The Palace of Merenptah at Penn

Cahail discusses the Penn Museum's fragments of the Palace of Pharaoh Merenptah. Originally excavated by Clarence Fisher between 1916 and 1918, the palace columns and doorways have graced the Penn Museum's galleries for 100 years. The long story of this fascinating royal palace continues t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inExpedition Vol. 65; no. 3; p. 60
Main Author Cahail, Kevin M
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania, University Museum 01.12.2024
Subjects
Archaeology
Art galleries & museums
Castles & palaces
Egyptian civilization
Excavation
Museum exhibits
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Summary:Cahail discusses the Penn Museum's fragments of the Palace of Pharaoh Merenptah. Originally excavated by Clarence Fisher between 1916 and 1918, the palace columns and doorways have graced the Penn Museum's galleries for 100 years. The long story of this fascinating royal palace continues to this day as they prepare to reconstruct large portions of the building as O'Connor and others desired for more than a century. The 19th Dynasty pharaoh Merenptah--son and successor of Ramesses II--built his palace and Coronation Chapel for use in his coronation at the Egyptian capital Memphis ca 1203 BCE. A few subsequent pharaohs used the palace, but it eventually succumbed to neglect. Most of its stone doorways and columns were buried under later occupation debris, only brought to light by the Penn Museum's excavations at Memphis. A more complete understanding of the palace has been achieved in the past nine years than perhaps ever before, and these insights have informed their new gallery designs. Visitors to the Penn Museum will be able to walk through the Coronation Chapel where Merenptah was first presented to the people of Egypt as their king in 1203 BCE.
ISSN:0014-4738