>>> WE'RE BACK. 8:45.
THE NEW MOVIE, "THE MUMMY" IS ABOUT AN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN
PRINCESS WHO AWAKENS AND GOES ON A RAMPAGE OF REVENGE.
>> KEIR SIMMONS UNEARTHED THE TRUE STORY THAT HAS EERIE
PARALLELS TO THE MOVIE. >> Reporter: IN "THE MUMMY" TOM
CRUISE FINDS A MYSTERIOUS TOMB. AND AN EVIL PRINCESS COMES BACK
TO LIFE. >> SHE WILL CLAIM WHAT HAS BEEN
DENIED. >> Reporter: IT'S A MOVIE THAT
ECHOES A DARK STORY, OF A QUEEN THAT USED SORCERY IN A PLOT TO
KILL A PHARAOH. >> NOBODY SURVIVED.
>> Reporter: AND IN CAIRO, THIS, THE SO-CALLED SCREAMING MUMMY IS
A KEY TO A 3,000-YEAR-OLD MURDER MYSTERY.
THIS IS SO GRUESOME. ♪♪
WE BEGIN OUR JOURNEY IN THE SAHARA DESERT.
THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS WAS THE LAST RESTING PLACE, OR SO THEY
HOPED, FOR THE GREATEST PHARAOHS OF EGYPT.
THIS IS THE TOMB OF RAMSEYS III. ENTERING IT IS LIKE DESCENDING
INTO THE UNDERWORLD. RAMSEYS WAS MURDERED IN A PLOT
MASTER MINDED BY HIS WIFE. THE PHARAOH WAS ENTOMBED HERE
3,000 YEARS AGO. BUT HIS MUMMY IS NOT HERE.
WHERE DID IT GO? THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION WAS
BURIED AT THE TOP OF THIS MOUNTAIN.
>> THEY'RE SINGING FOR YOU. >> Reporter: THIS DOCTOR IS
EGYPT'S LEADING ARCHAEOLOGIST. HE'S TAKING ME INTO A NARROW
SHAFT 50 FEET DOWN INSIDE THE MOUNTAIN.
>> HI. HOW ARE YOU?
>> Reporter: TO A SEALED ENTRANCE.
>> WHATEVER IS IN THERE, HAS BEEN SAFELY HIDDEN FOR 2,000
YEARS. >> Reporter: IT'S REALLY
CLAUSTROPHOBIC. IN THESE TUNNELS 150 YEARS AGO,
ARCHAEOLOGISTS MADE AN ASTONISHING DISCOVERY.
>> THEY FOUND M MUMMY AFTER MUM AFTER MUMMY.
THE GREATEST PHARAOHS WHO RULED EGYPT IN THE TIME OF THE GOLDEN
AGE. >> Reporter: LIKE IN THE MOVIE,
THE MUMMIES HAVE BEEN BURIED FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, IN REAL
LIFE, TO PROTECT THEM FROM TOMB RAIDERS.
HERE, THEY FOUND RAMSEYS. AND --
>> A SCREAMING MUMMY. >> Reporter: TO FIND OUT WHY THE
ANCIENT EGYPTIANS HAD BURIED THE SCREAMING MUMMY BESIDE THE KING,
WHO HE WAS AND IN CONNECTION TO OUR EVIL QUEEN, CAN ONLY BE
EXPLAINED BACK IN CAIRO'S MUSEUM.
LOOKS LIKE HE'S SCREAMING. THE SCREAMING MUMMY HAS BEEN
EXECUTED, EXPERTS THINK, FOR THE MURDER OF RAMSEYS.
>> YOU CAN SEE EVIDENCE OF HANGING HERE.
THEY PUT HIM -- HE COULD -- AND STAY LIKE THIS.
THAT'S WHY THE SCREAMING MUMMY HAS OPENED MOUTH.
>> Reporter: THE BODY OF THE SCREAMING MUMMY HOLDS OTHER
SECRETS, TOO. DNA TESTS SHOW HE WAS NONE OTHER
THAN THE KING'S OWN SON. AND USING THE LATEST SCANNING
TECHNOLOGY, RADIOLOGISTS HAVE DISCOVERED WHAT HAPPENED TO THE
YOUNG MAN THAT BECAME THE SCREAMING MUMMY.
>> THE ORGANS AND THE BRAINS WERE NOT REMOVED.
>> Reporter: THE SCREAMING MOMMY WAS LEFT TO ROT.
HIS CRIME, PLOTTING WITH HIS MOM TO STEAL THE FATHER.
HIS PUNISHMENT THE WORST OF ALL EGYPTIANYPTIAN CURSES, TO DENY
UNHAPPINESS IN THE AFTERLIFE. >> THIS SON WHO KILLED HIS
FATHER WILL GO TO HELL. >> SHE WILL NOT STOP.
>> Reporter: AND WHILE IN THE MOVIE, THE PRINCESS COMES BACK
TO LIFE, SEEKING REVENGE. OUR QUEEN, QUEEN TIA, IS STILL
MISSING. ALMOST MORE CHILLING THAT WE
DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO HER. >> DEFINITELY.
>> Reporter: PERHAPS, SAYS THE DOCTOR, SHE IS AMONG THE
COUNTLESS UNNAMED MUMMIES IN THE CAIRO MUSEUM.
OR MAYBE, SHE'S STILL OUT THERE. FOR "TODAY," KEIR SIMMONS, NBC
NEWS. >> KEIR IS GOING TO BE IN THE
SEQUEL. >> ISN'T IT AMAZING HOW
CAPTIVAING THOSE STORIES ARE. >> AND YOU KNOW THAT EXPERT.
>> HE WAS A GUY THAT TOOK ME TO THE SPHINX AND THE FIRST PYRAMID
IN THE FIRST WHERE IN THE WORLD? HE'S THE REAL DEAL.
>> I'LL SAY. >> MISSING STILL, OR IS SHE?
>> THE CAIRO MUSEUM PLANS TO PUT THE SCREAMING MUMMY ON DISPLAY.