The Mummy with the Golden Tongue
The mummy is that of a woman, and the burial style and artefacts surrounding this woman’s burial suggest she was interred during a time when Egyptian and Greco-Roman cultural influences blended, creating a period when traditional Egyptian burial customs were still practiced alongside Greek and Roman influences. Thus, it is believed she lived sometime during the Ptolemaic – Greco-Roman Period.
Due to the poor state of preservation, archaeologists could not determine her name, status, or cause of death. However, the presence of the golden tongue suggests she may have been a person of some importance, and at the very least, she was somebody connected to wealth who could afford an elaborate burial. Considering the burial was at the site of a temple, which would have had significant religious and political importance, this could mean the woman was a priestess or had connections to the temple, but as yet, that is unknown and just an educated guess.
Why did she have a golden tongue?
In Egyptian religious texts, gods are described as having golden skin, silver bones, and lapis lazuli hair. Many temple reliefs and statues depict deities with golden-toned bodies, emphasizing their divine nature. Unlike other metals, gold does not rust or deteriorate over time. The Egyptians saw this as a symbol of the gods’ immortality and divine essence. This belief influenced burial customs.
As is common knowledge, Ancient Egyptians believed in preparing the dead for the Afterlife. The golden tongue amulet and or foil was therefore most likely placed in the mummy’s mouth to allow the deceased to speak beyond death, specifically to the deities of the Underworld, especially the ruler of the Underworld, the god Osiris. The golden tongue would, therefore, adorn her speech, and allow her to speak up with a “golden” and divinely inspired confidence during the judgment of her soul, preserving her with a safe passage to the heavenly realm, known to the Egyptians as the “Field of Reeds”.
