In 2015, archaeologists discovered a mummy with a golden tongue while performing excavations at the temple of Taposiris Magna in western Alexandria. The scientists believe that eliminating the tongue during embalming and after that changing it with the gold things prevailed practice so the deceased could speak to Osiris in the afterlife.
Egypts federal government exposed the discoveries in a Facebook post. Mustafa Waziri, head of the nations Supreme Council for Archaeology, said the mummies are in a poor state of preservation. Some had golden tongues, while others were covered with thin sheets of gold and others were glazed with gold on the bone under the linen wrap.
Image credit: The scientists.
Osiris was the god of the afterlife, according to Egyptian mythology. He was hacked into pieces that were spread across Egypt when he was eliminated. After gathering all the pieces, Isis, his sis and other half, was able to reanimate him. Its believed that the gold tongue would allow the dead to ask Osiris to reveal mercy on their souls.
Its not the very first time that this has happened, but we still get a bit surprised whenever. Archaeologists excavating at the Qwaisana Archaeological Substance in Egypt discovered several ancient mummies, and a few of them had golden tongues in their mouths– a possible mythological token to the afterlife whose function we do not actually comprehend.
A new discovery
Some had golden tongues, while others were covered with thin sheets of gold and others were glazed with gold on the bone under the linen wrap.
The new discovery was done at the Qwaisana necropolis in the central Nile Delta. The website, originally discovered in 1989, is thought to have been inhabited during the Roman and ptolemaic periods (from about 300 BCE to 640 CE). The site has three different levels that show various burial routines, most likely described by the toms from different durations.
Gold was a popular material in ancient Egypt, used to make accessories for funerary rites. The element was considered to be the flesh of the gods, especially the skin of the Sun God, Ra, and was connected with the principle of eternity. Ra was the creator of everything, the leader of all the ancient Egyptian gods, and was closely connected with Osiris.
When he was eliminated, he was hacked into pieces that were spread out across Egypt. Its believed that the gold tongue would permit the dead to ask Osiris to reveal grace on their souls.
Gold was a popular material in ancient Egypt, utilized to make accessories for funerary rites.
When interpreted together, the flowers, the cockroaches and the tongues describe the souls transformation after it effectively works out a stay in the afterlife with the judge and lord Osiris, according to the scientists. However, they said more research still requires to be done, as we are barely scratching the surface of what life resembled in Ancient Egypt– routines like this one are nearly a total unknown.
As well as discovering the golden tongues, the researchers discovered the mummies were buried with small gold lotus flowers and golden cockroaches. The flowers were a sign of development and renewal in ancient Egypt, while the cockroaches might have been placed there to ensure elements in a mummy were consumed to be then reborn.