LONDON鈥擜 British man has become the first person in 3,000 years to be mummified in the same way as ancient Egyptian pharaohs, a new TV documentary claims, after he donated his body to a science experiment.
Alan Billis, a 61-year-old taxi driver from Torquay in southwest England, died in January from lung cancer. Before he died, he volunteered to take part in a mummification experiment for television.
鈥淧eople have been leaving their bodies to science for years, and if people don鈥檛 volunteer for anything nothing gets found out,鈥� Billis says in the documentary, which will be screened in Britain on October 24.
鈥淚f it doesn鈥檛 work it鈥檚 not the end of the world, is it? Don鈥檛 make any difference to me, I鈥檓 not going to feel it. It鈥檚 still bloody interesting.鈥�
A team led by leading forensic pathologist Professor Peter Vanezis removed all of Billis鈥� organs except his heart and brain, and left his body in a bath of special salts for a month, according to Channel 4 television.
The body was dried out in a special chamber at Sheffield鈥檚 Medico Legal Center in northern England, and then wrapped with linen bandages to allow the drying to continue, to keep his limbs intact and keep out light and insects.
They used a process developed by Dr Stephen Buckley, a chemist and research fellow from nearby York University, who has been studying the mummification process for almost 20 years.
He has focused his research on ancient Egypt鈥檚 18th dynasty, which produced the best preserved mummies, including the body of Tutankhamun, who died in 1323 BC.
One of Buckley鈥檚 key discoveries was that, contrary to popular belief, the mummies did not have their brain removed through their nose.
Before Billis, Buckley had experimented with the mummification process on the legs of pigs, which have very similar tissue to human flesh, and even transformed his shed to replicate the desert conditions in Egypt.
After the researchers bandaged Billis鈥� body, his widow, Jan, made a farewell visit, leaving some photographs and drawings by his grandchildren with him.
The process took three months and has been hailed a success by a number of expert scientists.
鈥淭he skin itself has this leathery appearance which indicates that he has become mummified all over,鈥� said Vanezis.
Buckley added: 鈥淚 think he鈥檚 on the road to looking very much like the best of the best of the 18th dynasty in 3,000 years鈥� time.鈥