A former British taxi driver has become the first person in the world for 3,000 years to be mummified in the same way as the pharaohs. |
A former British taxi driver has become the first person in the world for 3,000 years to be mummified in the same way as the pharaohs. Channel Four viewers will see Alan Billis turned into a mummy over the space of a few months as his body is preserved using the techniques which the ancient Egyptians used on Tutankhamun. Billis had been terminally ill with cancer when he volunteered to undergo the procedure which a scientist has been working to recreate for many years. The 61-year-old from Torquay in Devon had the backing of his wife Jan, who said: "I'm the only woman in the country who's got a mummy for a husband." The process is revealed in a new documentary Mummifying Alan: Egypt's Last Secret to be screened next Monday, October 24. Dr Stephen Buckley, a chemist and research fellow at York University, has spent 19 years trying to uncover the preservation techniques which the Egyptians used during the 18th dynasty. Alongside archaeologist Dr Jo Fletcher, Dr Buckley has studied mummified bodies, analysing tissue samples and finally putting his findings into practice by putting them to the test on Billis's body at Sheffield's Medico-Legal Centre. Billis had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer when he heard about the search for a body donor. "I was reading the paper and there was a piece that said 'volunteer wanted with a terminal illness to donate their body to be mummified'," he told the documentary team. "People have been leaving their bodies to science for years and if people don't volunteer for anything nothing gets found out." Billis - who dubbed himself "Tuten-Alan" - continued: "Experimenting is all about trying different processes to make things work. If it doesn't work it's not the end of the world, is it? Don't make any difference to me, I'm not going to feel it. It's still bloody interesting." Channel 4 said the experiment had a scientific purpose and had not been done for sensationalism. Billis' family said they had given their full support. (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies)
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英國出租車司機(jī)艾倫?比利斯去世后,被制成木乃伊,成為3000年來首個仿照古埃及人制作木乃伊法老的方法制作的木乃伊。 英國第四頻道電視臺將播出艾倫?比利斯被制成木乃伊的全過程,制作過程耗時數(shù)月,遺體保存技術(shù)與古埃及人保存法老圖坦卡蒙的技術(shù)相同。 自愿捐獻(xiàn)遺體成為木乃伊?xí)r,比利斯已經(jīng)處于癌癥晚期。此前,一位科學(xué)家已經(jīng)就復(fù)原木乃伊的制作過程研究了很多年。 61歲的比利斯來自德文郡托基鎮(zhèn)。他的妻子簡也很支持他,并說道:“我是英國唯一一個有木乃伊丈夫的人?!?/p> 電視臺將于當(dāng)?shù)貢r間10月24日,也就是下周一播出這部名為《將艾倫變木乃伊:埃及最后的秘密》的紀(jì)錄片。 約克大學(xué)化學(xué)家兼研究員斯蒂芬?伯克利博士已經(jīng)花費(fèi)了19年,來試圖找到古埃及人在第十八代王朝期間保存木乃伊的技術(shù)。 伯克利在考古學(xué)家喬?弗萊徹的幫助下研究了木乃伊尸體,分析了細(xì)胞組織樣本,最終在謝菲爾德法醫(yī)中心用比利斯的遺體將研究成果應(yīng)用于實(shí)踐。 得知有人在尋找遺體捐獻(xiàn)者的消息時,比利斯已被確診為肺癌晚期。 他告訴紀(jì)錄片攝制組:“我當(dāng)時正在看報(bào)紙,有一條新聞寫道,‘尋找絕癥病人捐獻(xiàn)遺體制作木乃伊。” “人們捐贈遺體用于科學(xué)研究已有很多年了,如果沒有捐獻(xiàn)者,科學(xué)家就不會有新發(fā)現(xiàn)?!?/p> 比利斯自稱為“圖坦艾倫”。他接著說:“實(shí)驗(yàn)就是要嘗試不同的方法來實(shí)現(xiàn)目標(biāo)。如果不成功,也不是世界末日,對吧?因?yàn)閷ξ襾碚f沒什么不同,我什么也感覺不到了,而且這仍然很有趣?!?/p> 英國第四頻道電視臺表示,該實(shí)驗(yàn)有科學(xué)目的,并不是僅僅為了追求轟動效應(yīng)。比利斯的家人也表示完全支持。 相關(guān)閱讀 英國獨(dú)自進(jìn)餐人數(shù)多 自娛自樂不寂寞 (中國日報(bào)網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 Julie 編輯:馮明惠) |
Vocabulary: pharaoh: 法老,古埃及君主稱號 sensationalism: the use of sensational matter or methods, especially in writing, journalism, or politics(追求轟動效應(yīng)) |