He may have lay silent for 3,000 years, but now the voice of a mummified Egyptian priest can be heard once again.

The sound of Nesyamun has been reproduced as a vowel-like sound that loosely resembles a protracted sheep’s bleat.

The priest lived during the politically volatile reign of pharaoh Ramses XI  (c.1099–1069 BC), working as a scribe and priest at the state temple of Karnak in Thebes – modern Luxor.

His voice was an essential part of his ritual duties, which involved spoken as well as sung elements.

Now research by academics at Royal Holloway, University of London, University of York and Leeds Museum has shed light on what Nesyamun sounded like.

Using measurements of the precise dimensions of his extant vocal tract following a CT scan, they created a 3-D printed vocal tract, known as the Vocal Tract Organ.

Read more: PA Media