Signing the Sphinx at the Penn Museum

November 1, 2019

Penn President Amy Gutmann autographed the platform supporting the Penn Museum’s 25,000-pound red granite Sphinx of Ramses II—history’s most well-known pharaoh who reigned in ancient Egypt for nearly 67 years.

The Sphinx, excavated by the famous archaeologist W.M. Flinders Petrie and his team, is the largest sphinx in the Western hemisphere and has served as one of the City of Philadelphia’s top cultural attractions since its arrival in October 1913.

Earlier this year, the Sphinx took a historic journey to the Museum’s Main Level.

All of the employees at the Penn Museum had the opportunity to sign the steel girders below the platform, before it received its finishing touches.

On November 16, when the Penn Museum hosts its Opening Weekend Celebration, it will unveil the brand-new Sphinx Gallery, where the towering monument will take center stage—greeting guests as they enter the light-filled Main Entrance area. Other reimagined areas opening that day as a part of the Building Transformation include a suite of Africa Galleries; a Mexico and Central America Gallery; and the historic restoration of Harrison Auditorium.

See also Amy Gutmann's Flickr gallery, Facebook page, and Instagram.

Photographs by Scott Spitzer.