The golden tongue and nails found in Ptolemy’s tomb – History

A joint Spanish and Egyptian archaeological team excavated the ancient city of Oxyrhynchus near Al-Bahansa, 100 miles south of Cairo, and unearthed 52 Ptolemaic-era mummies, 13 of which still had golden tongues in their mouths, one of which The tool also contains gold nails. The golden tongues and nails were meant to enhance their speech and gestures to attract Osiris and other gods to rule them into the afterlife. These are the first gold tongues and nails found at the Al-Bahansa site.

Archaeologists from the University of Barcelona and the Institute of Ancient Middle East have been excavating ancient Oxyrhynchus since 1992. Some of the murals unearthed this season include ritual texts and deities that are the first of their kind to be discovered in the region. Bahansa Archaeological Zone. They are a major new source of information on religious practices in the region during the Ptolemaic period (305-30 BC).

The team discovered a rectangular stone tomb shaft that led to a tomb with a vaulted ceiling and three burial chambers. Approximately 300 mummies were found side by side in the burial chamber, evidence of collective burial. Another set of chambers was found in an adjacent tomb, one of which was decorated with brightly colored hieroglyphic inscriptions and murals identifying its owner as a man named Win Nefer. The paintings depict Winnifer and his family making sacrifices to the gods Anubis, Osiris, Atum, Horus and Thoth. The ceiling is painted with a celestial scene of the nude goddess Nut in white against a blue background surrounded by stars. The holy ship carried the gods Ra, Khepri and Atum. The burial chamber also contains four limestone sarcophagi.

A particularly important painted scene is the embalming of the dead by Anubis. The mummy’s face is covered in a thin but completely opaque layer of shiny gold. The faces of Osiris, Isis and Nephthys before and after the deceased were also painted gold. Never before had such a golden face been found at Oxyrhynchus.

A grave contains the remains of an adult woman. In ancient times, it was ransacked shortly after she was buried, but the thieves missed some of the treasures they took with them. Archaeologists found beads, a headrest amulet, a statue of the god Horus and two other golden tongues.

When archaeologists discovered another tomb, it was still sealed. Inside is a sarcophagus containing the mummified remains of an adult male with a golden tongue. The team also discovered a heart scarab amulet in situ – a very rare find – four canopic jars containing his embalmed organs and 400 pieces of funerary pottery, including amulets, jade columns, wajj Special eyes and statues. The inscriptions on the Canopian ships are currently being studied and translated. They will most likely be able to identify the deceased.