More than a dozen mummies adorned with gold tongues and fingernails found in Egyptian tombs

More than a dozen ancient Egyptian mummies adorned with gold tongues and fingernails were discovered inside 2,000-year-old tombs.

A team of Egyptian and Spanish researchers uncovered these artifacts and more while excavating the Al-Bahnasa archaeological site in Egypt’s Minya governate. 

Their mission was part of a decades-long project to study the site, with the latest focusing on an underground tomb complex, or mass grave, which sits at the bottom of a shaft with a main hall and three burial chambers.

The team found roughly 300 mummies and 52 of the wrapped remains dated back to the Ptolemaic era, the longest and final dynasty of ancient Egypt which spanned 305 BC to 30 BC. 

But 13 of these mummies bore golden tongues in their mouths, which were funerary accessories for the afterlife.

Archaeologists said they also uncovered other artifacts of ‘great value,’ including a heart scarab in its original position, amulets with figures of Egyptian deities such as Horus, Thoth and Isis, and a terracotta figurine of the god Harpocrates.

The researchers believe their findings shed new light on the religious customs of the Ptolemaic era.

Upon investigating the tombs, the team found roughly 300 mummies, according to a statement from the University of Barcelona (UB), one of the institutions that supported the mission

Ancient Egyptians believed gold was considered a divine metal that was everlasting and had magical powers. 

Experts think these ornate tongues were intended to allow the dead to speak with the god of the underworld: Osiris.

Gold nails are rarely found in Egyptian archaeological contexts, but they are also thought to be associated with a belief in the mystical powers of gold. 

One of the excavated tombs, accessed through a rectangular stone burial shaft, contained a central hall with three chambers. 

Inside these chambers were dozens of meticulously arranged mummies, suggesting communal burial practices, according to Pons Mellado, co-director of the University of Barcelona’s archaeological study.

Another burial shaft led to similar chambers, one of which belonged to an individual named ‘Wen Nefer.’

This tomb was decorated with intricate wall paintings depicting Wen Nefer and his family presenting offerings to deities such as Anubis, Osiris, Atum, Horus and Thoth. 

In addition to the mummies decorated with golden tongues and nails, the research team discovered colorful inscriptions and ritual scenes decorating the tombs

The archaeologists also found references to various goddesses that appear 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 carried deities such as Khepri and Ra against a blue background. 

One mummy within this chamber was covered in a delicate layer of gold, which symbolizes divine protection. The tomb also housed four limestone sarcophagi.

Several references to various goddesses found in the tomb complex appeared for the first time in Al-Bahnasa.

The Ptolemaic dynasty was a royal family of Macedonian Greek origin that ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great conquered the territory. This family ruled until Rome defeated and overtook the kingdom of Egypt in 30 BC.

The Al-Bahnasa archaeological site was historically known as the city of Oxyrhynchus, a significant settlement during the Greco-Roman period in ancient Egypt. 

Archaeologists previously recovered three ancient Egyptian fragments of papyrus, dating from 113 AD to the 4th century, from this site.

The researchers also found other artifacts ‘of great value,’ while excavating this site including a heart scarab in its original position, and amulets and figurines of deities

Artifacts and inscriptions depicted Egyptian deities such as Horus, Thoth and Isis, and a terracotta figurine of the god Harpocrates

Al-Bahnasa has been excavated multiple times, revealing tombs from the Saite, Greco-Roman, and Roman periods as well as a Byzantine basilica and a temple dedicated to the god Osiris

These ancient texts are common, everyday papers that contain valuable information about Egyptian society at that time.  

During the first centuries CE, a significant Christian community formed at 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 multiple times, revealing tombs from the Saite, Greco-Roman, and Roman periods as well as a Byzantine basilica and a temple dedicated to the death god Osiris.