OSRS Beneath Cursed Sands Guide: Requirements and Walkthrough

Overview

Beneath Cursed Sands is the Desert-series Master quest that opens Tombs of Amascut and adds the Necropolis and Ruins of Ullek to the south-east desert. Length is Medium; difficulty is concentrated in a few fights rather than a marathon of fetch steps.

The Head Menaphite Guard is the early trap: Protect from Melee makes him punish you for a third of your hitpoints. Later, the Champion of Scabaras wants ranged kite discipline, and the Menaphite Akh asks for melee movement around lightning and shadow swaps.

Between fights you solve an urn riddle and a one-minute lever sync. Bring desert heat answers and a Pharaoh's sceptre plan once Jaltevas is unlocked — returning to the dig site without travel tools is what turns Medium into Long.

Requirements and Prerequisites

Skill and quest gates below are taken from the OSRS Wiki quest-details block for this quest. Boostability notes follow the Wiki markers — if a level is unboostable, train it before you start.

Quest prerequisites (chains can be longer than this summary):

• Contact! — verify chain on the Wiki
• Prince Ali Rescue — verify chain on the Wiki
• Icthlarin's Little Helper — verify chain on the Wiki
• Gertrude's Cat — verify chain on the Wiki

If the Wiki lists alternate item unlocks instead of a skill (for example a gas mask instead of Slayer), either option is valid.

Items to Bring

Pack required items before the first travel segment. Recommended gear is comfort, not a hard gate, unless a fight forces a specific style.

Required

• Coal
• Iron bar
• Tinderbox (obtainable during quest)
• Spade (obtainable during quest)
• Any cooked or raw meat (fish, raw bird meat, raw yak meat, raw pyre fox, raw chompy, and raw t-bone steak will not work; purchasable from shop during quest)

Recommended

• Combat 85
• Protection against the desert heat, such as waterskins or Desert amulet 4
• Some form of antipoison
• Dramen staff to use fairy ring
• A pharaoh's sceptre for a direct teleport to the necropolis (Once you arrive in the necropolis, use the Commune option on the obelisk by the mine)
• Food
• Both melee and ranged combat gear
• Stamina potions are helpful in the dungeon
• A method of teleporting to Nardah (e.g: Nardah teleport or Desert amulet 2+)

Ultimate Ironmen should split heavy deliveries across trips where the Wiki notes that is allowed.

Where to Start

Starting location: Talk to Jamila at her stall in Sophanem.

Use the travel method that fits your unlocks — games necklace, fairy rings, spirit trees, carpets, or spellbook teleports — and keep a teleport out for deaths during combat sections.

Quest List blurb (paraphrased intent): When Sophanem was beset by a series of plagues, the gates to the golden city of Menaphos quickly closed. The city has been locked down ever since, with no one allowed to leave or enter. However, rumours have escaped of strange happenings inside Menaphos and there are stories of c…

Walkthrough, Stage by Stage

Numbered steps follow the Wiki quick-guide order, rewritten for BILS readers. Dialogue choices that gate progress are called out inline. For puzzle tiles or randomised layouts, use the dedicated puzzles section and the Wiki map if a step still feels unclear.

1. Entranced Menaphites. Speak with Jamila in Sophanem (File:Crafting shop icon.png icon on the minimap) to start the quest. (dialogue: What's this special item? → Yes.)
2. Read the message she gives you.
3. Make your way to the campsite, east of Sophanem, directly north of the small mining site by the cliffs.
4. For a quicker journey, exit from the south-eastern gate in Sophanem.
5. After entering the Necropolis for the first time, players with level 62 Agility can reach it once more by way of fairy ring using the code .
6. Speak with Maisa (dialogue: Let's go.)
7. If you have a Pharaoh's sceptre, commune with the obelisk directly north of the necropolis mine to allow teleportation back here, via the "Jaltevas" teleport option on the sceptre.
8. Inspect the blocked entry at the Jaltevas Pyramid.
9. Speak with either a citizen or Menaphite Guard.
10. Fight the Head Menaphite Guard. Do not use Protect from Melee, or he will damage you for 1/3rd of your total hitpoints. Boosting prayers like piety can still be used.
11. Speak with Maisa}}
12. The Ruins of Ullek. Go back to Maisa's camp and talk to her.
13. If you need a tinderbox, you can search the camping equipment by the tent to get one. A spade can be found at the north side of the campsite.
14. From the campsite, head south, east around the cliffs, and then north to a set of stairs to the Ruins of Ullek.
15. Use the coal and tinderbox on the furnace (marked on the minimap) to ignite it.
16. Search the well to receive a stone tablet. Read it.
17. This is a good time to refill waterskins at the well.
18. Head back down the stairs and head south to the southernmost ritual pillar. Dig in front of it (north).
19. Open the chest with the passcode "1118513".
20. Return to the furnace with the scarab mould and iron bar, and craft a scarab emblem.
21. Continue through the remaining mid-quest objectives in order (see the OSRS Wiki quick guide for the exact mid-section checklist if you get stuck).
22. Go back to Zahur.
23. Warm up her chemistry equipment by adjusting the individual heats until the overall temperature is at the marked level.
24. Solution: Increase the middle and right-hand bars to their maximum capacities. Then drop the right-hand bar to half way. Finally, lower the middle bar until the puzzle is completed.
25. Speak with Zahur to receive the cure crate then bring it to High Priest in Sophanem.
26. Before leaving for the necropolis, gear up for a fight against a level-351 boss using melee equipment.
27. Fight with the Menaphite Akh. Travel to the necropolis and talk to Maisa, located directly south of the south-eastern gate of Sophanem by the bend in the path.
28. At the end of the cutscene, defeat the Menaphite Akh. The Menaphite Akh attacks using melee, and will occasionally use special attacks.
29. When she twitches, she will perform a lightning bolt attack and direct it in front of her. This attack can hit 70+ if not evaded. Always be prepared to walk behind or beside her to avoid this attack.
30. During the fight she will also summon a Menaphite Shadow that attacks with ranged or magic. Run to attack it quickly (but still watch out for the lightning attack). If not killed promptly, the shadow can switch places with the Akh, and the player must attack the real one or suffer large amounts of damage.
31. If you leave the fight, speak to Osman just outside Maisa's camp to restart the fight. If players die during the fight, they can return here to reclaim their items.
32. Go back to Sophanem and talk to Maisa or the High Priest.
33. Finish the closing dialogue — the quest is complete.

