Archaeologists have found several ancient mummies in Egypt, their original tongues long gone, replaced by a golden one.
Above: The golden tongue in the mummy's mouth.
This lucky discovery was made at the Quweisna (sometimes spelled quesna) cemetery in the middle of the Nile Delta. The site was discovered in 1989 and is thought to have been in the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, from 300 BC to 640 BC.
These golden-tongued mummies were unearthed in a newly discovered extension of the archaeological compound where many other bodies from three different periods in ancient Egypt were buried.
Some of the unearthed bones have gilded glazes, while others are simply buried near golden scarabs and lotus flowers.
Although golden tongues have been found before, they are a bit puzzling.
Above: Ancient Egyptian mummy and golden tongue in mouth.
In early 2021, researchers excavated a skull at a 2,000-year-old site in Egypt with a gleaming tongue-shaped ornament framed in its yawning mouth.
Then, at the end of 2021, a male, a female, and a child mummy was found again, all with golden tongues dating back more than 2,500 years.
Above: Three golden tongues of a mummy of a man, woman and child from ancient Egypt.
At the time, Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities suspected that the gold had been placed there long ago by embalming to ensure that the dead could travel in the afterlife.
Today, a man with a "silver tongue" is the most persuasive orator, but in ancient Egypt, experts believed that a golden tongue was essential to win the favor of Osiris, the lord of the underworld.
Like Hades, Osiris lived among the dead, and he strictly ruled that he could not speak. In fact, the netherworld of ancient Egypt was sometimes referred to as the "Land of Silence," and the Ossi-Lisbon people were also known as the "King of Silence."
Osiris clearly hated noise, which is why in ancient Egyptian funeral arrangements, it was believed that silence had to be kept up. Music or sounds are only made when the mummy's mouth is opened in preparation for the afterlife.
Perhaps it was the introduction of the golden tongue that allowed the mummies to quietly talk to Osiris. But if that's the case, why are only some mummies' tongues golden?
Gold was a popular material in ancient Egypt for funeral ornaments. The glowing elements are believed to be the flesh of the gods, specifically the skin of the sun god Ra, and are associated with the concept of eternity.
Ra was the leader of the ancient Egyptian gods and creator of all things, and he was closely related to Osiris. The sun god represents the part of the day where there is sunlight, while Osiris represents the hour of darkness.
Perhaps the golden tongue represents a line to the light, even in the cold darkness of the Yin Cao Di Mansion. Without more evidence, we can only speculate.
Egyptian health ministry officials say the mummies found in Quweisna are in poor condition and that soon their secrets will fall apart.
Obviously, their golden tongues are trying to communicate something, but all we hear now is silence.
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