The Well of the Souls was a secret chamber located inside the ancient city of Tanis where the Ark of the Covenant was kept.
History
The Well of the Souls was built after the Ark of the Covenant was taken to Tanis by Shishak in the year 980 BC. Shishak created the Well of the Souls to hide the Ark of the Covenant from Amun-Ra, the Egyptian sun god.
By 1936, the Well was infested with snakes that slithered in through the walls. Indiana Jones and Sallah found the chamber and recovered the Ark, but Sallah was captured by Nazis who dropped the rope, trapping Jones. Marion Ravenwood was thrown into the chamber with Jones and locked in by the Nazis.
During their escape, Jones broke through one of the walls of the chamber, revealing a room filled with many mummified corpses that frightened Ravenwood.
Behind the scenes
The Well of the Souls contains two references to George Lucas' Star Wars film series. The first one was a wall in the Well of the Souls which featured the droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, while the another was another wall which featured Princess Leia Organa inserting the Death Star plans into R2-D2. Another pillar also has pictures of the already mentioned droids.
A pair of droids from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....
Three thousand snakes were ordered months in advance, but when the production crew laid out the snakes, they discovered that 3,000 was no where near enough to carpet the set as the scenes called for. Another 7,000 snakes were procured, for a total of 10,000 snakes.
The wide shot of Indiana Jones and the Arab diggers at sunset digging over the Well of Souls were partly inspired by the one of the many beatiful vistas represented in David Lean's film Lawrence of Arabia, which is considered by director Steven Spielberg his favorite film as the film which inspired him to became a filmmaker.[1] It should be noted that when Jones is dressed as an Egyptian worker during the Map Room scenes, he resembles very much like T.E. Lawrence after the Arabs give him out of gratitude Bedouin clothes.[2]
While the Well of the Souls featured in the film is depicted in Egypt, there is an actual "Well of Souls" in real life from which the legend of the Ark is based. It can be found under the Foundation Stone under the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. The well is accessable to visitors as a stairwell has been made for storing the Ark beneath the stone in case of war.[3]
Appearances
- Raiders of the Lost Ark novel (First appearance)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures
- LEGO Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Brick (Non-canonical appearance) (On television)
- LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (Non-canonical appearance)
- LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues (Non-canonical appearance)
Sources
Notes and references
- ↑ A Conversation with Steven Spielberg
- ↑ Lawrence of Arabia - Indiana Jones' Influences at TheRaider.net
- ↑ Jerusalem's Mysterious Well of Souls May Hold Ancient Secrets at National Geographic
