If Rick found the box at Hamunaptra, then how were he and his legion able to find Hamunaptra? Yes, I've considered that he might've gotten that information some other way, but why even make the choice to introduce this box from Hamunaptra in that case? And how likely is it that a box with a map of Hamunaptra would still be IN Hamunaptra?
shareThe legion must have heard of it from elsewhere. Rick says that they marched across Libya and into Egypt "without orders", so I'm guessing it was a Kelly's Heroes-type situation where one or two Foreign Legionaires got wind of it, obviously accurate intel, and convinced the rest to go get some treasure.
Once there, Rick found the puzzle box. Why was a map to the city in the city? Why not? But my best guess is that this box was placed inside the city by the Medjai. They probably recovered the map box and then returned it to the city. Why wouldn't they just destroy it? I don't know. It could be that they don't lightly destroy ancient artifacts, but throughout the films they don't seem to make top-tier decisions. They just let Rick walk, for instance, instead of just using the one bullet necessary to make darn sure he doesn't return. They also put a "curse" on a guy they hated that made the dude immortal, gave him magic powers, and ensured that the Medjai would have to anchor themselves to the City of the Dead for all-time just to make sure he didn't get out. They also fail at that.
So, yeah, I'm thinking those bozos put it there.
Why introduce the puzzle box as part of the story? To get Evie involved. If Jonathan had just found Rick and said, "Hey, let's go treasure hunting with this guy," Evie wouldn't come along. Her interest would only be piqued by an artifact.
It doesn't seem possible to find Hamunaptra without the map. It seems odd for the scriptwriter to introduce this map that ultimately turns out be useless, but make no reference to the manner in which Rick found his way to Hamunaptra.
The curator guy showed no hesitation in burning the map (which also makes me wonder why Evie was so worried about leaving the map on the boat, when they claimed earlier that the curator burned off the part with Hamunaptra on it).
The puzzle box could've been introduced without the map in it. But I've thought about it a little more and I'm wondering if the scriptwriter just failed at making clear that Rick had already been in possession of the map before going to Hamunaptra and only found the box at Hamunaptra after which he put the map in it to keep it safe.
I think Rick indicates that he knows how to get there without the map? On the boat, I believe, he taps his head and says he is the map, or something? I could be wrong about that.
Regardless, the Americans are seeking the City of the Dead without that specific map, so they must have found out the general location, too. I think it's via Benni, right?
So, ultimately, I'd conclude that knowing where the city is is a necessity, but that could be by map or guide. There are probably several maps.
SPOILER
The curator had a personal reason to "accidentally" burn the map, specifically the Hamunaptra part. If the map was showing a large enough area, you'd still know, "Okay, this burned part used to have the city," and triangulate it from there, couldn't you? It didn't look like a large section of the map was burned.
It is possible that Rick put the map into the box, as you say.
The scriptwriter, I think, wanted to give Evie a motive to start snooping, and an actual artifact (the box) is the way to do that. He was also building mystery and treasure hunting clues in the vein of adventure movies. After that, he'd just want to sew up enough loose ends so you wouldn't hate the movie while watching it.
I think he accomplished his goals. It's plausible that Rick either a) had the map and put it in the box, or b) found the city without that specific map/box, given that there are multiple people who have heard of it, and there are likely multiple maps to the city.
Rick says he's got the map in his head. I don't think it suggests he first found Hamunaptra without a map, but rather that has memorized it.
While not explained, I think it would make make more sense if Rick put the map in the box himself. If he found Hamunaptra without that map, I'm not sure why that would be the one thing from Hamunaptra he would take with him. It seems like an odd thing for the scriptwriter to do.
I don't think he entirely succeeded if he leaves me wondering about the box.
Exactly. So, if he has an ability to find the City of the Dead without that map, I'm assuming he was lead to the City of the Dead by somebody else who didn't need a map (or who had a different map).
I think he succeeded because there are several possible explanations which we're discussing. Does he need to tell us explicitly which one was employed? For me, it didn't matter. And if it bugs you, fair enough, I'm sure we could talk long enough to find films with hiccoughs in them that bug me and not you. But, I guess I just find it an odd nit to pick when it's not really a plothole and there is no dearth of plausible explanations.
Well no, I think the suggestion is that he had seen a/the map before and memorized it.
And I think it's odd that it appears Rick found the map in Hamunaptra and took it with him. There could be a thousand explanations, but the problem is that the movie gives none.
Why shouldn't we be able to discuss details that aren't necessarily a plothole, but still odd or not very logical?
We can discuss them, I'm just not sure why it bugs you since there are many satisfactory explanations as to why the map was in the box and why Rick found it in Hamunaptra.
He might have arrived with the Legion, found the box, put it in his pocket to hock later, fought the Medjai, fled from the city, and then later on found the map in there.
It doesn't seem odd to me that a map to the city might be in the city. Either the Medjai put it there, or else it was just something in the city. Lots of people had maps of their local areas (which would lead to their cities) - at least before Google was a thing.