History
The Orb of Ra is an ancient mystical artifact dating back to the time of the Egyptian necromancer, Rakses (c. 1051-1047 BC). According to Egyptian mythology, the Orb was crafted from the right eye of Hathor in order to prevent her from transforming into the war goddess, Sekmet. A device of immeasurable power, the full extent of its capabilities is unknown, but it has demonstrated the ability to raise the dead, as well as to take command over the living.
A few years ago, an ambitious revolutionary named Mister Fazil discovered the tomb of Rakses and recovered the Orb of Ra. Working alongside his associate Doctor Minkly, Fazil used the orb to reanimate Rakses personal bodyguards. He then used it as the focal point in a ceremony to resurrect Rakses himself. Fazil misspoke the incantation however, and he was unable to maintain control over Rakses. Rakses killed Fazil and recovered the Orb.
N'Kantu, the Living Mummy and monster-hunter Elsa Bloodstone arrived at the pyramid and fought with Rakses. Rakses used the orb to summon the Demon of the Sands as well as a monstrous scarab to attack them, but N'Kantu managed to distract the necromancer long enough for Elsa to snatch the Orb. With the aid of the Frankenstein Monster (known only as Adam at this time), the three were able to destroy Rakses and the Living Mummy used the orb to dispel Rakses' creation. He took it upon himself to become the caretaker of the Orb of Ra.
As the Living Mummy had since been incarcerated for refusing to register his identity in accordance with the Superhuman Registration Act, the Orb of Ra was presumably taken away from him. Through a means as yet unrevealed, the Mummy is no longer imprisoned and has regained possession of the Orb. He recently used it to summon the spirit of Nephrus, the ancient wizard responsible for transforming him into a living mummy.
Notes
- The Orb of Ra was created by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Michael Lopez.
- The exact age of the Orb of Ra is a matter of speculation. At the very least, it is over three-thousand years old. Rakses made allusions to a past feud with N'Kantu, which could only have taken place during the time that N'Kantu was still a living human being. N'Kantu became a "Living Mummy" sometime around 1000 BCE.
Trivia
- The Orb of Ra made a cameo appearance on the cover to Bloodstone #4, but does not appear in the actual issue.
See Also
Links and References
- Living Mummy
- Ra