Mummies With Golden Tongues Discovered in Ancient Egyptian Necropolis

Several ancient mummies have gold chips on their tongues.

There is a necropolis in the central Nile Delta. The site was discovered in 1989 and is believed to have been occupied during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.

The golden-tongued mummies were found in a newly discovered extension of the archaeological compound, where many other bodies were buried.

Some of the skeletons have their bones glazed in gold, while others have been buried near gold-shaped scarabs.

Even though they have been found before, the golden tongues are still a puzzle.

At the start of 2021, researchers unearthed a skull with a gleaming tongue-shaped ornament framed in its yawning mouth.

A man, a woman, and a child mummy were found with golden tongues at the end of the year.

The gold was believed to have been placed there by embalmers to make sure the dead could navigate the afterlife.

In ancient Egypt, a golden tongue was needed to get on the good side of the lord and judge of the Underworld, Osiris.

Osiris lived among the dead and had a strict rule of silence. The Underworld in ancient Egypt was known as the Silent Land and Osiris was called the Lord of Silence

It is believed that silence was enforced during funerary arrangements in ancient Egypt because Osiris disliked noise. When the mummy's mouth was open for the afterlife, no music or sound was made.

The introduction of a golden tongue may have allowed mummies to speak to Osiris. Why are only some mummies buried with golden tongues?

The Egyptians used gold to make ornaments for funerary rituals. The skin of the Sun God, Ra, was thought to be the flesh of the gods and associated with the idea of eternity.

Ra was the leader of the ancient Egyptian gods and he was close to Osiris. Ra and Osiris represented the hours of darkness.

A golden tongue may represent a line to the light. All we can do is theorize.

The mummies found at Quweisna are in poor condition, and their secrets are beginning to decay.

All we hear now is silence as their golden tongues are clearly trying to communicate.