美公司推木乃伊安葬全球逾1500人預訂

2012-03-07 14:46

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.)

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(Agencies)

美國薩門公司推出全新安葬方式：把尸體制成“現代木乃伊”。全球已經有1500多人聯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。

已有數十只寵物，不僅包括貓狗，還有孔雀、雀鳥，甚至老鼠，都已經按照傳統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。”

“因此我們制作的現代木乃伊和剛去世時一模一樣，即使幾千年后也是。”

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。