The Mummy 1999 Filming Locations: Erfoud & Marrakech

Hollywood needed an ancient Egyptian city and built one in the Moroccan Sahara. The Mummy 1999 filming locations run from Marrakech, which doubled for 1920s Cairo, to the desert plateau of Gara Medouar near Erfoud. There, Hamunaptra’s City of the Dead was assembled. The tomb interiors and the Nile port scenes were shot in England.

This guide breaks down every Morocco location from the 1999 production. You will see the Sahara set, the city streets that played Cairo, and how to visit both on a private desert route.

The Hamunaptra Set — Erfoud, Gara Medouar and the Sahara Desert

Hamunaptra’s City of the Dead was built at Gara Medouar, a horseshoe-shaped limestone formation about 20 km (12 mi) south-west of Erfoud, near Rissani. Production designer Allan Cameron chose the site. Crews laid a concrete ramp for access, then assembled the city from prefabricated parts shipped from England. That answers the Hamunaptra filming location Morocco fans ask about most.

The temporary set left no standing structures documented. Visitors come for the natural formation, an old fortress wall at its rim, and the empty desert around it. Some fan write-ups credit other kasbahs with playing Hamunaptra, but the documented exterior set is Gara Medouar.

What the production used here:

• The crater rim: a horseshoe plateau that framed the City of the Dead.
• The old fortress wall: a surviving stone line along the plateau edge.
• The access ramp: concrete laid for cast, crew and equipment.
• Prefabricated parts: shipped in from England, then dismantled.

Conditions were punishing. The shoot ran 17 weeks with daily sandstorms and extreme heat, and crews shared a medics’ hydration drink every two hours.

Marrakech as 1920s Cairo — Souks, Walls and Rooftops

The production could not shoot in Egypt because of unstable political conditions there, so filming began in Marrakech. The city had one clear advantage: it was far less modern than Cairo, which made it easier to dress as the 1920s. Crews arrived two weeks early to take down telephone wires and cables.

Period cars and camels were shipped in, and local residents worked as crowd extras. The medina’s ochre walls, souks and rooftops became the textures of colonial Cairo. This is the one location on the list you can explore without leaving your hotel district.

Where to look in Marrakech:

• Djemaa el-Fna: the square listed among the film’s Moroccan locations.
• The souks: narrow lanes used for market and chase scenes.
• Walls and rooftops: warm surfaces that read as 1920s Cairo.
• The medina: where crews cleared cables and wires before shooting.

Why The Mummy Was Shot in Morocco, Not Egypt

Egypt was both the obvious setting and the wrong place to film. Unstable political conditions there made a large production too risky, and the story’s desert could be rebuilt nearby. Morocco offered sand, kasbahs and film-friendly logistics, with official support from the Royal Moroccan Army for the desert shoot.

England handled what Morocco could not. The underground passageways of the City of the Dead were built at Shepperton Studios, and the dockyards at Chatham doubled for the Giza port on the Nile.

That split explains the film’s look: real desert light outdoors, studio craft for the tombs. It also explains why the Morocco locations are still easy to visit today.

Visiting the Mummy Route — Erfoud, Gara Medouar and the Desert

If you are asking where was The Mummy filmed in Morocco, your map has two pins: Marrakech and the desert plateau at Gara Medouar Erfoud. Both are open to visitors, and both fit neatly into a private desert itinerary.

How to reach the desert stops:

• Marrakech to Erfoud: about 485 km and 7-8 hours by road.
• Fes to Erfoud: roughly 8 hours, often via the Todra gorges.
• Gara Medouar: a short off-road track near Rissani, best in a 4x4.
• What remains: the formation and its old wall — no standing set.

The plateau is popular on 4x4 desert trips. Pair it with the Erg Chebbi dunes near Merzouga, where the same sand sea continues and desert camps host guests. Sleep in Erfoud or Rissani and drive the track early, before the heat builds. Fuel, water and cash thin out beyond Erfoud, so a driver-guide who carries supplies makes the day smoother.

Design Your Morocco Film Itinerary

Film-location trips work best when the driving is solved and the days stay flexible. A private itinerary turns Marrakech, the gorges, Erfoud and the Sahara into one easy loop, with a local driver-guide and hand-picked riads and desert camps along the way. You get the real Morocco behind the camera, hassle-free.

Our 4-Day Morocco Desert Tour from Marrakech — Ait Ben Haddou, Dades Valley & Merzouga links the kasbah road with the gorges, Erfoud and the dunes, so the desert days stay unhurried.

If time is tight, the 3-Day Trip from Marrakech to Merzouga reaches the same sand sea on a shorter loop between the Atlas and the Sahara.

For the sequel’s locations, see our guide to The Mummy Returns filming locations, covering the dunes and the studio sets.

We can customize a tour to match your needs — design your perfect itinerary