Egypt has officially opened the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) near the Pyramids of Giza, which President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has declared the "largest museum in human history." After years of delays, the monumental facility finally showcases Egypt's most precious ancient artifacts, including the complete treasure collection of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. The opening ceremony was designed on a pharaonic scale, with kings, heads of state, and international celebrities invited to witness what the government calls a "world-class landmark."
The three-day celebration includes Saturday being declared a public holiday, with public screens set up throughout Cairo to broadcast the ceremony. Visitors will be able to enter the museum starting November 4th. The GEM houses more than 100,000 artifacts from pharaonic, Greek, and Roman antiquity across twelve exhibition halls, making it what operators claim to be the world's largest archaeological museum.
The museum's opening marks the end of a lengthy wait plagued by numerous delays. Originally announced in the 1990s, construction began 20 years ago but faced repeated setbacks including a revolution, political unrest, economic crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and finally the war in neighboring Gaza. However, large portions of the GEM have been accessible to visitors for a year, with the atrium featuring the 36-foot-tall statue of Ramses II open since 2023.
The official opening unveils the crown jewel of the collection: Pharaoh Tutankhamun's burial treasure. For the first time since British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922, all approximately 5,300 artifacts from "King Tut" are displayed together, with 2,000 pieces never before exhibited publicly. The collection includes the golden death mask of the boy king, which has become perhaps the most recognizable symbol of pharaonic times.
Another major highlight is the Solar Barque, presumably built for Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops). The 4,600-year-old, 138-foot-long ship was buried in 1,200 pieces on the south side of the Great Pyramid of Giza. After its discovery in 1954, experts painstakingly reassembled it piece by piece. Today, it's considered the world's oldest intact ship.
Notably absent from the collection is Queen Nefertiti, principal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten, whose bust belongs to the Neues Museum in Berlin. Egypt has demanded its return for years, while Germany maintains the bust was legally acquired after its 1912 discovery. At the GEM, visitors on tours are asked to sign a petition to continue fighting for its return.
The museum building, designed by Irish architecture firm Heneghan Peng, impressively integrates the GEM collection into the pyramid area. Three sight lines from the museum building lead directly to the ancient structures, and a new pedestrian bridge connects both attractions that many tourists want to visit in a single day. Travelers can also access the area via the relatively new Sphinx Airport, located about 30 minutes away by car.
Visits to the pyramids and Sphinx statue now operate much more efficiently than in previous years. Tours begin on the west side at a new entrance with shuttle buses, eliminating traffic jams from private cars and tour buses. Stricter regulations now apply to souvenir vendors, tour operators, and horse and camel handlers. The previously used entrances often created chaotic crowds where tourists could feel overwhelmed and pressured.
Through these renovation projects, the government hopes to give tourism an additional boost. Last year, 15 million tourists visited Egypt, mostly from Germany and Russia. By 2032, the goal is to double that number. Revenue from Suez Canal shipping has collapsed because the route has become too dangerous due to attacks related to the Gaza conflict, making tourism income even more crucial for the country during its severe economic crisis.
Meanwhile, the old Egyptian Museum - the pink building on central Tahrir Square that was long a must-see for many Cairo tourists - is being sidelined. Part of its charm lay in artifacts being stored like items in an attic: dusty, poorly labeled, barely lit, and scribbled on by schoolchildren. The most important pieces have migrated from there to the GEM and the also-new National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC).
The GEM could become one of the world's most visited museums, rising to the category of Paris's Louvre, with which Egyptians are already making comparisons. The Grand Egyptian Museum is twice as large as the Louvre in total area, officials claim. This appears to be roughly accurate if you don't count the Louvre's gardens. However, the exhibition spaces of both museums are approximately the same size - though on this "historic" day in Cairo, such precise details don't seem to matter much.
