At that time, the archaeologists discovered a huge collection of ancient documents known as the Oxyrhynchus Papyri. More than 1,000 years later, during Napoleon Bonaparte’s Egyptian campaign of 1799-1802 C.E., French scholars identified the ruins, and the first excavations began in 1897. The necropolis is located around 40 miles north of Cairo. In 640 C.E., Per-Medjed fell into a decline after Arab occupation of the area. Archaeologists have unearthed several tombs containing mummies with gold tongues at an ancient cemetery of Qewaisna in Egypt. When Alexander arrived, the city became home to large numbers of Greek colonists and enjoyed a close relationship with Alexandria. The Ministry statement explained this would have been done by the.
The city connected caravan routes from the west to a port on the Bahr Yussef waterway, allowing the flow of people and goods to the Mediterranean Sea. Recently announced discoveries include a 2,000-year-old mummy with a gold tongue, an Egyptian queen’s ornate tomb and traces of an early Christian community. In a statement made by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in January 2021, two of the 16 mummies discovered in the temple of Taposiris Magna, currently being excavated by archaeologists outside Alexandria, were found with gold foil tongues stuck in their mouths. Located about 140 miles south of Cairo at the site of the modern town of El Bahnasa, it was an important Egyptian hub during the Saite dynasty, according to the University of Barcelona’s website. Prior to the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 332 B.C.E., Oxyrhynchus was known as Per-Medjed. The tombs date to the Saite dynasty, a period that lasted from about 664 to 332 B.C.E.
