The very first thing you want to do is dig until you get the Sceptre, which will allow you to move really fast throughout the game no matter how thirsty or injured you are. If you dig up anything else, hit RESET. It'll take you a few tries, but it's worth it.

Travel south until you reach the southernmost oasis. Drink at it; you now have the Staff of Ra (it must be the absentee Staff from Raiders of the Lost Ark). You'll need this to give the Temple of Ra your remaining treasures at the north end of the desert, sending your score into orbit and beating the game.

Now you can head north. Get a spade from one of the Nomads and dig for more treasures, giving up Sceptre-speed for now. If he gives you something other than a spade, just appeal to someone else, keeping the other thing. It'll come in handy later, no matter what it is.

As you walk, drink at every oasis you encounter. It'll help you move at a reasonable pace when you decide to dig for stuff (taking the inventory selector off the Sceptre), or if anyone steals your Sceptre and you have to dig for it again. Also, touch the goddess Isis (the blue humanoid) every time she shows up. Not only will she heal you, but she'll often give you a treasure that you don't already have. Don't shoot her unless you want to lose points, and don't shoot or touch Anubis, the bad god (clearly defined by his black head), when he shows up.

Keep it mind that drinking from the Goblet relieves all of your thirst like the jug, except that it doesn't disappear when you use it. Utilizing the Disk of Ra (that nutty Ra had a bunch of neat stuff) heals all of your wounds, but doesn't disappear like the leaf does. The reason that said items don't disappear is that they're treasures, while the jug and the leaf are just objects. Another handy non-treasure object is the shield (protecting you from the baddies' rocks). Too bad you can't use two things at the same time!

Also keep in mind that no character in the game but yours can move northward. Whenever you walk to the south, stay all the way to the west; this way, bad guys can't surprise you (or even shoot accurately at you as you pass).

Ignore the first Pyramid when you encounter it. What you want by the time you approach the Phoenix is the leaf (to be able to walk past) and the scroll (for which the Phoenix will give you a key). Once you have the key, backtrack to the first Pyramid, open it with the key and get one of the three Tablets (the game's major treasures).

Walk north past the Phoenix. The next structure you'll encounter is the Temple of Isis, the rectangular blue building. Give it the jug (to be able to pass by) and the crown (for which you'll receive another key). Walk north to the next Pyramid and use the key to get another Tablet. The next place, the Temple of Anubis (spooky music, please), is the rectangular, fire-colored structure. It wants the shield (to let you through) and the Ankh (for the final key). To the north is the last Pyramid and the third Tablet.

Now you'll come upon the Sphinx. It wants one of the Tablets; it's always random, so try each of them until one's accepted. Walk north to the Temple of Ra, select the Staff from your inventory and touch the Temple. It will take everything you're carrying that's a treasure (as opposed to a mere object). Treasures are dug-up via your shovel, or gifted by Isis; Nomads only give you regular objects. As we've seen, each structure wants one treasure and one regular object except the Phoenix, which wants two regular objects.

Your score will increase for each treasure given to the Temple of Ra and then the game will end. If you want to win and get a high score, just make sure that you first re-unearth whatever treasures you've given away at the structures. This can get frustrating, as it takes a long time to find something when you're digging if you're already carrying most of the treasures. Another high-scoring strategy is to re-offer appropriate items to structures you've already passed, as mentioned above.