The film was shot for seven weeks on location in Egypt in late 1977. Four weeks filming were on the steamer "Karnak" (the historic ship SS "Memnon" in service since 1921) and the rest at places such as Aswan, Abu Simbel, Luxor, and Cairo. Most of the time the ship was conveyed by smaller boats and the engines turned off, because they were so loud that they disrupted filming. Desert filming required makeup call at 4 a.m. and shooting at 6 a.m. to accommodate a two-hour delay around noon when temperatures hovered near 54 °C (130 °F). Bette Davis wryly commented "In the older days, they'd have built the Nile for you. Nowadays, films have become travelogues and actors stuntmen."