Donor with deep pockets needed to save American Dime Museum, Baltimore's dying mummy museum (baltimoresun.com)

"Like an art connoisseur wondering what a Monet would look like above his mantel, Bob Wolfe spotted a museum piece that he said would look nice in his home. 'I'd make room for the Amazon mummy woman in my garage, for sure,' Wolfe said, admiring the 9-foot-2-inch remains - or purported remains - laid out in a glass case at the American Dime Museum. Like the mummy, the little-known museum at 1808 Maryland Ave. will soon be going belly-up. The publicized announcement last week of its likely demise at the end of December sent Wolfe, 55, out on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle yesterday to join the hundreds of visitors who have been streaming into the museum's cramped rowhouse quarters for a glimpse at its collection of oddities...."

The American Dime Museum is not looking for small donors; the museum needs two years of operating expenses. If you can help in a big way, here is the contact information:

Email: dimemuseum@earthlink.net

Fax: 410-347-DIME

Body from the bog: Partially-preserved body of WW2 German gunner found in West Sussex bog (telegraph.co.uk)

"A coroner's officer has pieced together details of a doomed mission made by a Luftwaffe bomber after the body of its gunner was found in the remains of his aircraft, shot down 62 years ago. Franz Huske, 21, was part of a crew on board a Dornier 217-E on its way to bomb Southampton in March 1943 when it was intercepted by RAF Bristol Beaufighters. The aircraft crashed into countryside on the Surrey-Sussex border. The pilot ejected successfully but the radio operator was killed after falling from the aircraft as it plunged into boggy ground...." 

Mummy mystery at Newcastle's Hancock Museum (n-e-life.com

"A mystery surrounding the death of one of the Hancock Museum's  ancient residents is under investigation following a visit from world renowned Egyptologist Dr Joann Fletcher. The mummy of Irt Irw, which dates back to 664-525BC, was found in a tomb near Thebes, Egypt. Estimated to be aged between 30 and 40 years old she was first unwrapped during an autopsy in 1830 by three local doctors who removed 22.5 kg of bandages from her...."

Earliest Chinchorro mummies were children, possibly killed by high arsenic content in water supply (cnn.com) 

"Living in the harsh desert of northern Chile's Pacific coast more than 7,000 years ago, the Chinchorro fishing tribe mysteriously began mummifying dead babies -- removing internal organs, cleaning bones, stuffing and sewing up the skin, putting wigs and clay masks on them. The Chinchorro mummies are the oldest known artificially preserved dead, dating thousands of years before Egyptian mummies, and the life quest of the archeologists who study them is to discover why this early society developed such a complex death ritual. Archeologist Bernardo Arriaza, who studies the Chinchorro at the University of Tarapaca in Chile's northernmost city Arica, launched a daring new theory this year.... Arriaza says high levels of arsenic in the water in the region, which persist to this day, meant more premature births, stillbirths, spontaneous abortions and higher infant mortality among the Chinchorro...."

More on the move to relocate Lenin's mummified body

Will Lenin get his wish for dying? (independent.co.uk)

"On the fringe of a sprawling sombre cemetery in St Petersburg, an unsmiling metal-grey statue of Maria Ulyanova, mother of Vladimir Lenin, peers into the distance as if waiting for the return of her famous son. The boy she gave birth to in 1870 may have laid the foundations of the world's largest superpower and been the first politician in history to put Marxism into practice, but in death he has turned out to be less potent. Eighty-one years after his fatal stroke in 1924, his wish to be buried alongside his mother in St Petersburg's Volkovskoye Cemetery, resting place of writers, intellectuals and academics, remains controversially unfulfilled. Instead, his painstakingly embalmed corpse, replete in its three-piece suit, continues to lie in what is purportedly a bullet-proof, blast-proof glass case in a mausoleum in Red Square in Moscow, 400 miles to the south. It is exactly where the tyrant who succeeded him (against Lenin's will), Joseph Stalin, decreed that he should be deposited...."

Head of Kalmykia offers $1 million to move Lenin to new home with a view (theaustralian.news.com.au)

"The head of the Russian Buddhist region of Kalmykia said today he was willing to pay $US1 million ($1.31 million) to give a new home to the embalmed body of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin. Last month a top aide to President Vladimir Putin suggested burying Lenin, now a tourist attraction in a guarded mausoleum on Moscow's Red Square, prompting a debate about the revolutionary's place in post-Soviet Russia. Kalmykia's leader, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, offered to put Lenin on permanent display in Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, which lies on the Caspian Sea...." 

