Dr. Howard said that in the future the team could modify the computer software to approximate elements such as the size and movement of the tongue and the position of the jaw.

“You can take that to its natural conclusion,” said Katherine Baxter, curator of archaeology at the Leeds museum and a co-author on the paper. “Could we make Nesyamun actually speak his original words as written on his coffin?”

If so, perhaps the mummy could recite for museum visitors his words to Nut, the ancient Egyptian goddess of the sky and heavens: “O mother Nut, spread out your wings over my face so you may allow me to be like the stars-which-know-no-destruction, like the stars-which-know-no-weariness, (and) not to die over again in the cemetery.”

Roselyn Campbell, a bioarchaeologist at the Getty Research Institute who was not involved in the study, called the paper “fascinating” and said the authors were clearly aware of the limitations in their study and of the complexities of recreating the past.

“I think their emphasis on returning Nesyamun’s voice, and thus some of his identity, is a vital acknowledgment of the ethical considerations not only in studying the past, but of clarifying the relevance of such research to the modern public,” Dr. Campbell said.

Piero Cosi, a speech scientist at the Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies in Italy, who was a part of a team that reconstructed the voice of Ötzi the Iceman in 2016, said the work was interesting but speculative.