The late taxi driver Alan Billis has become the first man to be mummified in the style of the ancient Egyptians for at least 3,000 years.
Using the techniques that preserved Tutankhamun's body after his death in 1323BC, scientists embalmed the 61-year-old following his death from lung cancer.
Over a period of several months following his death in January, Mr Billis's internal organs were removed and kept in jars, with the exception of his brain and heart.
His skin was covered in a mixture of oils and resins and bathed in a solution of Natron, a salt found in dried-up river beds in Egypt.
After a month in a glass tank at the Medico-Legal Centre in Sheffield, which houses the city's mortuary, his body was taken out, placed in a drying chamber and wrapped in linen.
Mr Billis, who loved watching documentaries, agreed to have his body preserved after seeing an advertisement from a television company looking to film the process.
Mrs Billis and the couple's three grown-up children gave his decision their blessing, and the resulting programme - Mummifying Alan: Egypt's Last Secret - was screened on Channel 4 last night.
Taxi driver Mr Billis, who has been dubbed Torquay's Tutankhamun, explained his unusual decision in the documentary, saying: "People have been leaving their bodies to science for years, and if people don't volunteer for anything nothing gets found out."
Dr Stephen Buckley of the University of York, who helped research Egyptian mummification techniques before the programme, said Mr Billis's body could now last several millennia.





据英国《每日邮报》10月17日报道，已故的出租车司机艾伦-比利斯是3000年来第一个选择把尸体制成古埃及木乃伊的人。

61岁的比利斯死于肺癌。他去世后，科学家们利用保存图坦卡蒙（古埃及法老，死于公元前1323年）尸体的技术来对他的尸体进行防腐保存。

比利斯于一月份离世，之后的几个月内，除大脑和心脏外，他所有的内脏都被取出存在罐子里。

他的皮肤被涂上了一层油脂和松香制成的混合物，并浸泡在一种泡碱溶液里。这种泡碱是在埃及干涸的河床上发现的一种矿盐。

在设菲尔德的法医中心（该城市的太平间），他的尸体在玻璃缸里浸泡了一个月之后被移到干燥室，并裹上了亚麻布。

比利斯生前喜欢看纪录片。在看到一则电视公司招募志愿参与拍摄者（指参与木乃伊制作过程的志愿者）的广告后他同意把自己的遗体捐出。

比利斯的妻子和他们的3个成子女都对他的决定给予了祝福。这部名为《艾伦木乃伊:埃及最后的秘密》的节目已于昨晚在BBC第四频道播出。

被冠上"托基的图坦卡蒙"称号的出租车司机比利斯，在纪录片中解释了他这一不同寻常的决定。他说："人们把遗体捐出供科学研究已经有许多年了，如果没有志愿者的话什么东西都不会被发现。"

约克大学的博士史蒂芬-巴克尔曾在节目录制以前帮助研究过埃及木乃伊的制作技术。他说比利斯的尸体至少可以保存几千年。

• exception [ik´sepʃən] n.例外；反对，异议 (初中英语单词)
• mixture [´mikstʃə] n.混合；混合比；混合物 (初中英语单词)
• solution [sə´lu:ʃən] n.解答；解决；溶解 (初中英语单词)
• grown-up [´grəun-ʌp] n.成年人 a.成熟的 (初中英语单词)
• blessing [´blesiŋ] n.祝福 (初中英语单词)
• channel [´tʃænəl] n.海峡；航道；途径 (初中英语单词)
• unusual [ʌn´ju:ʒuəl] a.不平常的；异常的 (初中英语单词)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中英语单词)
• egyptian [i´dʒipʃən] n.埃及人a.埃及的 (初中英语单词)
• internal [in´tə:nl] a.内部的；国内的 (高中英语单词)
• chamber [´tʃeimbə] n.房间；议院；会议室 (高中英语单词)
• seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)
• advertisement [əd´və:tismənt] n.(做)广告；宣传 (高中英语单词)
• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
• volunteer [,vɔlən´tiə] n.志愿者 v.自愿做 (高中英语单词)