I have just returned from a trip to Egypt which I can honestly say was the hottest and most illuminating journey I have ever made. Under the burning eye of the ancient god, Ra, I explored ancient civilisations near the banks of the Nile around Aswan and Luxor.

Travelling for the first time to this part of Africa was a voyage into the unknown. The language of Egypt is Arabic and a wide variety of European accents blend in with the mêlée of sounds echoing in the hot spots of the Temples and the Tombs.

I gazed with awe at the carved pillars containing hieroglyphs from thousands of years ago and began to wonder about the accents of the people from ancient Egypt. Their words and names are embedded into the limestone, but there is no way of knowing how they spoke. Would those early surgeons, responsible for mummification of the Pharaohs and the artisans commissioned for decorating and painting the elaborate tombs, listen to their leaders and adopt the same speaking styles? Did the leaders have an ‘upper class’ accent, or would they have their own accents shared with their direct friends and families? Perhaps they had local dialects, with words to describe something that varied depending on what village they came from.

Perhaps, like modern populations in the UK, the ancient Egyptians had a formal accent (as we tend to use in the workplace) and an informal accent (reserved for what leisure time they had with their nearest relations).

In Arabic, there are key sounds that don’t exist in the English language, like the unvoiced ‘p’ sound. It took a little bit of getting used to hearing ‘power, people, VIPs, priests’ spoken with the voiced plosive ‘b’, so the words becoming ‘ bower, beoble, VIBs and briests’ but soon my ears became accustomed to the sounds.

The way our guide spoke, however, was with great presence and authority in the voice. Information was delivered with impressive confidence and the knowledge he had acquired from studying was conveyed with enthusiasm and vocal power. The range of his voice was used compellingly, with added volume for the great stories and hushed tones to match the solemnity of other events.

I would hazard a guess that the voices of ancient Egypt probably wouldn’t be very much different from modern Arabic. The power and authority of its leaders’ voices, the style of communicating their power still echoes down through the ages, illustrated in the formidable columns and in the revered tombs of long-dead kings and queens.

What struck me was a great energy in the Arabic language, which is a great learning point for speech making. The knowledge and understanding of your chosen subject is one of our greatest assets and allows the speaker to impart information with truth and integrity in their voice. I think that was one of my take-aways in terms of speech in Egypt. The presence of every speaker I encountered was genuine, from the powerful voice of our guide, Emad, to the thoughtful kindness and courtesies of those looking after us on our Egyptian journey; Mamdouh, Shady, Adham, Sharif, Sabry, Hany, Hussein and many, many others. Warmth, respect and courtesy was conveyed through their voices and their body language.

Voices from ancient Egypt would also have carried great authority, power and empathy which is what helped make this civilisation such a profound influence on the world of yesterday and the world of today.

If you are thinking of getting help with developing power, authority and empathy in your voice and speech making, or for help with clarity or accent change, please get in touch to have a free chat.