Egypt, especially as it appears in the pre-Classical period, is an important part of the some of the earliest Yu-Gi-Oh! lore, as it pertains to the the history and plot arc of one of the first protagonists, Yami Yugi, as well as the in-universe development of the Duel Monsters card game.
The fertile Nile River, cutting through the harsh Sahara Desert, is one of the cradles of human civilization, with multiple of the very first true states rising along its course. Approximately 5000 years before the present day, King Narmer/Menes unified Upper Egypt in the south with Lower Egypt in the north, forming the unified polity recognized as the official start of Egypt as it has been known throughout history. Narmer is considered the first "pharaoh" in historiography, though the term only acquired its modern meaning long after his life.
The iconic pyramids, mausoleums for pharaohs wishing to project power, were mostly completed during the Old Kingdom, with the Great Pyramid of Giza being the tallest man-made structure for most of recorded human history. These were later abandoned in favor of excavated burials tombs such as those at the Valley of the Kings near Luxor, largely to help deal with the threat of grave-robbing (such tombs can be seen in-franchise with Pharoah Atem and Anubis).
The iconic pyramids of Giza, serving as a symbol of Ancient Egypt.
Other distinguishing features of Egyptian civilization that are sometimes seen in Yu-Gi-Oh! media include:
Read also: The Language of the Pharaohs
- Ancient Egyptian religion (from which deities such as "Horus" and "Nephthys" originate), including the use of magical amulets and other items (analogues to the Millenium Items), as well as mummification of the deceased.
- Hieroglyphic writing (as seen in places such as video game loading screens and backgrounds).
- The Afro-Asiatic Egyptian languages (such as chanted by Anubis in Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light).
- Music that includes instruments such as the ney, simsimiyya and local drum varieties (influencing soundtracks e.g. that of Yu-Gi-Oh!).
Egypt was conquered by foreign powers repeatedly in its history, such as temporarily by the Semitic Hyksos people and also during its incorporation into the Kushite Empire (centered on modern-day Sudan). However, a succession of conquests would mark the end of many of the traditional practices it is remembered for. The last native kings were ousted when Egypt was added to the Persian (Iranian) Achaemenid Empire by the successors of Cyrus the Great.
The Hellenistic Macedonian forces under Alexander the Great and his generals, including Ptolemy Soter, took Egypt during their conquest of that empire; after Alexander's death Ptolemy would establish the independent Ptolemaic Egypt, during which Egypt came under increasing Greek cultural influence. The last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty was the famous Queen Cleopatra, who clashed with the Roman Empire, leading to Egypt coming under long-term Roman control. During its time as a Roman province the polytheistic religious traditions were rapidly abandoned in favour of the new religion of Christianity. The majority religion would change again when Egypt was an early conquest of the first Islamic Caliphate, after which the general language of the population as well as other cultural practices became increasingly Arabic.
The Story of Yami Yugi and Ancient Egypt
Solomon Muto, a gaming enthusiast and archeological explorer, investigates the Tomb of the Nameless Pharaoh in the Valley of the Kings. After strange and life-threatening events, he retrieves the pieces of a mysterious artefact known as the Millenium Puzzle and takes it with him to Domino City (located in Japan in the original version) where he opens a game store.
His grandson, Yugi Muto, a timid schoolboy, takes the puzzle and completes it, accidentally awakening an ancient spirit which can take possession of his body. Meanwhile, Maximillion Pegasus, the American head of a gaming company and wielder of the Millennium Eye, has created a trading card game, eventually marketed as "Duel Monsters", secretly based on ancient rituals from a lost age of Ancient Egypt, where powerful individuals would use monsters called ka to engage in Shadow Games of their own.
Yugi and the spirit are forced to win Pegasus' Duelist Kingdom Tournament and defeat him in order to free the souls of Yugi's grandfather, Yugi's rival Seto Kaiba, and the latter's brother. During the tournament the connection to Ancient Egypt starts to be revealed.
Read also: Pharaohs: A detailed look
Ishizu Ishtar, a museum curator and member of the Tomb Keeper clan, who live an isolated and subterranean existence in Egypt guarding the secrets of the Nameless Pharaoh, manipulates Kaiba into hosting a tournament of his own, the Battle City Tournament. She identifies Kaiba as the reincarnation of an ancient rival to the Pharaoh, the Egyptian priest named simply Seto, and that the spirit inhabiting Yugi Muto's body is that of the Pharaoh himself. During the tournament the Millenium Items gather, and the three Egyptian God Cards come into play, cards that contain the spirits and power of Ancient Egyptian deities.
Eventually the group travel to modern-day Egypt, and enact the ritual, which transports them all into the Nameless Pharoah's memories of the distant past (circa 1000 BC in the original, 3000 BC in the English dub), including recreations of the places and people he knew in life. Here they must overcome the threat of the Spirit of the Ring in his mortal form, Thief King Bakura, the last survivor of the village of Kul Elna, which was destroyed to create the Millenium Items.
After Zorc is overcome, Yugi and the Pharaoh hold one final Duel Monsters match in Ancient Egyptian ruins.
