Amulet of Horus
From Tomb Raider Wiki
The Amulet of Horus is one of the central artefacts of The Last Revelation and the entire plot hinges upon it. Originally Lara Croft's goal in the game, her early acquisition of it in the Tomb of Seth brings about a new goal; to prevent Seth from taking physical form and bringing Armageddon upon the world.
Powers
The Amulet is designed around the need to keep the evil god Seth subdued. It is first found in his tomb, where its power keeps him bound within a specially designed sarcophagus. Once it is removed it provides instruction on how to re-imprison him, being the key not only to open the Tomb of Semerkhet, the high priest of Horus at the time of Seth's imprisonment, but also to open the ancient vaults on top of which the Citadel of Saladin in Cairo is built. Finally, in the secret Temple of Horus underneath the Great Pyramid of Giza it must be used to operate a final mechanism to keep Seth imprisoned for eternity.
There is a certain inconsistency in the Amulet's use - for example how could it have been used in the original imprisonment of Seth while being the key to the tomb of Semerkhet, who died after the imprisonment took place. In fact one could argue that the entire chain of events of The Last Revelation were forecast and therefore the building of certain mechanisms all across ancient sites in Egypt pre-meditated this event happening thousands of years in the future - the inscription on the Amulet itself suggests this.
Appearance
The Amulet is in the shape of an ankh, the Egyptian hieroglyph for 'eternal life'. Also fulfilling its role in the game as a key or part of a mechanism, it is also known as the key of life, or the key of the Nile, which for Ancient Egyptians was essentially the same thing. It has a large ruby set in the crosspiece, and appears to be made of gold.
The inscription on it reads thus:
"I, Semerkhet, High Priest of Horus, forewarn.
That he who removes the Amulet shall have released Seth.
He who walked abroad with the jackal,
At the dawn of Man
Shall once again violate the Earth.
Set.
Ruler of Evil.
Will again be free at the turn of distant millenia.
At his heel plagues and locusts.
Harvests fail under the broken skies.
Once called forth, shall the heavens split asunder.
And the light of the Sun God Horus.
Banish the Lord of Darkness,
Seth."
Of course, for such a large inscription the hieroglyphs on the Amulet seem rather insufficient, therefore the inscription must be a kind of cyclical code very much dependent on context and the order in which hieroglyphs are read. It is a testament to Lara's skill that she is able to decipher it so quickly.
