Screaming Mummy Mystery

It’s a little dim.

Quiet.

                                

As you descend into the museum, the air seems to thicken.

There’s a smell of old dust, along with something else; even though you’ve never smelled it before, the primal part of your brain recognizes it instantly: death. The mummies line either side of the long hallway. Some are propped against the wall. Some have been dressed in modern clothing. You could reach out and touch them if not for the glass. They’re screaming. Mouths wide open in agony; puckered, shriveled skin stretched tightly over bones. Eyeless sockets that seem to stare deep into your soul.

But where did this macabre collection of mummified remains come from?

Cholera is a highly contagious disease often characterized by vomiting, diarrhea, and dehydration.

Some victims die within hours of infection. During the 19th century, five cholera epidemics swept the world. More than once, the disease badly ravaged the city of Guanajuato, Mexico. To control the spread, many were immediately buried after death....in some cases, people were buried alive while dying. However, it’s hard to know exactly how many Guanajuato mummies died after burial. When a person dies, their skin dries out and contracts. Also, their muscles relax. Contracting skin, coupled with a relaxed jaw and natural mummification makes it look like the mummies are screaming. Then there is the strange and sad case of Ignacia Aguilar. She had catalepsy, a condition where sufferers can go into rigid trances. Body functions including heartbeat and breathing may slow down during a cataleptic fit that lasts anywhere from a few minutes to over 24 hours. Poor Ignacia had a fit and her heart appeared to stop beating for longer than a day. Convinced that she was dead, her relatives had her buried. Later, when she was dug up, it was discovered that Ignacia had been buried alive. Why were Ignacia and the other corpses disturbed from their final resting places? Due to the high number of cholera deaths, the local Santa Paula cemetery not only began to run low on space, but the cost to maintain it became burdensome.

In 1865, to defray expenses, the Guanajuato government imposed a tax for permanent burial.

Relatives were required to pay annually to keep their departed loved ones buried. If a family failed to pay, their family members’ corpse was dug up to make room for someone else. Five years after his death and burial, Dr. Remigio Leroy was the first corpse to be disinterred on June 9, 1865. Others soon followed. To their surprise, cemetery workers found that several of the corpses were mummified. The arid soil and hot climate of the Guanajuato region had naturally preserved the bodies. The city kept the mummies in an ossuary under the Santa Paula Cemetery in case the relatives showed up with the money wanting a re-burial. The cemetery workers began charging a fee to let the curious take a peek at the bodies. By the turn of the century, a significant amount of corpses had been dug up and the whole operation had grown into a museum. Tourists were fascinated by the mummies, especially Ignacia. When her corpse was disinterred, she was found face down, with scratches on her forehead. She was biting her arm, with dried blood in her mouth. Apparently, Ignacia had been buried alive. Struggling to get out, she had rolled on her stomach and placing her arms underneath had tried to use her back to push her way out. When that didn’t work, she bit her arm in despair before dying. Guanajuato stopped digging up corpses in 1956, but the Museum of the Mummies continues to be a popular tourist destination. Currently, it houses the largest collection of mummies in the world with 117 bodies. It even has the world’s youngest mummy, a fetus, just 24 weeks old that was buried with its mother. Some people find the museum disrespectful. They think that these poor souls deserve to lie in eternal rest, not to have gawked at by nosy tourists. However, the city of Guanajuato takes pride in its mummies, considering them to be an amazing part of the city’s heritage.

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