Egypt unveils a huge new museum dedicated to its ancient civilization
The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), considered the largest in the world dedicated to ancient Egyptian civilization, displays more than 100,000 exhibits dating from prehistoric times around 5000 BC to the Roman period around 400 AD.
According to authorities, at least 79 official delegations, including 39 kings, presidents and heads of state, will attend the opening. The official opening will take place ten years later than originally planned.
The government has declared Saturday a public holiday, and the evening ceremony is being broadcast on big screens across the country.
GEM’s permanent exhibition halls, children’s museum, conference rooms and education center occupy an area of 24,000 square meters.
Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s collection of 5,000 exhibits, discovered in 1922, including the legendary golden mask of the little king, will be exhibited together for the first time.
The museum also houses a colossal 3,000-year-old statue of Ramses II, one of the most powerful ancient rulers. The 11.3-meter-tall statue, weighing more than 80 tons, was moved to the main hall in 2018 while the museum was still under construction.
Another highlight is the 42-meter-long sun boat of King Khufu, or Cheops, excavated in 1954.
Egypt hopes that the world-famous bust of Queen Nefertiti, which has been in Berlin since 1913, will be displayed in the new museum, “even if only on loan,” Mohamed Ismail Khaled, secretary general of the Supreme Council for Antiquities, told DPA.
“We hope it will return to Egypt and be exhibited at the Grand Egyptian Museum, as Egyptians have the right to see a unique part of their history in the new museum,” added MI Khaled.
Egypt has not yet approached Germany about the issue “because it is delicate,” he said. No specific location has been set for the bust to be displayed.
“But if approval is received, a plan will be drawn up, even if it is just to borrow this exhibit,” added MI Khaled.
The 3,300-year-old statue of Nefertiti, albeit without one eye, is the subject of ongoing disagreement between Egypt and Germany.
The construction of GEM was first discussed in the early 1990s, but the foundation was only laid in 2002 near the pyramids and the Sphinx; construction began in 2005.
The $1 billion project includes the construction of a spacious museum, as the museum in central Cairo was overcrowded with artifacts that were not being displayed properly.
After construction was completed, the official opening was postponed several times, most recently from July to November, when Israel launched a 12-day war with Iran.
Many of the halls have been open to visitors for nearly two years, but the entire museum has been closed since mid-October to prepare for Saturday’s ceremony. The GEM is scheduled to reopen on November 4.
“Despite many obstacles, Egypt has completed a project that many people dreamed of. We have completed the construction of the world’s largest museum dedicated to a single civilization,” Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy said before the opening.
He expects the museum to attract 5 million visitors each year.
Currently, about 5,000 people visit the museum daily, he said, hoping that number will reach 15,000.
Egypt hopes the official opening will boost the tourism industry, a major source of national income, as regional unrest has affected revenue from the Suez Canal over the past two years.
Egypt registered 8.7 million visitors in the first six months of 2025, a 22% increase over the same period in 2024. The tourism minister said that it expects to receive 18 million visitors by the end of the year.
