Mummy returns: Voice of 3,000-year-old Egyptian priest brought to life
Scientists have fulfilled a mummified Egyptian priest's wish for life after death - by replicating his voice with artificial vocal cords.
Nesyamun's voice has been reproduced as a vowel-like sound that is reminiscent of a sheep's bleat.
The priest lived during the politically volatile reign of Pharaoh Ramses XI, between 1099 and 1069BC.
As a priest in Thebes, Nesyamun would have needed a strong voice for his ritual duties, which involved singing.
When Nesyamun died, his voice fell silent, but 3,000 years on, a team of researchers have brought it back to life.
They have done so by producing a 3D-printed voice box based on Nesyamun's vocal tract, which was scanned to establish its precise dimensions.
By using the vocal tract with an artificial larynx sound, they synthesised a vowel sound meant to be similar to the voice of Nesyamun.
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The research - carried out by academics at Royal Holloway, University of London, the University of York and Leeds Museum - was published in the Scientific Reports journal on Thursday.
The voice recreation technique "has given us the unique opportunity to hear the sound of someone long dead", said study co-author Joann Fletcher, a professor of archaeology at the University of York.
Archaeology professor John Schofield, also of the University of York, told the BBC it was Nesyamun's "express wish" to be heard in the afterlife, which was part of his religious belief system.
"It's actually written on his coffin - it was what he wanted," Prof Schofield said. "In a way, we've managed to make that wish come true."
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