Golden tongue among 49 amulets found buried with mummy that sat in storage for 100 years

Much like the cavernous government warehouse in “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark,” the basement of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo is crowded with countless treasures shielded from the public eye.

Since the museum opened nearly two centuries ago, its basement has functioned as a repository for thousands of mummies unearthed in the Egyptian desert.

Now, one of those mummies, known as “the Golden Boy,” is finally getting its day in the sun after 107 years of collecting dust.

Using noninvasive CT scans, researchers peered inside the ancient remains and discovered a meticulously embalmed body wrapped in dozens of unique amulets, according to a study published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine on Jan. 24.

The well-preserved remains belonged to a seemingly healthy boy who was likely 14 or 15 at the time of his death, researchers said.

The CT scans indicated a “high-quality mummification process,” which involved removing the brain through a hole at the base of the boy’s skull. His intestines and other internal organs were taken out via an abdominal incision.

After organ removal, ancient embalmers poured hot resin into the empty cavities. When resin cools it “becomes like a glue that seals the body cavity,” Dr. Sahar Saleem, co-author of the study and professor at Cairo University, told McClatchy News. “In addition resin has antimicrobial effects that prevent decaying of the mummified body.”

Scans also reveal the boy was wrapped from neck to toe in brown linen, and enmeshed within the layers of wrapping were 49 amulets, researchers said.

Made of gold, stone, quartz and clay, the amulets represented 21 objects, many of which were connected to ancient deities.

“Amulets were used for protection and for providing specific benefits for the living and the dead,” Saleem said. “During mummification, the embalmers said prayers and recited verses from the ‘Book of the Dead’ while placing amulets inside the mummy or in between the wrappings.”

Among the amulets observed were scarabs, which symbolized the god Kheper, who was responsible for the sun’s movement, and Tyt figures, which symbolized the goddess Isis’s protection.

One of the only amulets placed inside the body was a golden tongue found in the boy’s mouth, which was thought to allow him to speak in the afterlife.

Additionally, the boy’s face, characterized by a small nose, tapered chin and partially open eyes, was covered in a golden head mask, and sandals adorned his feet.

Following several scans, researchers generated a series of 3D images of the mummy, allowing viewers to visualize the delicately encased remains.

After many decades in the museum’s basement, the 2,000-year-old teenager known as “The Golden Boy,” in addition to the 3D images, will finally be displayed in the museum’s showroom.

The study of his mummified remains “provided a more in-depth understanding of ancient Egyptian beliefs and funerary rituals, as well as their technical skills in mummification and craftsmanship in the creation of amulets, masks, and decorations,” Saleem said.

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