If a mid-quest fight sends you to your respawn, return with the same key items — several quests do not store progress for partially completed combat.

Puzzles and How They Work

Puzzle sections in modern quests are often randomised per account. The table below covers the puzzle types you should expect; exact tile solutions belong on the Wiki when they change per player.

Skip this section emotionally if the quest is combat-only — still skim for any mid-quest door puzzles.

Boss Fights

Combat encounters listed on the Wiki quest-details block. Death usually means a run-back with lost unprotected items outside safe instances — check each fight before you commit expensive gear.

Item-loss risk: standard death rules apply unless the quest instance is a safe minigame-style fight. Do not bring items you cannot afford to lose into dangerous multi-combat areas.

Rewards and Unlocks

Rewards below summarise the Wiki reward scroll. Experience amounts and unlock text can change with updates — re-check before you plan a grind around them.

What it opens up

• Agility 50,000 Agility experience
• Access to the Tombs of Amascut
• A Keris partisan. (If your inventory was full, you may claim one for free from Selim in front of Al Kharid Palace.)
• The circlet of water, an untradeable helm that acts like a waterskin when worn. (If your inventory was full, you may claim one for free from the High Priest in Sophanem.)
• Access to a fairy ring on a small island south-west of the necropolis, code . (Unlocked when entering the necropolis at the beginning of the quest.)
• Jaltevas teleport option on the Pharaoh's sceptre. (Unlocked by selecting Commune on an obelisk in the necropolis, by the mine.)

Fact checked 2026-08-04 against the OSRS Wiki quest page and quick guide.

Common Mistakes and Warnings

ToA unlock quests fail on prayer habits more than on levels.

• Praying Protect from Melee on the Head Menaphite Guard.
• Pulling the Ullek levers too slowly and resetting the trap corridor.
• Entering the Champion fight on melee and standing in Shadow Burst range.
• Leaving the Menaphite Akh lightning line in front of her instead of stepping beside or behind.
• Forgetting the rusty key after the spirit room and banking before the Champion door.
• Showing up to Zahur without meat for the crocodile lily step.
• Ignoring poison on scarab sections and leaking supplies before the real bosses.

Ironman Notes

Coal, iron bar, tinderbox and spade are all part of the Ullek craft loop — stage them before the campsite run.

Lily of the Elid needs the crocodile meat toss; do not burn a trip on empty hands.

Combat 85 is the wiki comfort line for the Akh; bring more food than pride if you are under it.

FAQ

Does this unlock Tombs of Amascut?

Yes. BCS is the raid gate for ToA.

How hard is Menaphite Akh?

Level 351 with telegraphed specials. Movement matters more than absolute DPS.

Can I use Protect from Melee on the first guard fight?

You can, but he will smash a huge chunk of your HP for it — skip that prayer.

Is the urn puzzle the same for everyone?

No. Read your plaque text; emblem order is player-specific.

Do I need Contact! first?

Yes — BCS sits on the Desert quest chain, not as a standalone raid unlock shortcut.

Related Guides

• OSRS Quests hub
• Optimal quest order
• OSRS Tombs of Amascut Guide
• OSRS Quests Guide
• OSRS Optimal Quest Order
• Desert Treasure I Guide

Bottom Line

Learn the Head Guard prayer exception, clear Ullek levers cleanly, then bank for Akh as a proper boss attempt.

If you only want ToA access, quest services can push the Necropolis story without the wipe tuition.