The First Recorded “Psychological Experiment”: An Ancient Search for the Original Human Language

More than 2,600 years ago, an Egyptian pharaoh reportedly attempted to answer a fascinating question:

If children never heard anyone speak, what language would they naturally begin to use?

The account is often described as the first recorded psychological or psycholinguistic experiment. Although it would not qualify as a valid or ethical scientific study today, it represents an early attempt to investigate human language and mental development through observation rather than relying entirely on tradition or belief.

Pharaoh Psamtik I and His Question

According to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, the experiment was ordered by Pharaoh Psamtik I, also known as Psammetichus I, who ruled Egypt during the seventh century BCE.

The Egyptians traditionally believed that they were the world’s oldest people. Psamtik reportedly wanted evidence to determine whether this belief was true. He reasoned that if children grew up without hearing any language, the first word they produced spontaneously might belong to humanity’s original—and therefore oldest—language.

This reasoning rested on two major assumptions:

• Human beings possess a language naturally, even without hearing others speak.
• The first language expressed by an isolated child would reveal the world’s earliest civilization.

These assumptions were incorrect, but the attempt to formulate and test them gives the story its importance in the history of psychological thought.

How the Experiment Was Reportedly Conducted

Herodotus wrote that two infants were placed in the care of a shepherd. The shepherd was instructed to meet their physical needs while ensuring that they did not hear human speech.

After approximately two years, the children reportedly approached the shepherd with outstretched hands and repeatedly produced a sound resembling “bekos.”

Psamtik investigated the meaning of this sound and was told that bekos was a Phrygian word for bread. He therefore concluded that the Phrygians were older than the Egyptians and that Phrygian might be humanity’s original language.

Herodotus presents this account in Book II, Chapter 2 of The Histories.

Did the Experiment Prove Anything?

No. Even if the event occurred exactly as described, its conclusion would not be scientifically justified.

Several problems are immediately apparent:

1. The experiment involved only two children

A sample of two participants is far too small to support a general conclusion about human language or the history of civilization.

2. Complete linguistic isolation was not established

The children may have heard the shepherd, other people, or sounds that influenced their vocalizations. There was no reliable method for confirming that they had never encountered speech.

3. The sound may have been misinterpreted

The reported sound bekos could have been an ordinary infant vocalization. Some commentators have suggested that it may even have resembled the sounds made by the goats reportedly present around the children.

Interpreting an unclear sound as a meaningful word from a particular language introduces strong observer bias.

4. The conclusion did not follow from the observation

Even if the children had independently spoken a Phrygian word, it would not prove that the Phrygians were the oldest people or that Phrygian was the original human language.

5. The account itself cannot be independently verified

Herodotus recorded a story he said he had heard from Egyptian priests. No surviving independent evidence confirms that the experiment actually occurred. Scholars therefore treat it as a historical account or legend—not as an established scientific event.

Why Is It Still Important?

The importance of the story lies less in its conclusion and more in the question behind it.

Psamtik’s inquiry reportedly contained several elements that later became central to scientific investigation:

• A clearly defined question
• A tentative hypothesis
• An attempt to control environmental exposure
• Observation of behaviour
• Interpretation of an outcome

Psychology writer Morton Hunt used the story to illustrate the ancient recognition that mental processes might be investigated systematically. However, calling it the definitive “first psychological experiment” would be too strong. It is more accurate to describe it as one of the earliest recorded attempts to investigate language and human development experimentally.

What Does Modern Science Say About Language Development?

Modern research shows that children possess biological capacities that support language learning, but language does not emerge as a complete, predetermined language without social and linguistic input.

Children develop language through interaction involving:

• Listening to speech or observing sign language
• Responding to caregivers
• Recognising patterns in communication
• Connecting sounds or signs with meaning
• Practising communication within a social environment

A child is not naturally born speaking Egyptian, Phrygian, English, Hindi, Gujarati, or any other specific language. The particular language a child acquires depends largely on the linguistic environment in which the child develops.

A Serious Ethical Problem

By modern standards, deliberately preventing children from receiving normal communication and social interaction would be profoundly unethical.

Contemporary psychological research involving children requires strong protections, including:

• Respect for the child’s safety, dignity and development
• Informed permission from a parent or legal guardian
• Independent ethical review
• Minimisation of risk
• The right to withdraw from research
• Additional safeguards for vulnerable participants

The ancient account therefore helps us understand not only the early history of psychological inquiry but also the importance of research ethics.

From Ancient Curiosity to Scientific Psychology

The story of Psamtik I reflects a fundamental human curiosity: Where do language, thought and knowledge come from?

Its method was deeply flawed, its reported conclusion was unsupported, and its historical authenticity remains uncertain. Nevertheless, the account is significant because it imagines a question about the human mind being examined through controlled observation.

That shift—from accepting an assumption to trying to test it—would eventually become one of the foundations of scientific psychology.

Conclusion

The experiment attributed to Pharaoh Psamtik I did not discover the original human language. It also cannot be treated as reliable research according to modern scientific standards.

Its enduring value is therefore not found in the word bekos or in the claim that Phrygian was humanity’s first language. Its value lies in an ancient attempt to transform a philosophical question into an observable investigation.

The story reminds us that curiosity begins scientific inquiry—but reliable evidence, careful reasoning and ethical responsibility are necessary to turn curiosity into genuine knowledge.