Atem summoning Obelisk to attack Bakura's Diabound.
In an epilogue to the original manga series, Yugi and Kaiba must stop Aigami, the disciple/foster son of Shadi (who was an Egyptian who as a spirit aided and directed Yugi and others during the plot of the original series). Shadi's death and Bakura's acquisition of the Millenium Ring take place in Egypt, in the ruins where the Items are kept. Sand and deserts appear in several places not explicitly set in Egypt.
Read also: The Art of Ancient Egypt
Anubis, a being known as the Lord of Death, awakens after his tomb in Egypt is excavated. Solomon invites his grandson and his friends along when an Egyptian pyramid is discovered out-of-place in Asia. Eventually the group must defeat the dark personality of Alexander the Great.
Abidos the Third is another character said to be an ancient pharaoh, and utilizes a deck that is themed accordingly. Tragoedia, the final antagonist of the Yu-Gi-Oh!
Key Characters and Elements
- Atem (Yami Yugi): An ancient Egyptian pharaoh who had sealed his own spirit/soul within the mystical Millennium Pendant. His spirit then took on the identity of Yami Yugi, which resided in the body of Yugi Muto, after Yugi solved the Millennium Puzzle. It was stated once that Yugi is the modern day version of Atem. He is the centerpiece of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series next to Yugi and is the driving force behind most of the events that transpired during the series. He is likely named after the Egyptian god Atum.
- Millennium Items: Magical artifacts with great power, analogous to magical amulets in Ancient Egyptian religion.
- Egyptian God Cards: Cards that contain the spirits and power of Ancient Egyptian deities. Ra (who has its own series of cards) and Osiris (in the Japanese name of Slifer) are deities found in Ancient Egyptian religion.
Like in the original manga and anime, a pharaoh's name was considered magically and spiritually significant, as it was one component of the soul. Atem (ç (ã¢ãã ) Atemu, lit. "king" from a kanji) is an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who had sealed his own spirit/soul within the mystical Millennium Pendant.
Atem was born around 1,000 B.C. (3,000 B.C. in the dub), as the only son of King Aknamkanon and his queen. Atem became heir to the Egyptian throne and the Millennium Pendant. During his childhood he befriended Mana and was protected by Mahad. In one incident, Atem was attacked by a snake, but Mahad took the hit for the young prince. Atem then saved him by sucking the venom out.
One day, Priest Seto was appointed as guardian of the Millennium Rod by Aknamkanon. Atem was present for the ceremony. The Pharaoh announced that Seto would serve him as his right hand. Secretly, Aknamkanon's brother, Aknadin, harbored resentment towards Atem as Seto was his son and Aknadin wanted him to be Pharaoh, a goal he vowed to accomplish.
On the day he became Pharaoh, Atem was attacked by a common thief but was saved by Mahad. After this, the thief was put through the Millennium trial, where it was discovered that he was possessed and they let him go. Just minutes after that, his kingdom was attacked by Bandit King Bakura. Bakura had raided the tomb of Aknamkanon and stolen his DiaDhank and coffin. Atem put Bakura through the Millennium trial, but it failed. Atem announced that Bakura's disrespect was appalling.
Atem was awoken by a nightmare of Mahad dying in battle at the hands of Bakura. He and Mana went to Mahad's monster tablet and realized that he was in a battle with Bakura. The two headed to the spellcastors' training grounds where Atem's troopers were being attacked by Bakura's followers. During the fight, the back up arrived but were too late. Mahad's Millennium Ring was in Bakura's hands and he was merged with his Illusion Magician.
Bakura later returned to the kingdom to possess Aknadin. After this, he and Atem fought each other once again. Atem fought with Slifer the Sky Dragon whilst riding on horseback. While they fought, he ran past Dartz, a resident of Atlantis who was to become his enemy in 3000 years (5000 years in the 4Kids Entertainment version).
After Atem was found, he and the other guardians headed for Kul Elna, and Atem and Bakura fought one last time. As Atem was about to defeat Bakura, Aknadin showed up with the Millennium Key that he stole from Shada and stole the other Millennium Items. After putting them in the Millennium Stone, Zorc Necrophades appeared and offered Aknadin anything he desired in exchange for his loyalty.
It then became clear that without the Millennium Items, they did not stand a chance. Isis and Mana set off to retrieve them. Mana returned but Isis and Shimon had perished at Zorc's hands. Atem then brought out all three Egyptian Gods to fight Zorc. Though the gods were able to overpower him, it did not last. Without the combined form of the gods, The Creator God of Light, Horakhty, Zorc could never be destroyed.
Not wanting Zorc's rampage to continue into other parts of the world, Atem defeated Zorc by using an extremely powerful magic spell to seal both himself and Zorc within the Millennium Pendant, using his name as the key to the spell and erasing his own memories to keep the spell from ever being used to return Zorc to life ever again. Priest Seto, whom Atem had abdicated the throne to, had the Pendant shattered and, as in accordance with Atemâs final instructions, had any and all signs of Atemâs name erased.
