The sound barely lasts a second and could be anything from a groan to an exclamation. A team of British scientists has achieved the miracle of bringing speech back to the mummified body of Nesyamun, a priest who inhabited the Egypt of the pharaohs more than three millennia ago.

Researchers have managed to mimic the voice after recreating much of their vocal tract using medical scanners, a 3D printer and an electronic larynx. "The study is the result of a seven-year work that began in 2013," Joann Fletcher, an Egyptologist at the English University of York, confirms to EL MUNDO. "It is extremely exciting. Throughout my career I have been able to see the ancient Egyptians through their mummified bodies. Being able to listen to them now is incredible, " says the scientist in conversation with this newspaper.

"It's just the beginning of a project that is continuing. We are very excited about its potential," says Fletcher. "It is a very significant study because it is the first time that a voice from ancient Egypt has been accurately recreated. And this means that people can now connect with that civilization in a completely new way," he emphasizes.

The research, published Thursday in the journal Nature , is accompanied by the sound that gave the evidence to which the body of Nesyamun was subjected, which lived during the turbulent times of Pharaoh Ramses XI (1099-1069 BC) and won the rooms as a scribe and priest in the immense temple of Karnak , in today's Luxor, 600 kilometers from Cairo.

The multidisciplinary team found its object of study in the rooms of the Leeds Museum and transferred it to a public hospital in the city of northern England , where it was explored by CT scan to "verify if a significant part of the structure of the larynx and Nesyamun's throat had remained intact, "the essay details.

Each voice is unique

The dimensions of an individual's vocal tract cause each voice to be unique . Luckily, the soft tissue of the vocal tract - constituted by the oral, nasal, pharynx and larynx cavity - of Nesyamun had not been completely lost although the tongue has lost much of its volume after three millennia wrapped in a cardboard , which reduces precision to the tone of the priest.

"We have achieved a sound faithful to the vocal tract that gives it its current position but we cannot expect it to be identical to its original voice due to the state of its language," acknowledges David M. Howard of the Royal Holloway University of London and one of the project warders, which emerged during one of their presentations on the vocal tract and the possibility of providing vocal sounds to those who have lost their larynx after an accident or cancer surgery.

The scan allowed the scientists to measure the shape of the vocal tract based on the tomography images. Based on the measurements obtained, they created a 3D printed vocal tract for Nesyamun and used it with an artificial larynx used in current speech synthesis programs. Thus was the resurrection of his voice, after an eternity in sepulchral silence.

At the moment, the unusual test is not able to synthesize words or complete sentences because it would be necessary to know the voice output of the vocal tract. "It's something we're working on. It will be possible one day, " slips Howard, hopeful with the possibilities of an announcement that has been received with some skepticism by the scientific community.

I work in the temple

Nesyamun's voice was an essential part of his work in the temple and of the rituals he had to perform, subject to sermons and songs . The authors of the study trust that the technique revolutionizes the management and exhibition of heritage, which until now was unaware of the possibility of giving voice to civilizations that left their mark millennia ago.

"When visitors encounter the past, it is usually a visual meeting," argues John Schofield, an archaeologist at the University of York and a member of the team. "With this voice we change that dynamic and turn the encounter into something with multiple dimensions . There is nothing more personal than someone's voice. Listening to such an old one will be an unforgettable experience that will make monuments like Karnak, the temple of Nesyamun, resurrect" outlines

The architects of the experiment celebrate the deed of having recovered a voice that died out three millennia ago. However, its owner - like the rest of the Egyptians - was buried with the desire to conquer immortality . The inhabitants who once populated the banks of the Nile always believed that "to pronounce the name of the deceased is to bring them to life again."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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