More than a decade after its originally planned opening, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) near the pyramids of Giza is to officially open to visitors on July 3.
President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has confirmed the date for the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Mustafa Madbuli announced recently. There will be festivities in Egypt for several days to promote tourism.
“This is a big event that the whole world has been waiting for,” Mustafa said.
The government hopes to see “kings, presidents, princes” and other high-ranking government officials in attendance.
Large parts of the GEM have been open to the public since last year. With a collection of 100,000 artefacts and a land area equivalent to 70 football pitches, it is, according to the operators, the world’s largest museum dedicated to a single civilisation.
Visitors can expect archaeological treasures from not only ancient Egyptian, but also ancient Greek and Roman times. After the opening, the complete treasure trove of the pharaoh Tutankhamun is expected to be on display for the first time.
The major project has been repeatedly delayed and it was first announced in the 1990s. The foundation stone was laid in 2002, and the actual start of construction work was celebrated in 2012. Atelier Bruckner from Germany designed the exhibition rooms in the building by Irish architecture firm Heneghan Peng.
Construction work finally began in 2012, but was repeatedly delayed due to the Arab Spring uprising in Egypt and then the coronavirus pandemic. Around 30 years after the announcement, the construction work on the project has now been completed at a cost of around US$1bil (RM4.42bil).— dpa
