. Rowland

Project Trivia:
Al reports that Ziggy can’t do a special comparison search because a computer chip is acting up. The imaging chamber door won’t open because of the chip. At the end you learn that the problem was not a malfunctioning chip, but a new program that Ziggy got from Egypt.

Al can’t walk through a wall into a dark room and see anything. It would just be black and he would not bump in to anything since he’s a hologram.

Al Trivia:
Al calls a camel a horse.

Al appears in this episode 14 times.

He uses the Imaging Chamber door twice.

Al starts talking about the walls closing in and begins to feel claustrophobic.

Miscellaneous Trivia:
When talking about a hidden door in the tomb of Ptah-Hotep, Al compares it to "The Peorloin Letter" by Edgar Allen Poe.

An Egyptologist from Berkley was hired to make sure most of the hieroglyphs were correct. However, the set builders decided it would be funny to add a Rolling Stone tongue, a smoking Pharaoh and Bart Simpson!

An automobile from Indiana Jones first film, "Raiders of the Lost Ark," was used in this episode.

This episode has a reputation of being cursed, much like "The Boogiem*n." Earthquakes happened during it's first broadcast and the first repeat airing in California.

Plants from Egypt were flown in for the set. The episode was filmed in a quarry in California.

Bloopers:
Set to "Walk Like An Egyptian", this video features many of the cast and crew goofing off!

Guest Stars:
John Kapelos as Dr. Mustafa El Rassul
Lisa Darr as Ginny Will
Chaim Jeraffi as Ali
Ali Dean as Gamal
Rodger LaRue as Dr. Dale Conway (Mirror Image)

Guest Cast Notes:

John Kapelos as Dr. Mustafa El Rassul: Born on March 8, 1956 in London, Ontario, Canada. He is an actor and writer, known for Big Sky (2020), The Umbrella Academy (2019), The Shape of Water (2017), and The Breakfast Club (1985). See John as the janitor below:

Lisa Darr as Ginny Will: Born in Chicago, Illinois on April 21, 1963. She wanted to be an actress for a long time and went to Stanford University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in Biology. From there she went to UCLA and got a master's degree in acting. Her first big break came when she won the role of Laurie Manning in Ellen (1994). Darr recently appeared in the Academy Award-winning film Gods and Monsters (1998).

Chaim Jeraffi as Ali: Known for Waterworld (1995), Black Adam (2022) and Just Like Heaven (2005). Chaim Jeraffi was born in Israel.

Ali Dean as Gamal: Known for RED 2 (2013), My Name Is Khan (2010) and Drag Me to Hell (2009).

Rodger LaRue as Dr. Dale Conway (Mirror Image): Born on July 10, 1948 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor, known for The Replacement Killers (1998), The Rookie (1990) and Borderline (1980).

Say What?
Sam's bandana moves between shots.

When Al feels like he could be trapped in the tomb with Sam, why doesn't he just relocate to a different spot? He's in the Imaging Chamber!

The rock that seals in Mustafa bounces a little.

The ancient trap that still works after three thousand years drops a giant slab of rock in front of their hole and the slab is too thick to cut through. However, it can't be more than two feet wide, so why didn't they just cut around it?

----

Dr. El-Razul insists that he was not the one responsible for the accidents and for killing Ali and Gamal, and it's easy to believe him since he could not have started the fire (he was with Sam when that happened). Ziggy says the odds are 40,000 to 1 against it all happening by chance. So who was actually responsible? There are really only two possibilities:

Ginny was in a position to commit the murders and start the fire. This possibility is never seriously explored by anyone except Al, who, as usual, suspects everybody. In the original history, Ginny (and Dale) died in a freak sandstorm. Did Sam, by getting them out of there, allow a murderer to go free?

