Sound of 3000 year old mummy's voice resurfaces and it's the funniest thing you'll hear today

Social media users are losing it after a resurfaced clip featuring the “voice” of an ancient Egyptian priest went viral - and while we'd have no idea what someone would have sounded like 3,000 years ago, we certainly didn't expect this.

While the clip has been seen around the world, the subject known as Nesyamun was in Leeds City Museum when the study was conducted back in 2020.

The mummy dates back to the 11th century BC, and the man lived under Pharaoh Rameses XI.

People have speculated about how he died since the mummy was unwrapped in 1824, with some suggesting that he met his end after being strangled and others saying it was as a result of an allergic reaction from an insect sting.

A team of researchers produced a 3D-printed reproduction of Nesyamun’s vocal tract to reconstruct the sound of his voice at the time – and people on Twitter are finding it absolutely hilarious all over again.

Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

The clip has been recirculating online and it’s just as funny this time. It’s becoming a meme too, with people getting creative with the clip and adding their own unique choices of vocals.

In fact, the clip that’s been doing the rounds recently features a different voice to the original video, and it just shows there are some very creative, funny people out there.

Researchers recreate what mummy's voice would have sounded likewww.youtube.com

It’s also causing some to look back at one of their favourite viral clips of a neanderthal voice being recreated for a BBC documentary, and it’s always well worth a watch.

High-pitched voice theory - Neanderthal - BBC scienceBBC

“What we have done is to create the sound of Nesyamun as he is in his sarcophagus,” said the study co-author Prof David Howard of Royal Holloway, University of London. “It is not a sound from his speech as such, as he is not actually speaking.”

Howard said about the Nesyamun recreation at the time [via The Guardian]: “Our larynx sound is electronic and if that sound were produced by Nesyamun, he would be passing lung air outwards via his larynx where his vocal folds would be vibrating to create the same effect.”

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.