A look inside Egypt’s newly unveiled Grand Egyptian Museum

The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) opened its doors on Tuesday, just a few days after the official ceremony on Saturday, which was held two decades later and cost an estimated $1 billion.

The museum is 2 km (1, 2 miles) from the Giza pyramids and 8 km (5 miles) from Cairo, the capital. It is the largest archaeological site in the world for a single civilization.

More than 100, 000 ancient artefacts from the 30 dynasties of ancient Egypt will be housed in the complex, which is nearly 500 meters (5, 381, 900 ft).

The 3, 200-year-old, 11.36-metre (37ft) statue of King Ramses II, Tutankhamun’s entire collection of treasures, and Khufu, the pharaoh renowned for creating the Great Pyramid of Giza, a 4, 500-year-old boat, one of the oldest intact ships in the world, are just a few of the main attractions.

The Grand Egyptian Museum’s interior design

The Great Pyramid of Giza (built for Pharaoh Khufu), the Pyramid of Khafre (built for Pharaoh Khafre), and the Pyramid of Menkaure (built for Pharaoh Menkaure) are the museum’s “fourth pyramid” from the Giza Plateau, which contains three pyramids totaling about 4 500 years old.

The museum’s interior, which is shaped like a chamfered triangle and echoes the pyramids’ geometry, is accessible to visitors from inside. The pyramids of Khufu and Menkaure are centered on the museum’s north and south walls.

The museum’s main facade is made of frosted glass panels, while the design, by Irish firm Heneghan Peng, uses translucent alabaster stone and sand-colored concrete.

Construction on the complex was started in 1992, but it didn’t start until 2005, which was postponed by political unrest following the Arab Spring and COVID-19 pandemic. In some areas of the museum, things started getting a little slushy in 2024.

The Grand Egyptian Museum also known as the Giza Museum, is an archaeological museum in Giza, Egypt — The Giza Museum, or Grand Egyptian Museum, is just 2 km (1, 2 miles) away from the Giza pyramids.

The Khufu Boat Museum, a conference center, a courtyard, a Nile Valley park, a conservation center, and the main building are all located in the museum complex.

Giza, Egypt, April 13 2024: Exterior view of GEM The Grand Egyptian Museum, New Giza Museum, Egypt's gift to the world, the largest archaeological museum in the world, near the Giza pyramid complex, selective focus — [File: Getty Images] Grand Egyptian Museum, close to the Giza pyramid complex

a tour of the museum

Visitors are greeted by the 3, 200-year-old statue of King Ramses II, which is about 83 tons when they walk inside the museum.

Before moving to a new location close to the museum, the statue stood in Ramses Square in front of Cairo’s main train station from 1954 to 2006. The statue was transported on a specially designed 128-wheel vehicle, which covered 30 kilometers (19 miles) and necessitated temporary road closures, to facilitate the move.

The six-storey grand staircase, which features statues honoring deities, sarcophagi holding the deceased, columns showcasing ancient architectural artistry, and stelae adorned with significant texts, extends beyond the entrance.

GIZA, EGYPT - OCTOBER 15: Visitors walk past ancient Egyptian colossal statues along the Grand Staircase at the Grand Egyptian Museum during partial trial operation on October 15, 2024 in Giza, Egypt. With 872,000 square-feet of floorspace, the Grand Egyptian Museum is the largest archaeological museum in the world. (Photo by Sayed Hassan/Getty Images) — During a partial trial on October 15, 2024, visitors pass ancient Egyptian statues along the Grand Egyptian Museum’s grand staircase.

The museum’s 12 main permanent exhibition spaces, which opened last year, are organized by both era (from prehistoric to Greco-Roman) and theme (including society, kingship, and belief).

The Tutankhamun Gallery

The Tutankhamun Gallery, a 7, 500 square foot (80, 000 square feet) space that houses more than 5, 000 artifacts from the tomb of Tutankhamun, the boy king who ascended to the throne at age nine and ruled during the Eighteenth Dynasty almost 3, 400 years ago, is one of the museum’s most prominent and largest exhibition spaces.

Tutankhamun is one of the most well-known pharaohs, largely because of the nearly intact tomb discovered in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings, on the west side of the Nile, opposite Luxor, during his brief reign, which ended with his unanticipated death at age 18 or 19

His golden mask, throne, sarcophagus, chariots, and jewelry, which were all presented to recreate the atmosphere of his royal burial chamber, are visible to visitors.

one of the largest museums in the world

The Grand Egyptian Museum is the sixth-largest museum in the world in terms of display space, with 45, 000 square feet (484, 000 square feet) of exhibition space.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (58, 820sq metres), the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia (66, 842sq metres), the Louvre in Paris (78, 735sq metres), and the Spanish Museum of Madrid (47, 700sq metres) in the top three.

Egypt’s main source of foreign currency is tourism. Egypt’s travel and tourism industry accounted for roughly 8% of the country’s gross domestic product in 2024, according to official figures, which was a record 15.7 million tourists visited in 2024.