Gold tongues and Homer

June 14, 2026
This article is from Ancient Egypt issue 155


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A Spanish mission working at the ancient site of Oxyrhynchus (Bahnasa, in Minya) has found a Roman tomb containing wooden coffins and a number of mummies, three with gold tongues, and one with a tongue of copper. Some of the mummies were wrapped in bandages decorated with geometric patterns, and had traces of gold leaf on their heads. The team also made a rather surprising discovery: a rare papyrus found inside the abdomen of one of the mummies bore text from the second book of Homer’s Iliad.

Two Roman mummies with gilded masks and patterned bandages, discovered by the Spanish mission at Oxyrhynchus.
A gold tongue found on a Roman mummy at the site.
Text: Sarah Griffiths / Images: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, unless otherwise stated

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