AI Translates Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics for Tourists

Ancient Egyptian civilization has long been famous throughout the world , and every year still attracts millions of tourists to visit this African country.

For the vast majority of visitors, ancient hieroglyphs are always mysterious and only researchers can understand them. But now, with just a smartphone installed with Manetho - an application integrated with artificial intelligence (AI), 3,000-year-old inscriptions can be converted into modern English or Arabic text in just a few seconds.

According to Egyptian app developer Ahmed El-Kholy, Manetho is the world’s first real-time hieroglyphic translator powered by AI. All a visitor has to do is stand in front of a statue or papyrus, take a photo of the hieroglyphics, and the translation will appear instantly.

A British tourist, after experiencing Manetho, was very impressed and said that the app is easy to use, informative and this could be a turning point to improve the tourist experience.

Developed by El-Kholy and a team of more than 16 Egyptian engineers and experts, Manetho won first place at the Huawei Developers Egypt and North Africa 2024 competition, helping the team reach the global finals in China.

In addition to translation features, Manetho also features augmented reality (AR) experiences that bring ancient artifacts to life.