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Penn Museum, Philadelphia
Museum, Museums outside Egypt · also called University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Penn Museum sphinx, Sphinx of Ramesses II Philadelphia, Palace of Merenptah, Penn Museum Egypt galleries
The red granite sphinx in the Penn Museum's entrance hall carries the full titulary of Ramesses II around its base and his two cartouches on its chest, and his son Merenptah added his own cartouches on the shoulders. The museum also holds doorways and columns from Merenptah's palace at Memphis, inscribed with that king's names and titles.
Point your camera at the signs
Signs to look for
- Head and neck of a canine F12wsr The head and neck of a canine (user) opens Usermaatre, Ramesses II's throne name, on the sphinx's chest.
- Goddess Maat C10mꜣꜥt The seated goddess Maat often writes maat in Usermaatre. Compare the chest with the base band.
- Hoe U7mr The hoe (mer) begins Merenptah's name, 'beloved of Ptah', on the sphinx's shoulders and on his palace.
- Stool Q3p The stool (p) is the first sign of Ptah, the god of Memphis, in Merenptah's name.
- Bread on an offering mat R4ḥtp Bread on a mat (hotep) opens the offering formula on Kaipure's chapel and the funerary stelae.
Names you can find here
The story of Penn Museum, Philadelphia
Flinders Petrie excavated the sphinx in 1913 near the temple of Ptah at Memphis. It reached Philadelphia the same year and is the largest sphinx in the Western Hemisphere. It was cut from one block of granite quarried at Aswan.
Merenptah's palace was dug by a Penn team under Clarence Fisher between 1915 and the early 1920s, and Egypt assigned its architectural pieces to the museum. The columns and door jambs of the throne room carry his names and titles. Those of the coronation chapel show the king receiving the signs of kingship from the gods. Some pieces stood in the old Egyptian gallery for decades. The rest has waited in storage for a new upstairs gallery where the columns will stand at full height, planned for 2029.
The Egypt galleries are being rebuilt in stages. The museum has announced that the main level, Egypt Galleries: Life and Afterlife, opens in December 2026 with the tomb chapel of Kaipure from Saqqara as its centrepiece. Check what is open before you go.
Inscriptions to see
Sphinx of Ramesses II
Read the band around the base for the five names of Ramesses II, then find 'Ramesses Meryamun' and 'Usermaatre Setepenre' on the chest. Merenptah's cartouches sit higher, on the shoulders.
Palace of Merenptah
Limestone doorways, columns and windows from his palace and coronation chapel at Memphis. His names run up the jambs and shafts in large carved signs.
Tomb chapel of Kaipure
An Old Kingdom chapel of a treasury official, about 4,300 years old. Its walls carry his name, titles and the offering formula, the request for bread, beer and other gifts for the dead.
Stela of Nefersefekhy
A funerary stela of the First Intermediate Period that gives his name and asks for offerings of food and drink.
Reading the hieroglyphs here
- The sphinx is low and long. Kneel by the base to read the band of the titulary, and stand back to frame the chest cartouches with the camera.
- Merenptah's shoulder cartouches are cut over the curve of the body. Light from the side helps, so try several angles.
- Much of the Egyptian collection is moving between galleries until the upstairs rooms open. Check which rooms are open before a visit planned around one object.
Hiero Lens boxes the signs and names them, on your phone; nothing is uploaded. On worn stone, trace a sign over the photo.
Questions
Whose sphinx is at the Penn Museum?
It was carved for Ramesses II, whose names are on its base and chest. His son Merenptah added his own cartouches on the shoulders after his father's death.
Where is the sphinx in the Penn Museum?
In the Main Entrance Hall. It was moved there from the old Egyptian gallery in 2019, through an archway with very little room to spare.
Can you see the Palace of Merenptah in Philadelphia?
Parts of it. The museum plans to show its columns at full height in new Egypt and Nubia galleries upstairs, scheduled for 2029. Until then some pieces are in storage.
Where it is
Open in OpenStreetMap · Written from published sources and not yet checked on site by our team: displays and open tombs change.