Chicago Museum is Bringing a 4,300-Year-Old Egyptian Tomb Chapel Out of Storage After 40 Years

A 4,300-year-old Egyptian tomb chapel that has spent decades hidden inside Chicago’s Field Museum is finally getting a new home. The museum announced on October 13 that the chapel of Netcher User will be part of its renovated Africa and ancient Egypt galleries opening in spring 2028.

The chapel came to Chicago from Egypt more than a century ago and was once on display at the museum. It has limestone walls that are covered with carvings showing people bringing food and other offerings to the tomb.

When the Egyptian exhibits were renovated in the 1980s, the chapel was left behind. The limestone blocks had been cemented into the walls and attached to steel frames, making the structure difficult to move.

The Field Museum is now planning to move the chapel to its main floor in early 2027, part of a much larger project covering 20,000 square feet, with new exhibits about ancient Egypt and other African civilizations.

The Egyptian Chapel Has Been Hidden Near a Break Room

Embedded media follows. Please allow a moment for it to load.

The chapel has quite an unusual history at the museum. When Atlas Obscura visited in 2016, it was still standing behind a large white door in an area used by museum employees.

Inside, the small room had a sandy floor left over from its old display. The walls were covered in carvings, and some of the original paint could still be seen in shades of blue, green and yellow.

One of the carvings shows Netcher User sitting on a throne, looking much larger than the other people around him. There are also rows of servants carrying geese, gazelles, grain and dates, all meant to be part of a funeral feast. There’s a false door at the back of the chapel, too. Field Museum curator James Phillips told Atlas Obscura that it was intended to trick grave robbers and keep bad spirits away.

The chapel had been moved to the museum’s current building in 1921. After it was left out of the 1980s renovation, only a small number of employees had access to the room, although researchers and students could still visit.

The Museum Is Redoing Its Africa and Ancient Egypt Galleries

The Field Museum’s new galleries will bring together collections and research that had been displayed in separate areas for more than 30 years. The project also includes exhibits about Great Zimbabwe, an ancient city in present-day Zimbabwe.

Field Museum curator Foreman Bandama is leading the work, with Egyptologist Emily Teeter helping develop the sections on Egypt and Nubia. The museum is working with international design company Haley Sharpe on the new galleries.

The Field is also using the renovation to incorporate more recent archaeological research. Bandama has been studying Great Zimbabwe, which will have its own area in the exhibition.

When Will the New Egyptian Galleries Open?

The old Africa Hall closed in October 2025, and the Memphis Market section of Inside Ancient Egypt is also closed. The museum plans to shut down the remaining Egyptian galleries in early 2027.

For now, visitors can still see the rest of Inside Ancient Egypt, including its burial chamber dating to 2400 B.C. The exhibition contains 23 human mummies and more than 30 animal mummies.

The Field Museum expects the renovated galleries to open in spring 2028, but hasn’t announced an exact date.