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Gregorian Egyptian Museum, Vatican Museums
Museum, Museums outside Egypt · also called Museo Gregoriano Egizio, Vatican Egyptian Museum, Vatican Museums Egyptian collection
The Vatican's Egyptian rooms hold real pharaonic inscriptions beside Roman copies of Egyptian art. You can read the cartouches of Persian kings on the statue of Udjahorresnet and the title 'king's mother' on a colossal statue of Queen Tuya.
Pope Gregory XVI opened the museum in 1839. Much of it came from Rome itself. Emperors brought statues from Egypt for temples of Isis and for their villas, and Romans also made their own Egyptian-looking art. That mix is the best thing about the place for a reader of hieroglyphs. Real texts stand next to pieces carved by Roman craftsmen who may not have read them.
Learn to tell them apart. Genuine Egyptian inscriptions run in tidy columns or rows, the signs face the same way, and royal names sit in cartouches. Roman works from Hadrian's villa at Tivoli copy the poses and the headdresses but usually carry no hieroglyphs at all.
The collection also has coffins, mummies and papyri of the Book of the Dead, the most common long texts in any Egyptian museum. Rooms in the Vatican Museums close for work at times, and pieces travel on loan, so some objects may be off view when you visit.
Inscriptions to see
Statue of Udjahorresnet
An official holding a small shrine, carved after the Persians conquered Egypt in 525 BC. The columns on his robe tell how he served Cambyses and Darius I, whose names are written in cartouches like a pharaoh's.
Colossal statue of Queen Tuya
The mother of Ramesses II, in granite, probably brought to Rome under the emperor Caligula. Its inscription names her as king's mother.
Lions of Nectanebo I
A pair of recumbent granite lions from the last native dynasties, found in Rome. Look for the king's cartouche on the base.
Coffins and Book of the Dead papyri
Painted coffins carry offering formulas and the names of gods in columns. The papyri show spells in cursive hieroglyphs with small pictures above.
Names you can find here
Signs to look for
- Cartouche V10 Cartouches hold the names of Cambyses and Darius I on Udjahorresnet's statue.
- Vulture G14mwt The vulture (mut, 'mother') writes Tuya's title, king's mother, on her statue.
- Bread on an offering mat R4ḥtp Bread on a mat (hotep) opens the offering formula on coffins and stelae.
- Cloth on a pole R8nṯr The cloth on a pole (netjer, 'god') appears wherever a god is named on the coffins.
- Falcon G5ḥr The falcon (Horus) begins royal names and appears in Udjahorresnet's own name.
Reading the hieroglyphs here
- Go early: the Egyptian rooms come near the start of the route.
- Read the label for each statue's origin. Roman-made pieces in Egyptian style rarely carry real hieroglyphs.
- On the darker stone of Udjahorresnet's statue, a side light helps; trace a sign over your photo if the camera struggles.
Point your camera at a wall Hiero Lens boxes the signs and names them, on your phone; nothing is uploaded. On worn stone, trace a sign over the photo.
Questions
Does the Vatican have an Egyptian museum?
Yes. The Gregorian Egyptian Museum is part of the Vatican Museums, on the same ticket.
Who was Udjahorresnet?
An Egyptian doctor and priest who served the Persian kings after their conquest of Egypt. His inscribed statue in the Vatican is a key source for that period.
Are there real hieroglyphs in the Vatican?
Yes, on genuine Egyptian statues, coffins and papyri. Some works in the same rooms are Roman imitations and have no readable text.
Where it is
Open in OpenStreetMap · Written from published sources and not yet checked on site by our team: displays and open tombs change.