Researchers Recreate Voice Of 3,000-Year-Old Egyptian Mummy Who Sang When Alive

An Egyptian mummy’s “voice” can be heard for the first time in 3,000 years thanks to researchers who have created the priest’s vocal cord through modern 3D-printing technology.

Scientists used 3D scans to map the figure’s vocal tract and recreated it using a 3D printer. They then incorporated an artificial larynx to run through the synthetic vocal cords, and a single vowel sound was formed, according to a study published in Scientific Reports.

The voice belonged to Nesyamun, a priest that lived during the reign of pharaoh Ramses XI around 1100 BC. He worked as a scribe and priest and used his voice to speak and sing.

The voice sounds like it is saying “ehhh,” as if the mummy is groaning. The vowel is described as the sound “between ‘bed’ and ‘bad.’” The researchers explained that they could only produce a single sound.

“What we have done is to create the sound of Nesyamun as he is in his sarcophagus,” study co-author David Howard told The Guardian. “It is not a sound from his speech as such, as he is not actually speaking.”

The team explained that the sound was based on the position of Nesyamun’s vocal tract at the time of his death. Unfortunately, the same approach cannot be used to simulate other sounds. Therefore, researchers can’t create sentences in Nesyamun’s voice.

Mummy, can you hear me? Researchers say they’ve mimicked the voice of a 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy by recreating much of its vocal tract using medical scanners, 3D printing and an electronic larynx. https://t.co/R1ASlreYxN #odd pic.twitter.com/RVM41yw6Ui

— AP Oddities (@AP_Oddities) January 23, 2020

The voice belongs to Nesyamun, also known as The Leeds Mummy, a priest, incense-bearer and scribe at the time of Ramses XIhttps://t.co/pG9p4PpY4e

— The Yorkshire Post (@yorkshirepost) January 23, 2020

What did ancient egyptians sound like?

Here’s a really cool study that tries to find out — “Synthesis of a vocal sound from the 3,000 year old mummy, Nesyamun”https://t.co/ZfOmTFFd9C pic.twitter.com/lvwmkeDalL

— Phonetics Lab (@PhoneticsLab) January 23, 2020

The voice of #Egyptian mummy #nesyamun heard for the first time in over 3000 years. Scientists recreated the mummy’s voice. pic.twitter.com/9Jj3SuEPuX

— Daily Life News (@DailyLifeNews1) January 24, 2020

[via Independent, opening image via Shutterstock]

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