A Mummy’s Dead Voice

Chloe Cheng

Archeologists have found many mummies, but they believe the oldest ones date back almost 4000 years. An Egyptian priest’s last wish was fulfilled 3000 years later as scientists discovered how to revive a mummy’s voice. Mummification was a ritual that the ancient Egyptians used to preserve the bodies of the dead, allowing the human body to be partially preserved. It’s impossible to hear a dead man speak again after years of stillness, but scientists have made it possible with the help of modern technology. 

The Egyptian priest Nesyamun made his final wish before entering a 3,000-year silence. His religion led him to wish that his voice be heard again after death to ensure his path to eternity. This was engraved on his coffin, which caught the attention of many scientists. His vocal tract, which is where sound is produced, was fairly intact, so it qualified him for this experiment. The exact proportion of the vocal tract determines how the voice sounds, hence the reason why everyone has a distinctive sound. Scientists took a CT scan of the mummy and made a 3D printed version that replicated his vocal cords and throat exactly, so they were able to produce what Nesyamun sounded like with the words “bed” and “bad” using a function called TTS, which creates human voices artificially. It was hard for scientists to recreate other sounds because they couldn’t be sure what his language sounded like. Another factor that prevented scientists from reproducing other sounds was that most of his tongue had decayed and was destroyed. 

Over the years, many archaeologists and scientists have discovered lots of interesting information by studying mummy remains. They were able to learn lots about the history and uncover the ancient culture. In the past, they weren’t able to examine the mummies in detail, because they didn’t have the resources to study them in-depth. The study of mummies continues to proceed today, as scientists use advanced technology to examine the remains of the dead. 

Work Cited

Howard, David M et al. “​​Synthesis of a Vocal Sound from the 3,000 year old Mummy, Nesyamun ‘True of Voice’.” Scientific Reports, Nature Research, vol. 10, 23 Jan. 2020. Nature, doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56316-y. Accessed 28 Nov. 2021. 

Waghorn, Mark and Shivali Best. “Ancient Egyptian Mummy 'Brought Back to Life' as Scientists Recreate His Voice.” Mirror,  23 Jan. 2020. www.mirror.co.uk/science/ancient-egyptian-mummy-brought-back-21342577. Accessed 28 Nov. 2021. 

“Mummy returns: Voice of 3,000-year-old Egyptian Priest Brought to Life.” BBC, 24 Jan. 2020. www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51223828. Accessed 28 Nov. 2021. 

Rice, Doyle. “We Can Now Hear the Voice of a Mummy 3,000 years After the Egyptian Priest Last Spoke.” USA Today, 24 Jan. 2020. www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/01/24/scientists-recreate-voice-ancient-egyptian-mummy/4557044002/. Accessed 28 Nov. 2021.