For the first time in 3,000 years, an Egyptian mummy's voice has been heard. British researchers were able to recreate the mummified priest's vocal tract with the use of 3D printing, according to a Scientific Reports article published on Thursday.
Alongside the replicated vocal cords of the ancient Egyptian priest Nesyamun, an electronic larynx was used to determine what the sound of his voice would have been like. So far, the scientists were only able to reproduce a single vowel-like sound. A drawn-out "ah" or "eh" sound is what can be heard from the recording.
The lead scholar behind this research, David Howard, is a professor of electronic engineering at Royal Holloway, University of London. He found it "unusual" how perfectly suited the mummy was, considering its age; the soft tissue was well preserved and mostly intact.
"The sound you hear is the sound of his vocal tract in the position he is lying in the sarcophagus," said Howard.
The professor hopes that this understanding of the human voice coupled with the knowledge of the ancient Egyptian dialect can further this study, resulting in the recreation of longer excerpts using Nesyamun's voice.
This incredible breakthrough has been years in the making. Nesyamun has been residing at the Leeds City Museum in England ever since he was discovered in 1823 within the ancient Egyptian temple of Karnak. In 2016, museum personnel escorted the priest's mummified remains to the Leeds General Infirmary for a CT scan, proving that most of his throat was in fact undamaged.
With the help of the measurements acquired by the CT scan, Howard and his team were able to 3D-print a replica of the vocal tract from the larynx to the lips. The printed replica was then attached to a specialized loudspeaker and an artificial larynx used for electronic speech. A minor portion of the priest's vocal tract was missing, but due to its small size, the researchers were able to replicate it easily.
"It's not, in fact, a sound he would ever likely have made in practice because the bulk of his tongue isn't there," Howard told CNN.
The sound that was created was the mere sound of the priest's voice and is not to be confused with actual verbalized expression. Although the team of researchers does hope to reach that point in the future.
For the time being, Nesyamun's tongue muscles have become almost completely non-existent, meaning words cannot actually be formed.
Howard is no stranger to recreating vocal tracts in living humans. The "Voices from the Past" project came about when Howard and a former co-worker of his, John Schofield, an archaeologist at the University of York, were discussing the former's work.
According to the lead scholar, Schofield asked him whether or not his research and methods could work on remains. And then "the stars aligned, essentially," Schofield told Live Science.
One ethical issue the two had to deal with initially was whether or not they should examine the body without the consent of its owner. They got lucky because inscriptions on the mummy's coffin spoke of how Nesyamun wished to re-address the gods in death as he did in life.
Making sure to use non-destructive research methods, the team was "in a way, fulfilling his declared wishes."
The life and death of the priest Nesyamun
Nesyamun was once a priest at the temple of Amun in the Karnak complex in Thebes — known today as Luxor, Egypt.
He was no regular priest. In fact, he was a "waab priest," meaning he had reached a level of purification so high that he was granted the right to approach the statue of Amun - the ancient Egyptian god of the sun and air - found in the most sacred inner sanctum of the temple.
His importance is due to the fact that he is the only mummy to have been dated back to the reign of Ramesses XI, who ruled Egypt between 1113 and 1085 BC. Not only that, but his coffin alone told of his daily life and beliefs, allowing researchers to develop a greater understanding of ancient Egypt. His remains are considered some of the world's leading ancient Egyptian relics to have ever been examined.
Nesyamun is believed to have died of a severe allergic reaction in his late 50's almost 3,000 years ago. After being discovered, he was transported to Leeds City Museum in 1823 where he has resided for almost two centuries. Three millennia after his death, the priest's voice has been heard.