The Gang visits a local university to help out a professor who has recently acquired the mummy of Ankah, an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh. A fellow archaeologist, Dr. Najib, warns that Ankah's mummy carries a curse along with it—and when the mummy apparently comes to life, it seems as if the curse is coming true.
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Artistic License – History: There was never a pharaoh named Ankah in Ancient Egypt—he's an invention for the show.
- Artistic License – Physics: When Mystery Inc. ends up in the college's woodshop, Daphne accidentally trips an automatic power saw that cuts a hole in the floor, which leads the kids to tumble into the swimming pool below. The mummy then tosses the power saw—while it's still plugged in—directly into the pool, which, being filled with water, should immediately short it out; instead it just keeps going.
- Bound and Gagged: The professor ends up like this after Dr. Najib attacks him in his office. Shaggy and Scooby later find him, but leave him trussed up until they take care of the mummy, reasoning that he's safer that way.
- Delayed Reaction: Occurs three times.
- Early in the episode, Shaggy opens a janitor's closet to put away a few items, and a bandaged hand reaches out to accept them. He thanks whoever took them...then realizes that he's just met the mummy.
- Velma is running some tests on a piece of the mummy's bandages and asks for someone to hand her a test tube. The mummy does so, and she continues her work for a few seconds before the truth kicks in.
- Finally, after the gang seemingly escapes the mummy, Shaggy sits down and complains "My feet are killing me—all one, two, three, four of them!" Guess who he's sitting in front of?
- Failed a Spot Check: Dr. Najib removes the real mummy from its sarcophagus to complete the illusion that it's come to life. The end of the episode reveals that he put it in front of a few plants about ten feet away...and yet no one was able to find it.
- Fair Play Whodunit: The episode actually provides a clue to revealing the culprit. It's revealed that both Scooby and the professor, who apparently fell victim to the mummy's Taken for Granite curse, were both being held captive in a small shed on the university grounds. But Dr. Najib isn't in the shed—because he was the one who trapped them in the first place. His absence in the hiding place thus gives away the solution to the mystery.
- Ill-Timed Sneeze: Velma gives herself and Shaggy away when the feathered headband she's wearing for her Cleopatra disguise tickles her nose, prompting a massive "ACHOO!"
- Mouse Trap: When the Mummy tries to seal Shaggy and Scooby in the shed they're hiding in by making a brick wall, he sticks his hand in a small crack through the demanding the coin. Scooby instead hurts his hand with a mousetrap. Shaggy warns that he shouldn't have done that, as the Mummy was really mad at them now.
- No Name Given: The Professor's name is never revealed in the episode—he's only referred to by his job title.
- No-Sell: Velma has only one thing to say to the shambling mummy advancing on her, Shaggy, and Scooby: "Shoo! Go away!"
- Nobody Here but Us Statues: Velma and Shaggy try passing themselves off as sculptures of Antony and Cleopatra in the school's Egyptian wing. The Mummy falls for it...right until Velma sneezes.
- Not Now, We're Too Busy Crying Over You: The gang discovers a statue of Scooby and fear that he's fallen victim to Ankah's curse. Shaggy breaks down sobbing as the real Scooby emerges from the shed where he's being held prisoner. When he approaches, Shaggy cries "Look, Scoob, you've been turned to stone!" and Scooby joins in the mourning until Shaggy realizes what's going on.
- Nutritional Nightmare: Shaggy and Scooby's malt shop order: three liverwurst sandwiches a la mode. It's lampshaded by the poor cook, who wonders why anyone would eat such a disgusting combination.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Shaggy and Velma pretend to be exhibits in the university by dressing up as Antony and Cleopatra, respectively: Shaggy's outfit is a centurion helmet, cape, and sword, while Velma wears a cloak and feathered headband. Despite clearly being alive (not to mention the fact that Velma is still wearing her glasses), the trick works...until Velma sneezes.
- Pungeon Master: Shaggy can't resist getting in a few quips about the situation. For instance, when Velma remarks that Ankah was Egypt's richest pharaoh, he jokes "That's what I call a real riches to rags story. Yuk yuk yuk!"
- Scarab Power: Najib's motive for getting the coin was to open a secret compartment in a hippo statue, revealing Ankah's prized diamond scarab.
- Smoke Out: When the Mummy corners Velma and Shaggy in the school science lab, Velma grabs a few test tubes full of chemicals and whips up a massive cloud of blue smog to help them escape.
- Sneeze of Doom: Both Shaggy and Velma's Paper Thin Disguises are able to fool the mummy when they are hiding from him until a feather from Velma's Cleopatra disguise causes her to sneeze giving them away.
- Spotting the Thread: Velma notices two clues which prove that something suspicious is going on. First, it seems as though the Mummy of Ankah escaped from the museum by crashing through a glass door—but she points out that the glass is inside the room, meaning that someone broke it from the other side. Later, upon discovering a piece of the mummy's bandages, she can tell by feeling it that it's not 3,000 years old, and heads to the university lab to confirm her theories.
- Taken for Granite: Ankah's curse states that whoever disturbs his tomb shall be transformed into stone. The professor, Dr. Najib, and Scooby all fall victim to the curse—but it's a subversion, as they're simply cement replicas.
- Talking Is a Free Action: When Scooby confronts the mummy, the bandaged ghoul stands completely still while the Great Dane tries all manner of tricks, including Good Old Fisticuffs, karate, and a song-and-dance routine. The mummy only starts moving again when Scooby's left the room.
- Unconventional Food Order: "Liverwurst and ice cream? What will they think of next?!"
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom:
- Shaggy inadvertently pockets an old Egyptian coin from the university, which kicks off the plot and gets the professor kidnapped.
- When the group finds themselves cornered by the mummy, Fred instructs Daphne to kill the lights—but true to form as "Danger Prone Daphne," she flips a switch for a power saw instead.
- Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Dr. Najib, who dresses up as the Mummy of Ankah, makes a statue of himself to trick the kids into thinking he too has been turned to stone, thus eliminating himself from their suspect list.
- Writers Cannot Do Math: Dr. Najib is somehow able to produce three concrete replicas of himself, the professor, and Scooby in a manner of minutes, then carry said replicas to various places by himself. Even if he somehow used a cart to lug the statues around, there's no explaining how he was able to make them accurate down to the last detail so quickly.
