More than a dozen ancient Egyptian mummies decorated with gold tongues and fingernails were discovered in 2,000-year-old tombs.
A team of Egyptian and Spanish researchers discovered these artifacts and more while excavating the Al-Bahnasa archaeological site in Egypt’s Minya Governorate.
Their mission was part of a decades-long project to study the site, with the latest focus on one underground burial complexor mass grave, which is located at the bottom of a shaft with a large hall and three burial chambers.
The team found about 300 mummies and 52 of the wrapped remains dating from the Ptolemaic era, ancient Egypt’s longest and last dynasty that stretched from 305 to 30 BC.
But 13 of these mummies had gold tongues in their mouths, which were funerary accessories for the afterlife.
Archaeologists say they have also discovered other artefacts of ‘great value’, including a heart scarab in its original position, amulets depicting figures of Egyptian gods such as Horus, Thoth and Isis, and a terracotta statuette of the god Harpocrates.
The researchers believe their findings shed new light on the religious practices of the Ptolemaic era.
Archaeologists have discovered 13 gold tongues and fingernails adorning mummies buried in 2,000-year-old tombs in Egypt
When examining the graves, the team found around 300 mummies, according to a statement from the University of Barcelona (UB), one of the institutions supporting the mission.
The ancient Egyptians believed that gold was considered a divine metal that was eternal and had magical powers.
Experts believe that these graceful tongues were intended to allow the dead to speak to the god of the underworld: Osiris.
Gold nails are rarely found in Egyptian archaeological contexts, but they are also thought to be related to a belief in the mystical powers of gold.
One of the excavated graves, accessed through a rectangular stone burial shaft, contained a central hall with three rooms.
These chambers contained dozens of carefully arranged mummies, indicating communal burial practices, said Pons Mellado, co-director of the University of Barcelona’s archaeological research.
Another burial shaft led to similar chambers, one of which belonged to a person named ‘Wen Nefer’.
This tomb was decorated with intricate murals depicting Wen Nefer and his family presenting offerings to gods such as Anubis, Osiris, Atum, Horus and Thoth.
In addition to the mummies decorated with gold tongues and nails, the research team discovered colorful inscriptions and ritual scenes adorning the tombs
The archaeologists also found references to several goddesses appearing for the first time in Al-Bahnasa
One tomb was decorated with this image of the funeral boat of the god Auf-Re
On the ceiling, a painting shows the goddess Nut surrounded by stars and sacred boats with gods such as Khepri and Ra against a blue background.
One mummy in this room was covered in a delicate layer of gold, symbolizing divine protection. The tomb also housed four limestone sarcophagi.
Several references to different goddesses found in the tomb complex first appeared in Al-Bahnasa.
The Ptolemaic dynasty was a royal family of Macedonian-Greek descent that ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great conquered the area. This family ruled until Rome defeated and overtook the kingdom of Egypt in 30 BC.
The archaeological site of Al-Bahnasa was historically known as the city of Oxyrhynchus, an important settlement during the Greco-Roman period in ancient Egypt.
Archaeologists previously recovered three ancient Egyptian papyrus fragments at this site, dating from 113 AD to the 4th century.
The researchers also found other artifacts “of great value” while excavating the site, including a heart scarab in its original position, and amulets and statuettes of deities.
Artifacts and inscriptions depicted Egyptian gods such as Horus, Thoth and Isis, and a terracotta statuette of the god Harpocrates
Al-Bahnasa has been excavated several times, revealing tombs from the Saïte, Greco-Roman and Roman periods, as well as a Byzantine basilica and a temple dedicated to the god Osiris
These ancient texts are ordinary, everyday newspapers that contain valuable information about Egyptian society of the time.
During the first centuries AD, an important Christian community formed in Oxyrhynchus. More than a third of the world’s earliest known fragments of the New Testament come from this ancient city.
Al-Bahnasa has been excavated several times, revealing tombs from the Saïte, Greco-Roman and Roman periods, as well as a Byzantine basilica and a temple dedicated to the death god Osiris.