Ancient Mummies With Gold Tongues Get Dug Up Near Cairo

Talk about finding buried treasure. Egyptian archaeologists recently discovered several ancient mummies in tombs at a cemetery 40 miles north of the capital, Cairo, and they all shared one feature: gold tongues. 

Dating the remains to between 300 BCE and 640 CE, the researchers had chanced upon an extension of the cemetery that contained these ancient tombs, leading them to find these new mummies.

In some of the bodies’ mouths, golden chips made from human tongues were found, albeit not in the best state of preservation. Several of the remains contained gold placed on the bones beneath the linen wraps. 

Others, according to ARTnews, had gold chips in their tombs that had been shaped into scarabs or lotus flowers; along with other artifacts, including amulets, pottery, glue, coffins, and copper nails. 

It’s speculated the practice of replacing the mummies’ actual tongues with gold ones during the embalming process could be to allow the deceased to speak to Osiris, the Egyptian God of the Underworld. 

Interestingly, as the site pointed out, this isn’t the first time gold tongues have been spotted at the same location. In fact, last year, a skull with a tongue-shaped ornament, along with three other bodies, was found to have gilded tongues. 

[via ARTnews and Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, images via Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities]