- While on vacation in Egypt, Tintin is accused of drug smuggling and later becomes the target of a secret society.
- Upon taking a vacation on a cruise, Tintin encounters an eccentric archaeologist named Dr. Sarcophagus who believes to have found the whereabouts of Pharaoh Kih-Oskh's tomb. As a reporter, Tintin finds this to be a story of a lifetime, only to be arrested by Thompson and Thomson who both accuse Tintin of smuggling opium. Tintin manages to escape and meet up with the doctor to find this tomb he seeks out. They find what appears to be the tomb, along with Tintin finding a cigar in the middle of the desert containing a strange emblem. He was about to show the doctor the cigar, only to discover the archaeologist missing and enters the tomb which is the most likely place for the doctor to be at. Upon exploring Tintin discovers the place to be a secret base for an unknown syndicate, and ends up being knock out with gas after knowing too much. The next thing he remembers is being out in the middle of the ocean inside a sarcophagus. When he makes it back to shore, his first mission is to find Dr. Sarcophagus and discover the meaning of the mysterious brand of cigars.—J LeGault
- Tintin and his dog Snowy are on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean Sea when they meet Dr Sarcophagus, an Egyptologist who owns a papyrus that he believes will lead him to the undiscovered tomb of the Pharaoh Kih-Oskh (a pun on Kiosk, a stand for the sale of petty merchandises such as newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, beverages and/or street foods). He invites Tintin to accompany him. Tintin also has an unpleasant encounter with Roberto Rastapopoulos, a wealthy businessman. Later on the cruise, Tintin first meets Thomson and Thompson, who accuse him of smuggling opium and cocaine they have found in his cabin. Locked in the hold of the ship, Tintin craftily escapes and meets Sarcophagus in Port Said, Egypt.
Tintin and Sarcophagus set off and discover the tomb of Kih-Oskh. On a nearby sand dune, Tintin finds a cigar bearing the symbol of Kih-Oskh: a circle with a wavy line through it and two dots on it, rather like a yin-yang symbol. But when he returns to the tomb, Sarcophagus has disappeared. Entering the tomb, Tintin and Snowy are startled several times by doors closing behind them. They come to a room where rows of Egyptologists are mummified. At the end of the row are empty sarcophagi with notices to indicate that they are intended for Tintin, Snowy (and Sarcophagus too in the later edition). Following items of Sarcophagus' clothing which have been left lying about, Tintin enters another room where opium vapor puts him to sleep.
That night drug smugglers embark some sarcophagi aboard a ship, but they are later cast overboard. The sarcophagi contain Tintin and Snowy who therefore escape mummification. They are rescued from a gigantic wave by the crew of a sailing ship. On it they meet Senhor Oliveira De Figueira, a Portuguese salesman who travels the Middle East selling to local Arabs. He persuades Tintin to buy a top hat, ski equipment, a bow tie, an alarm clock, suspenders, a parrot, a water tin, a wooden golf club, a doghouse on wheels, and a lead for Snowy, and the overloaded Tintin walks away saying "Just as well I didn't fall for his patter; you can end up with all sorts of useless stuff if you're not careful".
Tintin then sets out across the desert and is captured by the men of Sheik Patrash Pasha. He hates Westerners but is then delighted to discover that his captive is Tintin, whose exploits he has read of for years, and even shows one of the Tintin books that he has read (the exact book is different depending on the version, but it is always the most recent to have been published; in the first black and white strip, it is Tintin in the Congo; in the second it is Tintin in America; and in the color version, it is Destination Moon).
Resuming his journey Tintin sees a woman being beaten by two men and rushes to her aid. The woman turns out to be an actress filming a movie that Rastapopoulos is making. The director is furious, but Rastapopoulos is much calmer. He and Tintin apologize to each other over the incidents on the cruise ship and the filming and become friends. When Tintin returns to the boat, he discovers that it has been smuggling guns. There is a lengthy sequence involving the Thompson twins who accuse him of being the smuggler. They hurry off when they think a grenade is due to explode, allowing Tintin to get away.
In Arabia, Tintin is walking in the desert when his water bottle is shot at and pierced by an anonymous gunman. Desperate for water he sets off only to meet Thomson & Thompson who give chase. Later they hit an Arab on the head, mistaking him for Tintin. When Tintin reaches a local city, he finds a procession of armed Arabs who claim that one of their sheikhs was attacked by two members of a rival tribe, thus providing a pretext for war. Tintin is enlisted by force into the army.
While cleaning the local colonel's office, he finds a cigar label with Kih-Oskh's sign. He searches the office for a box of cigars hoping that they will provide a clue but is caught in the act by the colonel and charged with spying. He is shot by firing squad but does not actually die: the firing squad's rifles had been loaded with blanks. Placed in a ventilated grave, Tintin is later dug up by a pair of mysterious allies dressed as veiled women. These 'allies' are Thomson & Thompson again, who were determined to capture him alive and arranged for his death to be faked.
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