“Experts investigating tombs at the site found several mummies with gold chips shaped like human tongues in their mouths," said Dr. Mustafa Waziri, secretary-general of the Supreme Council for Archeology, in a press release.
According to the experts, the reason for such solid-gold tongues can be a belief system of the people of those times who might have replaced the original organ with the gold one, as they believed the dead will communicate with Osiris, the ancient Egyptian "Lord of the Underworld."
Quweisna necropolis was discovered in 1989 and prompted several rounds of excavations which unearthed a wide range of information about the ancient civilizations.
According to Waziri, several mummies which were discovered in bad condition had gold on the bone immediately beneath the linen wraps used during the mummification process.
Gold chips fashioned into scarab beetles and lotus flowers, earthenware, glues, and tar used in embalming, the remains of human-shaped wooden coffins, and several copper nails were all found at the ancient cemetery.
Each burial level unveils new evidence about the different rites and methods of burying the mummies, Dr. Ayman Ashmawi, chairman of the Egyptian archaeology sector at the Supreme Council of Archeology said.
The mummies with golden tongues were discovered in the freshly found extension of the ancient cemetery. The ancient cemetery housed cadavers from three separate historical periods.
With inputs from ANI
