Golden-tongued mummies to 'speak to the dead' are discovered in Egypt
02.02.2021 19:15
The country's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities says "golden tongue" mummies have been discovered in Egypt, believed to date back 2,000 years and were known in the ancient Greek and Roman eras.
A team of Egyptian-Dominican archaeologists discovered 16 burials in the tombs of the Taposiris Magna temple in Alexandria, western Alexandria.
Experts believe the tongues, made of gold paper, were placed inside the mouth of the dead person after their biological tongue was removed during the embalming process.
They say this was done in the hope that the dead person could talk to Osiris in the afterlife.
Osiris is the "Lord of the Upper World" and the judge of the dead - one of the most important gods of ancient Egypt.
Marble crowns and masks dating back to the Greek and Omakian eras were also found.
The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities said the coins which had the inscription and the name of Queen Cleopatra VII written earlier had been found at the site.
Cleopatra VII was the last queen of the Greek-speaking Ptolemaic dynasty. She was the descendant of its founder, Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian-Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great.
Source: The Independent
The country's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities says "golden tongue" mummies have been discovered in Egypt, believed to date back 2,000 years and were known in the ancient Greek and Roman eras.
A team of Egyptian-Dominican archaeologists discovered 16 burials in the tombs of the Taposiris Magna temple in Alexandria, western Alexandria.
Experts believe the tongues, made of gold paper, were placed inside the mouth of the dead person after their biological tongue was removed during the embalming process.
They say this was done in the hope that the dead person could talk to Osiris in the afterlife.
Osiris is the "Lord of the Upper World" and the judge of the dead - one of the most important gods of ancient Egypt.
Marble crowns and masks dating back to the Greek and Omakian eras were also found.
The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities said the coins which had the inscription and the name of Queen Cleopatra VII written earlier had been found at the site.
Cleopatra VII was the last queen of the Greek-speaking Ptolemaic dynasty. She was the descendant of its founder, Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian-Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great.
Source: The Independent