Is it time to bury Lenin's mummified body? (nytimes.com; free registration required)

"For eight decades he has been lying in state on public display, a cadaver in a succession of dark suits, encased in a glass box beside a walkway in the basement of his granite mausoleum. Many who revere him say he is at peace, the leader in repose beneath the lights. Others think he just looks macabre. Time has been unkind to Lenin, whose remains here in Red Square are said to sprout occasional fungi, and whose ideology and party long ago fell to ruins. Now the inevitable question has returned. Should his body be moved?"

Mummy Road Show finds that Sylvester of Seattle's 'Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe' was deliberately mummified (seattletimes.com) 

"Researchers oohed and aahed so much over the patient's internal organs one might be forgiven for thinking he was still alive. But Sylvester, the object of all the attention Saturday at Inland Pacific Imaging in Seattle, is a mummy. Researchers who did a CT scan on him four years ago came back for a more detailed look, this time using both CT and MRI equipment.... Legend has it that two cowboys found Sylvester's dried-out body as they rode across Arizona's Gila Bend Desert in 1895. But the researchers say the brain and other internal organs are so extraordinarily well-preserved because an embalmer injected an arsenic-based fluid shortly after death.... "

Husband lives with mummified wife for five months before discovery (icwales.icnetwork.co.uk)

"A grieving husband lived with the body of his dead wife for five months, it was revealed yesterday. Milkman Howard Lewis led a normal life, shopping and chatting with neighbours in his quiet tree- lined street. But Mr Lewis, 69, was keeping secret the fact his wife Elizabeth had died and he was still living with her "mummified" body. He carried on sleeping in the same bed as his wife and continued to talk to her about the weather and local gossip...." 

Did ancient Egyptian priests ban the eating of pork? Italian researchers find contradictory evidence (ansa.it) 

"Italian researchers have found a pig-related disease in a mummy, squashing a common belief that Ancient Egyptians had a dietary ban on pork. Until now historians have found evidence suggesting ancient high priests in Egypt prohibited pig meat, in common with many Middle Eastern peoples who still don't eat pork today.... The researchers recently found the oldest recorded case of a rare disease called cystercosis in the belly of a second-century BC mummy. Cystercosis, which can spark dangerous mood swings and epilepsy, is caused by an intestinal parasite contained in raw or poorly cooked pork... " 

More on the repatriation of Maori remains

Additional mummified heads added to repatriation list (radionz.co.nz)

"A number of Maori ancestral remains are to be returned to New Zealand this month from museums in Holland and the United Kingdom. Eighteen ancestral remains including toi moko - mummified heads - and skeletetal remains, will go to the national museum, Te Papa in Wellington, while work is undertaken to find out where they have come from...."

Dutch museum returns mummified Maori head to New Zealand (newsday.com) 

"The Dutch Ministry of Culture said Tuesday it will return a tattooed and mummified 19th century Maori head to New Zealand. The artifact has been in the Netherlands for more than 150 years, where it belonged to the royal collection of Dutch King William I and later was displayed at the natural history museum in Leiden. The head will be sent to the Te Papa Museum in Wellington, New Zealand, Dutch Junior Culture Minister Medy van der Laan said in a statement. Nine other Maori heads were returned to New Zealand earlier this year from museums in Britain....."

New York Times raises questions about 'Bodies' exhibit (nytimes.com; free registration required) 

"The jaunty fellow with the conductor's baton waving in one hand stands on a pedestal seemingly lost in the music. But there are a few startlingly odd things about this tall, lithe gentleman: He is dead, his skin has been methodically ripped away and there is a pinkish void where his viscera are supposed to be. Besides a few supporting segments of muscle, bone and ligament, the man has been rendered into a web of white spindly nerves. It is impossible to know what he did in life, but in death the man has become a ghoulish show-and-tell exemplar of the human nervous system, part of a new exhibit that opens tomorrow at the South Street Seaport. The show, called "Bodies . . . the Exhibition," features the preserved remains of 22 people and 260 other specimens, including a set of conjoined fetuses, a set of male genitalia, a pudgy woman who has been vertically sliced into four equal segments and a sprinter whose flayed muscles fly around him like slices of prosciutto...."

 'Big Apple' gets plastinated later this month (nydailynews.com)

"You'll need a strong stomach and a stout heart to see a bizarre new show opening at the South Street Seaport that displays bodies and vital organs under glass. 'Bodies ... The Exhibition,' premieres this month, following a run in Tampa that generated interest as well as controversy...."

