BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Gold-Tongued Mummies

Excavations uncover an intriguing Egyptian practice

Collection of gold tongues and nails Oxyrhynchus. Courtesy Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Excavations at the site of Oxyrhynchus in Middle Egypt have uncovered a new tomb complex dated to the Ptolemaic period (c. 304–30 BCE). According to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the tomb complex features a number of finds including paintings and statuettes. One of the most fascinating finds, however, is over a dozen mummies with golden tongues.

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A Mythical Practice

The tomb complex consists of three chambers connected to a hall at the bottom of a burial shaft. The whole complex was likely used as a mass cemetery. Among the finds were amulets, scarabs, texts, painted ritual scenes, and 13 mummies with tongues and nails. The practice of adding golden tongues to mummies was intended to aid the deceased in the afterlife by allowing them to speak, as according to Egyptian lore, gold was the flesh of the gods.

“The number of gold tongues here is high, which is interesting,” Salima Ikram, a professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo, told Live Science. “Possibly the bodies belong to higher elites that were associated with the temple and animal cults that proliferated in the area,” Ikram said, noting it’s possible that gold tongues “might have been the vogue for the embalming house in the area.”

Tomb painting of several Egyptian deities on a boat. Courtesy Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Another nearby burial shaft also led to another tomb complex made up of three chambers, one of which included several incredible paintings depicting Egyptian deities in various settings. One painting depicts the owner of the tomb, named Wen-Nefer, accompanied by several deities. Another painting depicts a boat with multiple deities.

This article was first published in Bible History Daily on January 6, 2025.

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