Brier has worked in pyramids and tombs in 15 countries and conducted research in mummification practices worldwide. He has investigated well-known mummies such as Tutankhamen, Ramses the Great, Vladimir Lenin, Eva Perón (more commonly known as Evita), and the Medici family.
In 1994 Brier and a colleague, Ronald Wade, director of the State Anatomy Board of Maryland, mummified a human cadaver using ancient Egyptian techniques which they noted was the first known effort in 2,000 years. This research earned Brier the affectionate nickname "Mr. Mummy" and was also the subject of the National Geographic television special of the same name, which made him a household name. He is also the host of several television programs for the TLC Network including The Great Egyptians, Pyramids, Mummies and Tombs, and Mummy Detective. His research has been featured in Archaeology Magazine, The New York Times, CNN, 60 Minutes and 20/20.
In 1999, Brier gave a series of 48 specially-prepared lectures entitled "The History of Ancient Egypt" for The Teaching Company. He later did two more series of lectures for them. One focused on "Great Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt" and the other "Decoding the Secrets of Egyptian Hieroglyphs".
Awards and recognition
Fulbright Fellowship to Turkey 1985
National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow, Islamic Science, Columbia University, 1986
David Newton Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1988 [2]
Director, National Endowment for the Humanities "Egyptology Today" Program, 1992–94
TASA Award for Lifetime of Scholarship, 2002
Emmy Nomination, Best TV Documentary, Murder of Tutankhamen, 1997
Published works
In addition to his above mentioned research, Brier has also written several articles and books, including:
"Precognition and the philosophy of science: An essay on backward causation" (1974) ISBN0-391-00325-9
"The Glory of Ancient Egypt: A Collection of Rare Engravings from the Napoleonic Expedition" (1990) ISBN0-8115-4469-9
Great Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt (2004, lectures published by The Teaching Company)
"The Secret of the Great Pyramid" (with Jean-Pierre Houdin) (October 6, 2008)
Immunological identification of Plasmodium falciparum and Leishmania infantum in the skeletal remains of the Medici family," Proceedings of the XVIII Congress of Italian Anthropological Association, 2009
"Return to the Great Pyramid," Archaeology Magazine, 2009
Egyptomania: Our Three Thousand Year Obsession with the Land of the Pharaohs (Nov 12, 2013) ISBN1137278609
Decoding the Secrets of Egyptian Hieroglyphs (2016, lectures published by The Teaching Company, now The Great Courses)
Cleopatra's Needles: The Lost Obelisks of Egypt. Bloomsbury Academic, 2016.
Brier has also written magazine articles for KMT, Archaeology, and others.