Archaeologists in Egypt Discover Mummy With Gold Tongue

Archaeologists conducting excavations at the temple of Taposiris Magna in western Alexandria, Egypt, have unearthed a 2,000-year-old mummy with a gold tongue.

As Nihal Samir reports for Daily News Egypt, researchers from a dual Egyptian-Dominican mission discovered the golden-tongued mummy while surveying 16 poorly preserved burials encased in rock-cut crypts—a popular form of interment during Egypt’s Greco-Roman period.

Crafted out of gold foil, the tongue-shaped amulet was likely placed in the deceased’s mouth to ensure they’d be able to speak in the afterlife, per a statement from Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. (Egypt Independent’s Al-Masry Al-Youm reports that researchers at the Alexandria National Museum are now studying two such gold foil amulets, as well as eight golden flakes representing the leaves of a wreath.)

If the individual encountered Osiris, god of the underworld, in his domain, they would have needed a way to communicate with the deity, notes Owen Jarus for Live Science. The team is unsure whether the mummy had a speech impediment in life and why exactly the artificial tongue was made out of gold...MORE