Archaeologists Have Unearthed 2,000-Year-Old Mummies With Gold Tongues at an Ancient Temple in Egypt
The archaeologist who made the discovery is also searching for Cleopatra’s tomb at the same site.
February 3, 2021
A mummy discovered in Alexandria, Egypt, had its tongue encased in gold foil. Courtesy of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
Ancient Egyptians often buried their dead with objects that might help them in their journey to the afterlife, such as food, wine, and jewelry.
Now, archaeologists have found a group of 2,000-year-old mummies with gold-foil tongues at Taposiris Magna, in western Alexandria. The gilding of the organ was meant to allow the dead to speak before the court of the god Osiris, the lord of the underworld and the judge of the dead. Taposiris Magna, or “great tomb of Osiris,” was a city established in the third century B.C. by Pharoah Ptolemy II Philadelphus.