In Search of ‘Real Scorpion King’

Most moviegoers know the Scorpion King only as the sword-wielding hero who captured the movie box office last weekend, but many Egyptologists now believe that there was a real Scorpion King. And chances are he bore no resemblance to the muscle-bound character played by WWF wrestler Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson in the film that opened Friday.

Tonight at 9, the History Channel reveals “The Real Scorpion King” in a two-hour documentary that lays out evidence of the ancient monarch’s existence.

There is no swordplay, no back flips and no flaming arrows in “The Real Scorpion King,” just a view of the exhaustive treks through desert caves and ancient ruins for traces of the ancient king. The program doesn’t depend on cinematic views of the usual suspects--pyramids, mummies and temples--it examines the facts, or more specifically, the carved artifacts: the Scorpion Mace, bone and ivory tags, and the Scorpion Tableau.

The documentary mixes footage of the Egyptian desert with commentary from Egyptologists Zahi Hawass, Salima Ikram, John Coleman Darnell and others, who agree that King Scorpion not only may have been responsible for the unification of Upper Egypt but also may have had a hand in the development of the first pictographic writing system. And the design of his tomb may have inspired the pyramids.

The program is interesting but could have spent less time on speculation. Adding to the bloat is an introduction by the Rock and, toward the end, some shameless promotion of the movie.

But the Rock can be forgiven because he makes the program’s only reference to the fact that the archeological evidence may suggest the existence of at least two rulers who used the name King Scorpion.

Perhaps the History Channel is waiting for “The Scorpion King” sequel to delve into the many unresolved mysteries.