Egypt’s billion-dollar museum is finally opening its doors.
The aptly named Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), which will be home to the largest, most complex trove of ancient treasures and artifacts in the world, is set to be revealed to the public on November 1. The previous opening, originally slotted for July 2, had been dashed due to conflicts between Israel and Iran in the region, Bloomberg reported.
The nation’s president, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, signed off on the new debut date for the GEM, which sits just a mile from Giza’s pyramids. Government officials are starting to prepare for the event, according to the publication. Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly called the opening “an exceptional event” in a cabinet meeting, Barrons reported.
The new institution has been a long time coming, thanks to political unrest and Covid-19 related delays. About 20 years ago, the Egyptian government held an international competition to decide who got to take the reins of the museum’s design. Dublin-based Heneghan Peng Architects won out, crafting a sprawling 120-acre space to hold a bevy of ancient finds. That includes 100,000 artifacts, one of which will be the famed tomb of King Tutankhamun; the entire collection of Tut’s tomb will be on display for the first time since its discovery back in 1922. You can even spot a massive 3,200-year-old statue of Ramses II right at the locale’s entrance. The museum will also be home to an exhibition space, a library, a children’s museum, and an education center.
“This will be the museum of the 21st century,” director general Tarek Tawfik told CNN back in 2019. “All means of modern technology have been taken into consideration in order to make this an unforgettable experience for the visitor, but at the same time provide the best possible environment for the artifacts.”
The GEM is expected to draw in 5 million annual visitors to the region. Even before the opening, though, Egypt is expected to see a record 18 million tourists this year, according to Bloomberg. The nation also doled out $30 million to upgrade vacationers’ experience around the Giza pyramids. Seems like a trip to the Gift of the Nile is in order.
