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C.W. Post Students to Recreate Mummification
for TLC Documentary
 February 26, 2000 -- Four students
at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University will shave
their upper bodies, don the vestments of ancient Egyptian priests
and pour 200 pounds of rock salt on one of their classmates.
It's all part of The Learning Channel (TLC) documentary that
will recreate an Egyptian mummification. The three-part series,
called "Unwrapped: The World of Mummies," is scheduled
to air on September 3, 2000 and will feature C.W. Post Egyptologist
Bob Brier.
Rehearsal will take place in the campus' Little Theatre on
Saturday, February 26, 2000 under a muslin tent built by students
for the occasion. Filming will take place the following day.
Juniors Joe Berlangero and Jared Dawson, and freshmen Ryan Caldwell
and Scott Greco -- all theatre majors -- will play the priests
who perform the mummification. Junior David Maulbeck, also a
theatre major, gets to play the mummy. In keeping with ancient
Egyptian tradition, they shaved their heads. They will wear costumes
created by the campus costume shop, as well as jewelry and a
professionally designed mask of Anubis, ancient Egypt's jackal
headed god of the dead. The campus ceramics shop created several
canopic jars to store the "organs," and rock salt will
be used to simulate natron, a substance used by the ancient Egyptians
to draw fluids from the body before mummification.
Spearheading the project is Dr. Bob Brier, a professor of
Egyptology and philosophy at C.W. Post who has been studying
the language, culture, history and practices of ancient Egypt
for more than 20 years. In 1994, he and Ron Wade, director of
the Maryland State Anatomy Board and of the Anatomical Service
Division of the University of Maryland, performed the mummification
of a human cadaver in modern times. The recreation will closely
follow the procedures they used -- right down to the bronze hook
used to extract the deceased's organs and the canopic jars used
to store them.
 TLC's documentary will feature
not only the mummification procedures of ancient Egypt, but of
ancient and modern mummifications around the world. Dr. Brier
has already studied the mummy of Vladimir Lenin. He will continue
his research by studying the mummy of Eva Peron, second wife
of Argentine president Juan Peron, Chinese mummies and mummified
saints in Italy.
"People are fascinated by mummies, but they are also
horrified by them," says Dr. Brier. "This research
will help us utilize modern technology in studying the diseases,
eating habits and religious practices of ancient peoples."
Dr. Brier insisted that The Learning Channel use C.W. Post
student actors and crew for the production, though a professional
camera crew from England will do the filming.
"This is an incredible opportunity for the students to
work in a professional environment," says Cara Gargano,
chair of the Department of Theatre, Film and Dance. "A lot
of times young actors start out in student films, which is a
good opportunity. But it's nothing like working in a professional
environment. This is the kind of thing that people often don't
get to do for years."
The roots of Egyptian fascination run deep at C.W. Post, where
Dr. Brier teaches one course on ancient Egypt and two philosophy
courses each semester, and organizes student trips to Egyptian
tombs not open to the public. Dr. Brier made headlines in 1996
when he charged an Egyptian civil servant named Aye with the
death of King Tut more than 3,300 years ago. He has written several
books about ancient Egypt, lectures widely on the subject and
continues to scale the great pyramids in search of ancient Egyptian
secrets.
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