Mysterious mummies discovered with golden tongues in Egypt | Science and Ecology | DW

On Wednesday, the Egyptian authorities revealed the discovery of an Egyptian-Dominican archaeological mission near mummies with a golden tongue, dating back about two thousand years.

In a statement, the Ministry of Antiquities stated that “the mission discovered sixteen tombs carved into the rock (…) in the Temple of Tabosiris Magna, west of Alexandria,” in northern Egypt, noting that the technique used is widespread in the Greek language. And the Roman era.

These tombs contained several mummies “in poor condition” but “amulets wrapped in golden leaves in the shape of a tongue.”

The ministry said that these were deposited in the mouths of the deceased, according to established practice, “to ensure their ability to speak in the afterlife.”

He said that two of the mummies attracted the scientists’ attention, citing Kathleen Martinez, the mission’s director, who was unable to be located by AFP on Wednesday.

The first mummy “preserves strips and parts of cardboard – linen layers glued to plaster and painted surrounding the mummy – decorated with gold with the doll of Osiris,” the god of the dead.

The second wore a “crown decorated with horns and a cobra in the front, in addition to a necklace in the form of a falcon’s head”, representing the pharaonic god Horus, son of Isis and Osiris.

The mission also revealed a funerary mask, a golden crown and eight marble masks with carved details, according to Khaled Abu Al-Hamd, director of Alexandria’s antiquities, in the statement.

The expedition excavated western Alexandria for several years in an attempt to find the tomb of the legendary Queen Cleopatra.

The Ptolemaic Dynasty (330 to approximately 30 BC), of Greek origin, was the last pharaonic dynasty before Egypt came under Roman rule. Cleopatra was the last king.

EL (afp)