The pieces of the Pendant (which would eventually come to be referred to as the âMillennium Puzzle") were placed in a box which was kept in Atem's tomb. A number of traps and monsters were placed within to protect the artifact and traces of his name were destroyed. This action would cause history to refer to him as the âNameless Pharaohâ.
As an ancient prophecy had predicted that the Pharaoh would return sometime after his own demise in the modern-day era, the Ishtar family devoted their lives to protecting the Pharaoh's tomb until that time. Over the next three thousand years (five thousand in the 4Kids Entertainment dubbed version), many attempted to steal the Millennium Puzzle, but all fell prey to its traps, save for one individual.
This person was driven to madness and roamed his village, muttering, "The shadow game. 3,000 years later (5,000 in the 4Kids Entertainment dub), the Millennium Puzzle was found by Solomon Muto. According to Solomon, his companion tried to kill him to take the Pharaoh's treasure for himself, but Solomon was saved by what appeared to be the spirit of Atem. Solomon's grandson Yugi Muto solved the Millennium Puzzle, causing Atem, now a disembodied, amnesiac spirit, to reside in Yugi's body, eventually taking on the identity of âYami Yugiâ.
After Yami Yugi completed all his tasks, he presented the Egyptian God Cards to the ancient tablet at the museum. After doing so, Yami Yugi was brought to a table, where he played a Shadow RPG with Yami Bakura. Atem wakes up on the balcony of the royal palace, where Shimon Muran, his Royal Vizier, informs him that the people are eager to meet their new Pharaoh. Although still stripped of his memories prior to sealing himself in the Millennium Puzzle, Atem greets his subjects.
Shimon takes Atem to the throne room, and invites him to sit down on this throne, calling it âThe big gold chair right in front of you.â Atem sits and upon seeing Shimon's face for the first time (as he was wearing a veil/mask prior to Atem sitting down), mistakenly calls him Grandpa because of his resemblance to Yugi's grandfather. He is quick to learn the Ancient Egyptian style of dueling.
He witnesses the priests extract the ba from a criminal and seal it in a tablet. Bandit King Bakura then arrives, after plundering the tomb of Atem's father, Pharaoh Aknamkanon and dragging the treasures and his corpse to the palace. Seto and Bakura Summon Monster Kas, which battle. Bakura's Diabound defeats Seto's dragon. He mocks Atem by trampling on his father's corpse. As the priests Summon more monsters to fight Diabound, Atem walks over and takes his father's body from Bakura.
Atem steps in to avenge his father and summons Obelisk the Tormentor. Obelisk battles Diabound. Atem spots Bakura leaving the palace, after he had snuck in to possess Aknadin with Zorc. Atem chases after Bakura on horseback and battles Diabound, now powered by the Millennium Ring. Atem summons Slifer the Sky Dragon, but Bakura is able to take advantage of Slifer protecting the civilians. Diabound manages to defeat Slifer and Atem runs out of Ba.
Atem's friends from the modern world, Yugi, Téa, Joey and Tristan come to his assistance. Yugi combines his Ba with Atem's and together they summon the third Egyptian God, The Winged Dragon of Ra. Ra transforms into God Phoenix Mode and manages to defeat Diabound, but Zorc, in control of Aknadin, reverses time, bringing back Diabound and pulling Atem's friends away from him. Without Yugi's Ba, Ra leaves.
At Kul Elna, Bakura tells Atem how the Millennium Items were created, by sacrificing the lives of the villagers of Kul Elna. He tried attacking Atem with the ghosts of the villagers seeking revenge, but Mahad, now fused with his Illusion Magician Ka, returned from the dead as Dark Magician. The Dark Magician fends off the ghosts and battles Diabound. He assures Atem that his father had not known about how the Items were created. With the help of the priests and Mana, Atem and Mahad defeat Diabound, but relinquish the Millennium Key and Scales in the process.
After the Ceremonial Battle, during which he Dueled against Yugi and lost, Atem's spirit finally crosses over into the afterlife where he is free to be with his good and closest friends and family, ruling as Pharaoh once more.
Atem is largely based on Tutankhamun, colloquially known as "King Tut". Tutankhamun was a Pharaoh in the 14th century BCE of Ancient Egypt, who died at a young age and was buried in the Valley of the Kings. Tutankhamun's father was Akhenaten, who replaced the polytheistic Egyptian pantheon of gods with a single deity named Aten, and Tutankhamun's birth name was "Tutankhaten". When Akhenaten died, the priests convinced his son to revert to the polytheistic pantheon and change his name accordingly, and he took the name Tutankhamun.
Pharaohs after Tutankhamun attempted to systemically erase Akhenaten and his family from history by dismantling temples built by them and removing mentions of their names.
Yami Yugi and Atem, two sides of the same coin.
In the 4Kids Entertainment dub, Mr. It is also a likely case that Black Luster Soldier or something similar served as Atem's natural Ka, as he donned its armor to face Zorc Necrophades in a fashion similar to Mahad donning the Illusion Magician's visage.
The True Effects Of The Egyptian God Cards
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