For Egyptologists looking for the long-lost tomb of Cleopatra, the archaeological site of Taposiris Magna in Alexandria still looks promising, reports livescience.com.
Coins featuring the Queen’s face have been found here in the past, suggesting that temples were used there during her reign. Then, last week, a 2,000-year-old mummy with a golden tongue was discovered there.
The temples at Taposiris Magna were built in honor of the god of the underworld Osiris and his wife Isis. It was in this vast stretch of land in western Alexandria that an international team of researchers discovered 16 ancient burials filled with priceless relics, including a mummy with a golden tongue.
Embalmers perhaps placed the golden tongue on the mummy to ensure that the deceased would be able to speak in the afterlife, the Egyptian antiquities ministry said in a statement released Jan 29.
For instance, if the golden-tongued mummy encountered Osiris, the god of the underworld, in the afterlife, they would have needed to be able to speak to the god, the statement said. It isn’t clear if the mummy had a speech impediment when they were alive. It’s also not clear why the tongue was made out of gold specifically.
But this is only speculation.
Experts don’t understand why this mummy’s tongue was made of gold.
