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Brooklyn Museum, New York
Museum, Museums outside Egypt · also called Brooklyn Museum Egyptian collection, Brooklyn Museum ancient Egyptian art, Brooklyn Books of the Dead, Wilbour collection, Kneeling statue of Senenmut
At the Brooklyn Museum you can read the names of Pepi II and his mother on their alabaster statue, and Hatshepsut's throne name as a rebus held by her official Senenmut. Its Books of the Dead include a complete, gilded papyrus that went on show for the first time in 2026.
Point your camera at the signs
Signs to look for
- Erect cobra I12 The erect cobra, here with horns and sun disc, is the first part of Senenmut's rebus for Maatkare.
- Raised arms D28kꜣ The raised arms (ka) under the cobra complete the rebus, and recur in Maatkare wherever it is written.
- Sun N5rꜥ The sun (Ra) closes Maatkare, carried on the cobra's head in the rebus.
- Stool Q3p The stool (p) is written twice in Pepi, the king's name on his mother's statue.
Names you can find here
The story of Brooklyn Museum, New York
The collection is strongest in the Predynastic Period, the New Kingdom and the Late Period. Its core came from Charles Edwin Wilbour, an American Egyptologist whose antiquities and papyri the museum acquired between 1916 and 1947. A fund in his name has bought objects ever since, among them the statue of Pepi II and his mother.
The kneeling statue of Senenmut comes from Armant. He holds a cobra with cow horns and a sun disc above a pair of raised arms, which spells Maatkare, Hatshepsut's throne name. His own name has been erased from the inscription, perhaps in antiquity to prepare the statue for reuse.
The gilded papyrus belonged to Ankhmerwer, son of Taneferher, and dates to the Ptolemaic Period. Conservators worked on it for three years before it went on view in January 2026, beside one of the earliest known Books of the Dead, of c. 1500–1480 BC.
Inscriptions to see
Kneeling statue of Senenmut
Granodiorite, from the reign of Hatshepsut. Read the rebus in his hands, then look for the gaps where his name was cut away.
Queen Ankhnesmeryre II and Pepi II
An alabaster statue of the queen with her young son on her lap, shown as a small adult king. Each figure has its own inscription with names and titles, and both are 'beloved of Khnum'.
Books of the Dead
The gilded papyrus of Ankhmerwer and an early New Kingdom roll, in the funerary galleries. Check how long they stay unrolled.
Coffins and cartonnage
Painted coffins and mummy cases such as that of Nespanetjerenpere carry the owners' names among the gods and spells.
Reading the hieroglyphs here
- Senenmut's erased name is easier to see with light from the side. Move round the case until the gaps show.
- The Pepi II statue is small. Get close and frame one figure's inscription at a time.
- Papyri are kept in low light. Hold the phone steady and read the large headings first.
Hiero Lens boxes the signs and names them, on your phone; nothing is uploaded. On worn stone, trace a sign over the photo.
Questions
What is the gilded Book of the Dead at the Brooklyn Museum?
A complete Ptolemaic papyrus made for a man called Ankhmerwer, with gold leaf in its scenes. Very few gilded Books of the Dead survive, and most are fragments.
Does the Brooklyn Museum have Hatshepsut?
Her name, at least, on the kneeling statue of Senenmut, where it is spelt as a rebus of a cobra and a pair of arms. Look for other New Kingdom pieces from her reign nearby.
Why is Pepi II on his mother's lap?
He became king as a young child, and his mother Ankhnesmeryre II is thought to have governed for him. The statue shows her as the one who holds him up.
Where it is
Open in OpenStreetMap · Written from published sources and not yet checked on site by our team: displays and open tombs change.