Strange but true: Doctors find mummified fetus inside woman during operation (mid-day.com)

"Surgeons have stumbled across mummified foetus in the abdomen of a woman who had complained of pain in the lower abdomen, during an operation. The woman, 40-year-old Kanak Baghar of Athamallick in Angul district, had undergone an abortion by a local doctor in 1997 when she was five months pregnant, Prof Jagmohan Mishra who operated on her at the VSS hospital at Burla, said today. She complained of pain in the lower abdomen on and off and had also begun vomitting when she was referred to the hospital for surgery, Mishra said. During operation on November 2, two globular masses were found in her lower abdomen which turned out to be mummified five-month-old foetus which had head, ribs, upper limb and lower limb bones, he said. The surgeons were of the opinion that she had a twin pregnancy in 1997...." 

WWII vet recalls visiting mummies in lava tube cave  (islandpacket.com)

"...Mr. Von Holt and his chief paniolo, the Hawaiian cowboy boss...had horses saddled and ready to go, so we mounted and headed down the mountainside toward the ocean. We rode for about an hour through green areas, brush, cactus, and lava formations following a path known only to the paniolo, whose forebears were buried at the site. Eventually our leader called a halt and we dismounted and tied up our horses. He then took a lantern from his saddlebag and scrambled up a lava pile, saying, 'Stay here while I check the entry,' as he disappeared into the lava. In a few minutes he reappeared and called for us to join him. Connie and I met him at the entry hole and with his directions and help, scrambled our way down the hole into a hidden lava tube. Following our guide, we walked about a hundred feet to the tube's end. There, on rough wooden pallets, were the mummified remains of a man and a woman...."

More on the curse of Ötzi

Professor sounds off against curse: Hundreds of academics have worked on the Iceman; statistically surprising that not more have died (sundaymail.co.uk)

"A professor who led a study into an ancient mummy denies he is living in fear of its deadly curse. Jim Dickson, 68, is aware seven people linked with the 5300-year-old corpse, known as Oetzi, have died - the latest just three weeks ago.... But Glasgow University professor Dickson says fears he will become the next victim of the mummy are 'rubbish'...."

Getting at the truth by asking the right questions: How many people have worked on Ötzi and is their death rate statistically higher? (bbc.co.uk)

"The death of a molecular biologist has fuelled renewed speculation about a "curse" connected to an ancient corpse.... Dr Loy died in unclear circumstances in Australia two weeks ago, it has been announced, making him the seventh person connected with Oetzi to die. Colleagues and family of Dr Loy have rejected the notion that he was the victim of a 'curse'. It is not known how many people have worked on the Oetzi project - and whether the death rate is statistically high...."

Speculation vs. fact: Which one to believe in Loy's death? (ansa.it)

"Fears of a curse waged by Italy's ice mummy have returned with the death of the seventh person who came into contact with the Stone Age hunter. Tom Loy, the world's leading molecular archaeologist, was found dead in his Brisbane home while he was working on the final stages of a book on the Iceman. But his death re-ignited speculation that Oetzi had again struck down a person who dared to disturb his 5,000-year sleep...." 

Seventh 'victim' reported: molecular archaeologist Tom Loy (theaustralian.news.com.au)

"A mummy's curse has cast its shadow over the death of a Brisbane scientist who worked to unlock the secrets of a 5300-year-old man frozen in the Italian Alps. A memorial service will be held on Monday for molecular archaeologist Tom Loy, who was found dead in his home a fortnight ago as he finalised his book on the world's oldest mummy, dubbed Oetzi. Dr Loy, 63, director of the Archaeological Sciences Laboratories at the University of Queensland's Institute for Molecular Bioscience, became the seventh person to have died after coming into close contact with the iceman since his discovery in 1991. 'He didn't believe in the curse,' a colleague said yesterday. 'It was just superstition. People die.' The California-born scientist had been suffering from a blood-related condition for about 12 years, according to his family, that was diagnosed shortly after he became involved with the Oetzi analysis...."

Previously about the curse of Ötzi (from April 2005)

Curse of Ötzi: A skeptic's view (independent.co.uk)

"Konrad Spindler did not believe in curses. The professor of pre- and early history at Innsbruck University was a rational man, believing in cause and effect. He did not believe in spells cast by the ungrateful dead. But last Sunday Professor Spindler died. The cause of death was complications arising from multiple sclerosis, but that has not deterred those who claim the professor was the latest victim of Ötzi the Iceman. Ötzi is dead too, of course: he is one of the oldest and best preserved corpses in the world. Since his tattooed body was discovered in 1991 on the Austria-Italy border, it is said that Ötzi has steadily taken revenge on those who disturbed him in his glacial grave, somehow causing them to die in mysterious circumstances. So is there really a curse of the ice mummy? And if so, who's next?..."

