More than a dozen mummies adorned with gold tongues and fingernails found in Egyptian tombs
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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.
![[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]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/17/21/93243203-14202469-Upon_investigating_the_tombs_the_team_found_roughly_300_mummies_-a-15_1734469974324.jpg)
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.
![[In addition to the mummies decorated with golden tongues and nails, the research team discovered colorful inscriptions and ritual scenes decorating the tombs]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/17/21/93242399-14202469-In_addition_to_the_mummies_decorated_with_golden_tongues_and_nai-a-13_1734469974315.jpg)
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 archaeologists also found references to various goddesses that appear for the first time in Al-Bahnasa]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/17/21/93242387-14202469-The_archaeologists_also_found_references_to_various_goddesses_th-a-12_1734469974173.jpg)
The researchers believe their findings shed new light on the religious customs of the Ptolemaic era. Archaeologists have discovered 13 golden tongues and fingernails adorning mummies buried in 2,000-year-old tombs in Egypt. 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.
![[One tomb was decorated with this image of the funeral boat of the god Auf-Re]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/17/21/93242391-14202469-One_tomb_was_decorated_with_this_image_of_the_funeral_boat_of_th-a-16_1734469974388.jpg)
