Archaeologists discover mummies with gold tongues

Archaeologists at the Taposiris Magna temple in Alexandria, Egypt excavated mummies with gold tongues. The mummies are approximately 2,000 years old. From the BBC News:

It is thought the dead were given gold foil amulets shaped like tongues so that they could speak before the court of the god Osiris in the afterlife.

Ancient Egyptians believed that Osiris was lord of the underworld and judge of the dead.

The god was also pictured in gilded decorations on the cartonnage – a material made of layers of plaster, linen and glue – that was partially encasing one of the mummies, lead archaeologist Kathleen Martinez of the University of Santo Domingo was cited by the antiquities ministry as saying.

image: Egypt Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities