Tongue Cover-Plate

Tongue Cover-Plates were gold foil amulets placed over the tongues of some Egyptian mummies.^[1] This mainly took place during the Greco-Roman period although examples from the Twenty-sixth Dynasty have been found at Oxyrhynchus.^[2][3] This funerary ritual appears to have been to done in the belief that it would help the dead individual speak in the afterlife.^[4] They were sometimes accompanied by gold eye amulets.^[1][2]

Tongue Cover-Plate from Hawara

In the 21st century examples of such amulets have been found at Oxyrhynchus, Quesna and Taposiris Magna.^[2][3][5] In the 19th century finds were made at Tell Nabasha, San el-Hagar and Hawara.^[6][7][8]