BODY receives many requests for information on Whole Body Donation (WBD) and how
to indicate the wish to be a WBD. Such donations benefit medical undergraduates
in understanding human anatomy. However the following invitation is a little
different.

Comments welcomed.

OPEN LETTER

Fulcrum TV is an award-winning independent television company currently
making a sensitive documentary for Channel 4‘s science department and
National Geographic Television. The film will throw new light on a
science and craft developed by the ancient Egyptians: the preservation
of the human body after death. The film will feature two of Britain‘s
leading historical scientists — a chemist and an Egyptologist - who
will be presenting and testing their ideas on precisely how the ancient
Egyptians, around the time of Tutankhamun, carried out the preservation
of the deceased among royalty and the aristocracy. If the two modern
scientists are proved right, their ideas will significantly change our
views about the sophistication of the ancient Egyptians as scientists.

The scientists will carry out a number of tests in an attempt to
reconstruct in exact detail the process employed by the ancient
Egyptians to create the most beautifully preserved of human remains.
Once this process is established, they want to apply this knowledge on
a human being, with that person‘s (and his or her family‘s) consent.

We are particularly keen to talk to someone who, faced with the
knowledge of their own terminal illness and all that that entails,
would nonetheless consider taking part in this experiment and this
film. Our ambition is broader than the scientific detail; we want to
explore our present-day attitudes to life, death and the afterlife.
Our supposition is that these attitudes and ideas may not be so
different to those of the ancient Egyptians.

Parallels will be drawn between the ancient Egyptians‘ extensive
planning for death and our contributors‘ emotional, spiritual and
practical preparation for the same fate. We will speak to them in depth
about their past, their hopes and fears for their death, their opinions
on the afterlife and the legacy they hope to leave behind.

We‘re therefore hoping to find someone who will share this most private
of experiences with us and embrace the making of this documentary as an
opportunity to express themselves, to educate and to perhaps give
comfort to others. We will also want to involve, with their permission,
the individual‘s family and closest friends in the film.

If you feel you may be interested in participating in the project or
would like more information on what it might involve, please contact
me, Joanne, on

0207 939 3175 or email joannet@...

Contacting me in no way obligates you to take part in the documentary.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this letter,

Joanne