Mummies Of Guanajanto: Amazingly Preserved Mummies Go On Display (PHOTOS)

Fans of the macabre rejoice: the Mummies of Guanajanto, an amazing collection of mummified bodies of people who died during a cholera outbreak Mexico in 1833, have gone on display in Mexico City before embarking on a three-year tour that will bring them to the States in an exhibition titled "The Accidental Mummiesof Guanajuato." The remains were exhumed in 1865.

ITN News has a video report on the exhibit. Scroll down for some photos from the exhibit, via Getty.

Comments

[MarsAmbassador]

They don't have slabs or boards they could move them around on? They just pick them up like they're moving a picnic table? For real? I hope they're not surprised when one of them breaks in half during transit...

[MrJM]

I.H.T.

-- MrJM

[earthbelowus]

This is going to give me nightmares, I have to scroll down this page because the photos are too creppy.

[MrsFonebone]

Memento Mori.

[zola77]

Those victorian era pictures are truly more frightening to me that this.

There is something peaceful about mummies -unlike memento mori pics which screamed horror to me.

[madtom]

I've seen the mummies in Guanajuato, in 1981 and again in 1893 with my son. It's a well-known tourist attraction.

Quite an experience. Sort of a garish, ghoulish, titillating sideshow sense outside, but once inside everyone is respectful and quiet. All behind glass of course. A few details about the people, the baby, the pregnant woman, the person with a big tumor, the "dignitaries"..

It is not a "show" to "see" so much as an experience with yourself. Not King Tut, but these were real people.

[SonofLiberty1]

Since they are from Mexico, they might be Catholic and as such, I believe very disrespectful.

[alsm9]

...oh ok, but if they were muslim it would be ok then? And considering catholicisms track record over the last 2000 yrs, I really don't see your point. Shall we tally up the MASSIVE list of "disrespectful" things they've done?

[hotwire]

Yeah, go ahead.

[SonofLiberty1]

Or perhaps you are afraid of Catholics, no?

DISRESPECTFUL BECAUSE THEY ARE HUMAN BEINGS PERIOD.

[Mexitli]

It's part of the natural cycle of life.

The spirits are free and are no longer part of the body.

I personally will not see the exhibit, but I see nothing wrong with it either.

[inc3000]

I wonder what the reaction of you guys would have been if this museum happened to be in Europe or Japan, then I bet your reactions would have been along the lines of "amazing!"

[Bearangaria]

Why?

[bamboozled]

Incredibly disrespectful. I can't think of a good reason to put these bodies on display, other than our morbid fascination with death.

I'd be horrified if someone took my daughter or my wife and displayed their partially decomposed bodies to the public like a freak show. Considering the respect we show the living, it's no surprise our society has no respect for the dead.

[inc3000]

What about body works? No one complains about it huh? These mommies at least have been preserved with original poses, unlike the body works exhibition which cuts the bodies into weird poses..

[Juanon]

Sorry to disagree, but Body Works (rightly in my opinion) received lots of criticism.

[alsm9]

The power of nature is both fascinating and educational. But education doesn't seem to be a big priority in the States so....

[SonofLiberty1]

Par for the course you could say as some folks have little respect for anyone born or unborn, deceased or alive, young or old etc.

[kcflood]

That poor baby should not be on display. It's not like these mummies are thousands of years old ... some only around 100 or so. Just not right.

[alsm9]

LOL!!!!!!! So if one is dead 1000 yrs it's ok, but only 100 not ok. Um....dead is dead.

[inc3000]

so wether something is right or wrong is based on how old something is huh..what's the cutoff ?

[zeke67]

Umm, I have a question. What happened to the cholera?

[Gasparilla]

Creepy. And I can't stand those dissected body exhibits. No one really knows where those bodies came from.

[YankeeCanuck]

Let's take a guess. Executed "criminals" in China.

[superfrog]

Is this what happens when your loved ones stop paying your grave taxes? The government digs you up and puts you on display.

[GrainneKathleen]

lord i hope not!

[MarsAmbassador]

I saw on FOX that Obama plans on doing the same thing! Although they said his plan is to euthanize you first, then put your corpse on display.

[YankeeCanuck]

There is something disrespectful in the display of mummified remains, even though the human spirit that inhabited them is long gone. Many people regard them with reverence,yet there they lay, vulnerable to the rude gaze and unthinking comments.
Yes, I find it sad.

[GrainneKathleen]

i agree. what is it we're supposed to feel about this? they look very dead and very vulnerable to me. it would be nice if they were left alone instead of the stars of a traveling circus. the way the baby is held is particularly disturbing.

[alsm9]

Vunerable to what? They're DEAD.