The Penn Museum’s finest examples of Egyptian sculpture are exhibited in the Egypt (Mummies) Gallery including carved relief, stone coffins, and exquisite three-dimensional sculpture. These magnificent works of art are a testament to the superb craftsmanship of artists and sculptors throughout Ancient Egypt’s long history. In the center of the gallery is an imposing seated statue of Ramesses II from the temple of Harsaphes. Originally carved in the late Middle Kingdom, the statue was usurped from an earlier ruler and refitted with a head in Ramesses' likeness. A noteworthy feature of this statue is the disproportionately small head (due to the re-carving of the original), the reconfigured cartouches identifying Ramesses, and the noticeably worn portion of the base near the pharaoh's feet. Non-priests, who were not permitted in the temple, used this area to leave offerings for the gods.
Parts of the Museum are currently under renovation, impacting accessibility. For visitors with wheelchairs and strollers, please use the Group (Kress) Entrance for this gallery. To plan your visit, please click here.
Aross the gallery is an assemblage of small-scale sculpture, including inlaid bronzes of the Egyptian's primary god of the afterlife, Osiris, and the warrior goddess Neith, patron deity of the site of Sais. Bronzes of deities such as these were produced in large numbers during the Late Period and Greco-Roman Period (664 BC-642 CE), when they were used as votive offerings in the gods' temples. Further along is a series of statues portraying non-royal officials. Found in tombs, statues of this type provided a resting place for the ka, or life force, of the deceased person in the tomb. The elegant seated statue represents an official of the Old Kingdom (2625-2130 BCE). The well-preserved paint gives the statue a particularly life-like appearance. The next piece, a seated statue of an unnamed man enveloped by a long cloak, is characteristic of the sculptural style of the Middle Kingdom (1980-1630 BCE).
On stylistic grounds, it is believed this statue was carved in the Middle Kingdom and usurped by Ramses II (1290-1224 BCE), whose names are in the deep-cut inscriptions on the throne and bases. An inset false beard has been lost. For artistic reasons, the bull's tail on the back of his kilt is shown as though hanging between his legs.
A sculptor's error is visible in the inscription on the left side of the throne, where the duck and sun disc in the title "Son of the Sun," were reversed and had to be recarved.
Ramses II, Egypt, Herakleopolis (Temple of Herishef), ca. 1250 BCE
Ramses II is also immortalized in the massive limestone head from a monumental statue located at the gallery's rear left corner. This unusual sculpture was originally part of a statue 15 to 20 feet high that stood at the entrance to a temple at Abydos, the cult center of Egypt's principal funerary deity, Osiris. Much of the original paint is preserved, demonstrating the rich pigmentation of Egyptian sculpture in antiquity.
The door socket located at the exhibit's rear center provides a powerful psychological glimpse at the Egyptian's attitude toward their foreign rivals at a very early point in their history (3000-2900 BCE). Depicted in hard black stone is an enemy who lies on his stomach with his arms bound behind him. A wooden temple door turned on a pole, which fitted into the circular depression in the captive's back. In this way, it symbolically crushed the enemy of Egypt beneath its weight. The prisoner's face, with the corners of his mouth drawn down, seems to express contempt. The door socket is one of the Museum's earliest examples of Egyptian art, fashioned centuries before the pyramids and prior to the establishment of the unified Egyptian state.