Factual error: When Brendan Fraser & his son are running to reach the pyramid before the sun hits it, the sunrise line approaches the pyramid along the ground, but the sun would naturally have hit the pyramid at the top first and worked its way down to the ground. [Some people insist on trying to correct this - think of it this way. If the sun's illuminating the ground from way up in the sky, what's keeping something higher up than the ground in darkness?] (01:34:40)
Suggested correction: Despite the additional comments this posting is wrong. The terminator line - the distinct boundary between sunlit day and dark night - moves horizontally across the surface of the earth, from east to west. It is perfectly feasible for the land behind Rick (i.e. to the east) to be in bright sunlight while the pyramid - to the west - is still in darkness. What is not feasible is anyone outrunning the terminator line, which moves at around 1500 kmh in the latitudes they are in.
Try it for yourself - get a round object, such as a basketball, a map tack and a flashlight. As you shine the flashlight on the ball you will see the equivalent of the day/night terminator line. Now stick the map tack into the ball and slowly rotate the ball with the light still shining on it. As it moves, the terminator moves and the map tack will become illuminated before the surface of the ball at the base of the tack. The light will move down from the top of the tack. The only way it would work as shown in the movie is if everything is exactly flat - with no differences in altitude above the ground. Obviously that is not the case. (Of course, if you don't want to poke holes in your basketball, you can use any combination of something round and something to stick to it.)
The original post is correct. Because of its sheer height, the top of the pyramid would receive direct sunlight first, just as a mountaintop receives sunlight before it appears on level ground.
It is perfectly possible for a mountain to be in complete darkness and the low lying land nearby to be brightly sunlit if the mountain is to the west and has not yet been reached by the terminator line. I repeat, the terminator line moves horizontally (in all practical terms) across the surface of the earth and as a result anything west of the line will be in darkness regardless of its height and will stay that way until the line reaches it.
Look, you're talking about mountains miles away beyond the terminator (so far away that they would be beyond the range of sight anyway). We are talking about a pyramid, easily the tallest thing in the immediate vicinity, in the near background, only a mile away at most. Under the physical conditions and locations present in this film, the pyramid should be illuminated top-down. Period.
Other mistake: How would Alex know that Imhotep's water wall took out his parents? The matter of distance is debatable. But, the winding path that the dirigible took though the canyon, as well last the water wall, would block his vision.
Factual error: At the conclusion of the fight between Nefertiti and Anck-Su-Namun, the Pharaoh congratulates his wife with "Bravo." However, bravo is a French word. He would've said well done in Egyptian, not in another language, much less a culture that didn't exist at that time. The subtitled translation would have to be altered as well.
Suggested correction: He says "Beyu" or something like that, actually meaning "wonderful" according to the script. He doesn't say "Bravo" in any case.
Other mistake: Rick's son screams for him during the rescue from the pygmies and Imhotep, but how did Alex know his dad was running in to save him, if he thought they were killed by Imhotep during the river consuming the ship in midair?
Suggested correction: Maybe he was hoping his dad was still alive and called out in the hopes that he still was. After all, nobody saw the bodies and just assumed that they all died.