The curse itself was evidently a real one. Al saw Ptah-Hotep killing Razul (and so did the home audience). However, if the curse was active when Ali and Gamal were killed, why didn't Ptah-Hotep kill Sam and Ginny since they were robbing the grave with no less eagerness than Razul was? It is worth noting that Sam, throughout the series, disbelieves in the supernatural, except for the force that is leaping him around. He frequently tells Al not to be superstitious. He certainly seems pretty blase about resurrected mummies in this episode. Source

10 Times Quantum Leap Got Super Weird
by Allison Pregler

Sometimes things happened on Quantum Leap that you couldn't explain, like bigfoot or vampires. Here's the 10 times the show got super weird!

Spoiler alert: This episode is #3! Ptah-Hotep begins at 10m 27s.

Quotable Quotes:

"Man, what an ugly horse. What a gorgeous women."

"They were swallowed up without a trace."

"For anyone who will disturb the tomb of King Ptah-Hotep, death will swallow him."

"I can see them, too. Genius has death wish. Noble prize winner is really a knuckle head."

Al: "Sam, Sam, Sam I don’t like it here."
Sam: "Why don’t you go upstairs?"
Al: "Uh, good idea. I’ll meet you top side."

"Sam, it’s the curse."

"It’s not the curse."

"Dr. Conway, my dear friend, you are a student of Egypt, but you’re not one of its sons. And until you have heard what I’ve heard, and seen what I’ve seen. I would not expect you to believe that such a thing as a curse could be true. But it is."

"3500 year old dead men do not just get up and walk around."

Sam: "Al, if you can’t be helpful, why don’t you leave, ok."
Al: "Helpful, I’m being helpful. I’m keeping you company down here in the tomb of king Heebie-Jeebies."
Sam: "It’s just a room."
Al: "Yeah, it’s a room, how about the canary, how about Ali, how about the car. Those were just coincidences I suppose."
Sam: "That’s right."
Al: "Yeah, unless they were planned."

"If I were you I would sleep with my eyes open tonight."

"Happy hunting."

Sam: "Maybe, maybe, I’m over thinking this whole thing."
Al: "And this just occurred to you?"

"Give her an oscar and lets get the hell out of here."

"He’s killing him. Ptah-Hotep is killing him."

Al: "She had a really nice asp..."

Best Line:
Sam: "This is a chance of a lifetime." Al: "So is inventing a time machine. But, but, you know quit while your ahead."

Best Scene:
The best scene is when Sam sends Al back into the tomb to what is happening. Al sees what happens to Dr. Razul when he is stuck in with the body of Ptah-Hotep. When Al comes back there is a look of complete fear on his face.

Production Credits:

Theme by: Mike Post
Music by: Velton Ray Bunch
Co-Executive Producer: Deborah Pratt
Co-Executive Producer: Michael Zinberg
Supervising Producer: Harker Wade
Produced by: Jeff Gourson, Tommy Thompson
Produced by: Chris Ruppenthal, Paul Brown
Created by: Donald P. Bellisario
Written by: Chris Ruppenthal
Directed By: Joe Napolitano

Executive Producer: Donald P. Bellisario
Associate Producers: James S. Giritlian, Julie Bellisario
Coordinating Producer: David Bellisario
Director of Photography: Robert McBride
Production Designer: Cameron Birnie
Edited By: M. Edward Salier, A.C.E.
Unit Production Manager: Ron Grow
First Assistant Director: R. John Slosser
Second Assistant Director: Kate Yurka
Casting by: Ellen Lubin Sanitsky
Set Director: Robert L. Zilliox
Costume Designer: Jean-Pierre Dorleac
Costume Supervisor: David Rawley
Art Director: Ellen Dambros-Williams
Sound Mixer: Barry D. Thomas
Stunt Coordinator: Diamond Farnsworth
Sound Editor: Greg Schorer
Music Editor: Bruce Frazier
Special Visual Effects: Roger Dorney, Denny Kelly

Panaflex ®  Camera and Lenses by: Panavision ®

This motion picture is protected under laws of the United States and other countries. Unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution.

Copyright © 1992 by Universal City Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Bellisarius Productions in association with Universal Television, an MCA Company