Summary: Curse of the Ice Mummy (thesun.co.uk) with photos

"The curse of a frozen mummy is being linked to six deaths. Archaeologist Konrad Spindler — the leading expert on the 5,700-year-old corpse — has become the latest victim.... His other victims — and their grisly ends — are detailed below. And now others involved with the iceman, named Oetzi after the region where he was found, are trembling. Pathologist Dr Eduard Vigil, who examined the mummy, said...."

The sixth victim of the Iceman?: Scientist Konrad Spindler dies (guardian.co.uk)

"He had lain in his icy tomb on an Alpine glacier in northern Italy for 5,300 years, a perfectly preserved Stone Age warrior, complete with fur robes, leather shoes and bow and arrow. But since being found 14 years ago, five of the people who came in close contact with Oetzi the Iceman have died, leading to the inevitable question: is the mummy cursed? Konrad Spindler, head of the Iceman investigation team at Innsbruck University, died on Monday, apparently from complications arising from multiple sclerosis. But that has not stopped his name being linked to a string of strange deaths related to the mummy...."

Shortage of cadavers for scientific research: is Von Hagens to blame? (guardian.co.uk) 

"Dead people make the best teachers. They may not understand questions or speak, but they do have one particularly useful skill - their remarkable threshold for pain makes them ideal anatomy manuals for trainee doctors. Thanks to them, a patient knows the surgeon brandishing the knife before them has done this before. But Her Majesty's Inspector of Anatomy has a problem: Britain's 'reserve' of cadavers has virtually run out. As a result, Jeremy Metters is calling for people to volunteer their bodies after death. ...donors began to pull out after Gunther von Hagens, the German anatomist, hosted the controversial television show Anatomy for Beginners....." 

King Tut exhibit to stay five days longer in Los Angeles (sanluisobispo.com)

"The Los Angeles County Museum of Art will extend the King Tut exhibit by five days to accommodate near-record crowds, an exhibit promoter said. The exhibit will be open through Nov. 20, John Norman, president of Arts and Exhibitions International, a co-producer of the tour, said Wednesday. Longer visiting hours also may be announced. LACMA officials declined to comment on any extension. A news conference is scheduled for Thursday to discuss the exhibit's economic impact. Norman said the five-month LACMA exhibit - the first stop on a four-city tour - ultimately will be seen by about 900,000 people...." 

Mummified cat dating from 1894 found under floor of London house (islingtongazette.com)

"A mummified cat discovered under the floor of a Highbury house was probably buried there more than 100 years ago to ward off witches, say experts. The bone-dry moggie was brought into Islington Museum, Islington Town Hall, Upper Street, Islington, by Andy Shallowe. He has had the cat in his home in Sotheby Road, Highbury, for nearly three years after being given it by his disgusted neighbours who discovered it below their house. Museum experts - who have nicknamed the cat Thierry - reckon it was buried under the house in 1894 to ward off witches. They say the cat was probably dead before it was buried but there is a chance it may have been pinned down and buried alive...."

The forgotten mummies in the basement of Cairo's Egyptian Museum (nytimes.com; free registration required)

"Egyptian archaeologists, who normally scour the desert in search of treasures of the past, have discovered that one of the greatest caches of antiquities may well be in the basement of the Egyptian Museum. For the last century, artifacts have been stored away in crates there and forgotten, often allowed to disintegrate in the dank, dusty cavern. Forgotten until now. The recent theft and recovery of three statues from the basement have prompted antiquity officials in Egypt to redouble an effort already under way to complete the first comprehensive inventory of artifacts in the basement...."

Visiting the Mummy Museum at Guanajuato on the 'Day of the Dead' (azcentral.com)

"The mummified baby sits alone in a glass case, its blue sweater still buttoned against the chill of death, its pale hands resting on the disposable diaper it was buried in. Across the room, three severed heads gaze at the wall. A little girl with the face of a zombie clutches a smiling doll, and an infant in a baptismal gown laces its gnarled fingers as if in prayer. All were evicted from the city cemetery after their families stopped paying the rent on their graves. Feeling faint? Then read no further, because that's just the first room at the Guanajuato Mummy Museum in central Mexico, where a macabre collection of modern-day cadavers, mysteriously preserved by nature itself, nourishes Mexico's fascination with death...."