美公司推木乃伊安葬全球逾1500人預訂

2012-03-07 14:46

分享到

Nine lives: Summum mummifies pet dogs and cats and puts them into steel or bronze caskets(dailymail.co.uk)

These are the modern day mummies. Already, more than 1500 people across the world have contacted Summum, the world’s only mummification company, to be mummified after they die.

The company based in Salt Lake City, Utah have revealed that their clientele includes celebrities, from all over the world, including Britain, and added that they also cater to requests from pet owners.

Dozens of pets, including everything from dogs and cats, to peacocks, finches and even rats have undergone the traditional Egyptian burial routine.

The process takes 90 days. The organs are taken out and cleansed, then the body is hydrated for more than 70 days, submerged in a tank.

Then it is covered with lanolin and wax, followed by layers of cotton gauze and a fibre glass finish. The body is then encased in a steel or bronze casket.

Ron Temu, who works at Summum’s appropriately pyramid-shaped building as a counsellor for clients, said: ‘The chemicals we use are so permeable that if a drop was put on the hand, just seconds later it can be tasted in the mouth.

‘The olden day mummies look very dry and that’s because it was believed the best way to preserve them for the afterlife was to completely dehydrate them. We do the opposite and believe that hydrating the body fully is the best way to preserve it.

‘That's why the bodies will still look like the day they died - even thousands of years later.’

But the process isn’t cheap. Cats cost ￡3,600 and dogs at ￡15,000. Human mummification costs approximately ￡40,000.

Summum have already mummified human beings but their progress has been checked after 18 months and then state law says that as they have been opened, they must be incinerated.

But many are signed up to be mummified in the future - and the company says it has tremendous implications for cloning. It is feasible that DNA could be removed at a later date by drilling into the casket.

Mr Temu said: ‘Being able to take out DNA at a later date has real appeal for people. People like the idea of being able to clone themselves.

‘We have a lot of people signed up to be mummified. They signed up in their 30’s and 40’s, and are now in their 50’s and 60’s, so we have a lot of work ahead of us.’

(Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

點擊查看更多雙語新聞

(Agencies)

美國薩門公司推出全新安葬方式：把尸體制成“現(xiàn)代木乃伊”。全球已經(jīng)有1500多人聯(lián)系這家獨一無二的木乃伊安葬公司，預訂死后的木乃伊安葬服務。

該公司位于美國猶他州鹽湖城。該公司介紹稱客戶中有來自全球的名人，其中也包括英國。同時公司也為寵物主人提供寵物木乃伊服務。

已有數(shù)十只寵物，不僅包括貓狗，還有孔雀、雀鳥，甚至老鼠，都已經(jīng)按照傳統(tǒng)的埃及木乃伊殉葬流程予以安葬。

木乃伊制作過程需要90天。工作人員先把內(nèi)臟掏出并清洗干凈，然后把尸體放在水槽里，用水合物藥液浸泡70天。

然后，工作人員在尸體表面涂上羊毛脂和蠟，隨后用層層紗布裹好，并用玻璃纖維封好，最后放進鋼或銅制的棺材里。

薩門公司的客戶咨詢朗?特穆說：“我們選用的藥液滲透性極強。如果滴一滴在手心，幾秒鐘后，嘴巴里就能嘗到味道。”薩門公司的辦公樓外形酷似一座金字塔。

“古代木乃伊看起來很干燥，那是因為當時人們認為，徹底脫水是保存尸體的最好辦法。而我們采用相反的方式。我們認為，讓尸體充分保濕才最好。”

“因此我們制作的現(xiàn)代木乃伊和剛?cè)ナ罆r一模一樣，即使幾千年后也是?！?/p>

但制作木乃伊價格不菲。制作一只貓木乃伊要花費3600英鎊，狗則要1.5萬英鎊。人類木乃伊大約需要4萬英鎊。

薩門公司已經(jīng)成功制作了一些人類木乃伊。但這些木乃伊在做完18個月后被打開檢查。而根據(jù)猶他州法律規(guī)定，這些木乃伊在被打開后必須焚化。

已經(jīng)有很多人與薩門公司簽約，要求在死后被制成木乃伊。該公司表示，這對克隆技術(shù)也有重大意義。將來可以在棺材上鉆孔從木乃伊里提取DNA。

特穆說：“能在將來提取DNA對很多人來說非常有吸引力。人們希望將來自己也能被克隆?！?/p>

“很多客戶已經(jīng)簽約，有些人簽約時才三四十歲，現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)五六十歲。所以我們還有很多工作要做。”

相關(guān)閱讀

英國男子捐遺體制木乃伊全程被拍成紀錄片

英科學家稱“靈魂出竅”實為生理反應

細數(shù)英美國家迷信種種

揭秘埃及少年法老早夭源于兄妹聯(lián)姻

（中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 Julie 編輯：陳丹妮）

Vocabulary:

cater to: 迎合，為……服務

hydrate: （使）水合，與水化合

lanolin: 羊毛脂

分享到

中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津版權(quán)說明：凡注明來源為“中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津：XXX（署名）”的原創(chuàng)作品，除與中國日報網(wǎng)簽署英語點津內(nèi)容授權(quán)協(xié)議的網(wǎng)站外，其他任何網(wǎng)站或單位未經(jīng)允許不得非法盜鏈、轉(zhuǎn)載和使用，違者必究。如需使用，請與010-84883561聯(lián)系；凡本網(wǎng)注明“來源：XXX（非英語點津）”的作品，均轉(zhuǎn)載自其它媒體，目的在于傳播更多信息，其他媒體如需轉(zhuǎn)載，請與稿件來源方聯(lián)系，如產(chǎn)生任何問題與本網(wǎng)無關(guān)；本網(wǎng)所發(fā)布的歌曲、電影片段，版權(quán)歸原作者所有，僅供學習與研究，如果侵權(quán)，請?zhí)峁┌鏅?quán)證明，以便盡快刪除。