ISAC Museum, University of Chicago

Museum, Museums outside Egypt · also called Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, Oriental Institute Museum, Oriental Institute Chicago, Colossal statue of Tutankhamun Chicago, Grimshaw Egyptian Gallery

The colossal statue in ISAC's Egyptian gallery shows Tutankhamun, but the names carved on it are Horemheb's, cut over those of Ay, who had taken it first. Around it the Grimshaw Egyptian Gallery holds coffins, stelae and papyri, among them the painted coffin of Meresamun, a singer in the temple of Amun.

Point your camera at the signs

Signs to look for

Falcon G5ḥr The falcon (Horus) begins Horemheb's name, 'Horus is in festival', on the colossus.
Alabaster basin W3ḥb The alabaster basin (heb, festival) ends Horemheb's personal name.
Arm with a wand D45ḏsr The arm with a wand (djeser) opens Djeserkheperure, Horemheb's throne name.
Scarab beetle L1ḫpr The scarab (kheper) stands in both Horemheb's and Tutankhamun's throne names, so it is on any cartouche of either king.
Flowering reed M17i The reed leaf begins Amun in Meresamun's name and in her title on the coffin.

Names you can find here

The story of ISAC Museum, University of Chicago

The museum belongs to the University of Chicago's Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, called the Oriental Institute until 2023. Its own expedition dug at Medinet Habu in western Thebes from 1926 to 1933, so many objects in the gallery have a known findspot. Others came through Chicago's support for British excavations and through purchases by James Henry Breasted, the institute's founder.

The colossus was excavated in 1930 in the ruins of the mortuary temple of Ay and Horemheb at Medinet Habu. It is red quartzite and stands about 5.3 metres tall. The face matches other portraits of Tutankhamun, which dates it to his reign. A twin from the same temple is in Cairo. The statue is a lesson in reuse. Ay put his name on it after Tutankhamun's death, and Horemheb then recut the inscription for himself.

Meresamun lived about 2,800 years ago and held the title 'Singer in the Interior of the Temple of Amun' at Karnak. Her cartonnage coffin has never been opened and keeps its original colours. The gallery also shows a written record of a workers' strike and a demotic contract between a husband and wife.

Inscriptions to see

Colossal statue of Tutankhamun

The cartouches you can read are Horemheb's. Where the surface dips or looks reworked, the carvers erased the earlier names.

Coffin of Meresamun

A painted cartonnage coffin with floral garlands, the Four Sons of Horus and a falcon with a sun disc. Look for her name and title in the bands of text.

Coffin of Ipi-ha-ishutef

A wooden coffin of the First Intermediate Period, bought by Breasted in Cairo in 1923. Coffins of this time carry bands of offering texts. Check that it is on display.

Documents from daily life

The record of a strike and the demotic marriage settlement show the script used for business and law, far from temple walls.

Reading the hieroglyphs here

The colossus is tall. Read the base and lower inscriptions first, then step back to frame the upper text with the camera.
Recut signs are shallow and uneven. A low, raking light shows the edges of the older cuts, and tracing over a photo helps more than the camera's reading here.
Coffins in cases reflect the gallery lights. Hold the phone close and at an angle to the glass.

Hiero Lens boxes the signs and names them, on your phone; nothing is uploaded. On worn stone, trace a sign over the photo.

Questions

Who usurped the Tutankhamun statue in Chicago?

Two kings. Ay inscribed it for himself after Tutankhamun died, and Horemheb then had his own name recut over Ay's. The statue is dated to Tutankhamun by its face.

Where was the Chicago Tutankhamun statue found?

At Medinet Habu in western Thebes, in the mortuary temple of Ay and Horemheb. The Oriental Institute excavated it in 1930.

Is the Oriental Institute Museum the same as the ISAC Museum?

Yes. The Oriental Institute became the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures in 2023, and its museum took the new name.

Where it is

Open in OpenStreetMap · Written from published sources and not yet checked on site by our team: displays and open tombs change.