Golden Tongues & Nails of Mummies Uncovered in Minya

An Egyptian-Spanish mission, a cooperative effort between the University of Barcelona and the Faculty of Near East Studies, uncovered ancient Egyptian tombs containing human remains for the first time in the archaeological site of Al-Bahnasa in Minya, including a collection of 13 golden tongues and nails of mummies dating back to the Ptolemaic era.

The tombs contained coloured inscriptions and murals depicting ancient Egyptian deities, including the sky goddess Nut surrounded by stars on the ceiling, and the sun god Ra accompanied by Khepri and Atum on a sacred barge. The tombs also included various amulets representing Egyptian gods like Isis, Horus and Thoth.

A tomb appeared to belong to a man named Wen Nefer and his family. Many of the murals appear to represent scenes with the owner of the tomb and his family members in the presence of various gods.

According to Dr. Maite Mascort, the head of the mission, previous work during the last excavation season uncovered several tombs from the Greek and Roman eras.