The tombs — which were unearthed in Marina el-Alamein (also spelled Alamin), about 60 miles (100 kilometers) west of Alexandria — date to the Ptolemaic (322 to 30 B.C.) or Roman (30 B.C. to A.D. 395) period, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a translated statement announcing the find.
The team noted that 11 of the tombs had been carved deep into the ground, while the seven others were located closer to the ground's surface. The tombs held many artifacts — most notably, 24 "gold tongues" that were likely put into the mouths of mummies, and an offering altar with a base designed to look like a false door.
An entrance to one of the tombs in Marina el-Alamein (also spelled Alamin). (Image credit: Courtesy of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities)The fact that the design of a false door was carved into the altar "suggests that the symbolic meaning of the false door remained important even as its architectural function evolved," Hussein added.
Some of the gold tongues discovered inside the tombs. The ancient Egyptians believed these tongues could help the deceased communicate in the afterlife. (Image credit: Courtesy of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities)"Gold tongues are a well-documented feature of some burials dating to the Ptolemaic and Roman periods in Egypt," Hussein said. "They are generally interpreted as symbolic funerary amulets intended to enable the deceased to speak in the afterlife, particularly during the judgment before Osiris, or more broadly to communicate and recite sacred formulas in the next world."
However, it's unclear if some of these artifacts are actually gold tongues, Attilio Mastrocinque, a retired archaeology professor formerly at the University of Verona in Italy, told Live Science. Mastrocinque has written extensively about Greek and Roman religion but was not involved in this excavation.
An offering altar with a base that resembles a false door. (Image credit: Courtesy of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities)
Altar with a false door?
False doors are commonly found in ancient Egyptian tombs and offering altars are often near these doors. In this case, the base of an offering altar resembles a false door.
"I would exercise caution in asserting a direct comparison between the iconographic motifs visible on the discovered altar and those of the false door iconography," Jakubiak told Live Science in an email. He said it's possible that the altar was not finished and its existing appearance simply resembles a false door.
An unfinished statue of the goddess Aphrodite, who was associated with love and beauty. (Image credit: Courtesy of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities)
Goddess statue and other finds
One of the tombs contained an 8.2-foot-long (2.5 meters) granite coffin whose lid was still on when the tomb was discovered. The team is currently examining the skeletal remains found inside.
Related storiesOther finds included an incomplete statue of Aphrodite, a Greek goddess associated with love and beauty. During ancient Egypt's Ptolemaic dynasty, Greek culture and religion became increasingly popular in Egypt. Mastrocinque said it will be interesting to see if there is a structure for Aphrodite near the statue
Dorota Dzierzbicka, director of the Polish-Egyptian Archaeological Mission to Marina el-Alamein, said that the new finds, along with finds made at the site in the past, reveal that the town was "a culturally diverse community in which Egyptian and Graeco-Roman traditions coexisted and blended in everyday life and funerary practices." She noted that the new discoveries were made by Egyptian archaeologists who work at the site.
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