(Image Source: The Mirror)

 

BY DANNY MATTESON
 
ANCHOR LAUREN GORES
 


You're watching multisource science news analysis from Newsy.
 


A British cab driver in life -- a Pharaoh in death?
That’s the story of the UK’s Alan Billis.
Sky News Australia explains.    


 

“Wrapped in linen, this is the body of Alan Billis, a taxi driver from Devon who died of lung cancer, but before he died he decided to donate his body to science and be mummified like an Egyptian King.”



So, why would one volunteer to have their body mummified?
According to Billis’, who dubbed himself “Tutanalan”,  it’s all in the name of science -- and a little bit of curiosity.  


 

People have been leaving their bodies to science for years and if people don’t volunteer for anything nothing gets found out ... If it doesn’t work it’s not the end of the world, is it? It doesn’t make any difference to me, I’m not going to feel it. It’s still bloody interesting.”



And according to Discovery News, the late 61-year-old’s widow isn’t just comfortable with her husband’s procedure, she’s proud of it. She told reporters...


 

“I'm the only woman in the country who's got a mummy for a husband.”



So what does it take to have one’s body mummified? According to The Inquisitr it’s a delicate process.


 

His internal organs...were removed. His brain though was left in place. The body’s moisture was removed using natron, a caustic salt … His corpse was then immersed in a salt bath for more than a month and was eventually covered with a special protective layer of oils. … Billis’ body was then wrapped in linen, protecting it from light and insects.”



But what’s the point? The researcher in charge of the mummification tells The Telegraph -- it offers better insight into the history of ancient Egypt.


 

Stephen Buckley, an archaeological chemist, said the result had left him confident he had cracked the code to one of the last great secrets of the pharaohs.”


 
And that last great secret will be revealed in a documentary entitled ‘Mummifying Alan: Egypt's Last Secret’, that will air on the UK’s channel 4 and will be screened October 24th -- until then, it’s under wraps.



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Transcript by Newsy


 

Sci/Health News: British Man Mummified

British Cab Driver Volunteers Body for Mummification

October 19, 2011
(1:46)
Alan Billis, 61, donated his body for a Channel 4 documentary about the mummification process.
   
TRANSCRIPT

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