CAIRO, EGYPT—Thirteen mummies with gold tongues and fingernails have been discovered in a cemetery at Oxyrhynchus by a team of Spanish and Egyptian archaeologists led by Esther Pons Mellado and Maite Mascort, according to a Live Science report. The ancient city of Oxyrhynchus is located to the west of the Nile River in Middle Egypt. The mummies, recovered from three chambers situated along a hallway at the end of burial shaft, have been dated to the Ptolemaic period, from about 304 to 30 B.C. Gold tongues were believed to help the dead to speak in the afterlife, the researchers explained, since gold was thought to be the flesh of the gods. Amulets in the shapes of scarab beetles and the deities Horus, Thoth, and Isis were also found with the mummified human remains. Well-preserved paintings in the chambers depict a tomb owner named “Wen-Nefer,” with Egyptian deities; the sky goddess Nut surrounded by stars; and a boat carrying multiple deities. To read about more gold tongue amulets recently uncovered in a tomb at the site, go to "Speaking in Golden Tongues."
