CAIRO (AP) — Egypt was inaugurating the long-delayed Grand Egyptian Museum on Saturday, the world’s largest museum devoted to its historic civilization — a megaproject additionally geared toward boosting the nation’s tourism business and troubled economic system.
20 years within the making and positioned close to the Giza Pyramids on the sting of Cairo, the Egyptian capital, the museum showcases over 50,000 artifacts detailing life in historic Egypt.
World leaders, together with monarchs, heads of states and governments, have been to attend the grand opening ceremony, in accordance with an announcement from the Egyptian presidency, which touted the museum as “an exceptional event in the history of human culture and civilization.”
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi wrote on social media that the museum will carry “collectively the genius of historic Egyptians and the creativity of contemporary Egyptians, enhancing the world tradition and artwork with a brand new landmark that can appeal to all those that cherish civilization and data.”
The museum is one in all a number of megaprojects championed by el-Sissi since he took workplace in 2014, embarking on large investments in infrastructure with the intention of reviving an economic system weakened by a long time of stagnation and battered by the unrest that adopted the 2011 Arab Spring rebellion.
Preparations for the grand reveal have been shrouded in secrecy. Safety round Cairo has been tightened forward of the opening ceremony, with the federal government saying Saturday can be a public vacation. The museum, which has been open for restricted visits over the previous few years, was closed for the ultimate, two-week preparations.
The federal government has revamped the realm across the museum and the close by Giza Plateau that holds the pyramids and the Sphinx. Roads have been paved and a metro station is being constructed exterior the museum gates to enhance entry. An airport, Sphinx Worldwide Airport, has additionally opened west of Cairo — 40 minutes from the museum.
The $1 billion facility had confronted a number of delays, with development starting in 2005 however interrupted as a consequence of political instability.
The museum, often known as GEM, boasts a towering, triangular glass façade imitating the close by pyramids, with 24,000 sq. meters (258,000 sq. toes) of everlasting exhibition area.
From the atrium, a grand six-story staircase lined with historic statues leads as much as the primary galleries and a view of the close by pyramids. A bridge hyperlinks the museum to the pyramids, permitting vacationers to maneuver between them both on foot or through electrical automobiles, in accordance with museum officers.
The museum’s 12 major galleries, which opened final yr, exhibit antiquities spanning from prehistoric instances to the Roman period, organized by period and by themes.
Two halls are devoted to the 5,000 artifacts from the gathering of King Tutankhamun, which will probably be displayed in its completely for the primary time since British archaeologist Howard Carter found King Tut’s tomb in 1922 within the southern metropolis of Luxor.
Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s most famed archaeologist and former minister of antiquities, mentioned the Tutankhamun assortment is the museum’s masterpiece.
“Why this museum is so important, and everyone is waiting for the opening?” he informed The Related Press. “Because of Tutankhamun.”
The gathering contains the boy pharaoh’s three funeral beds and 6 chariots, his golden throne, his gold-covered sarcophagus and his burial masks, product of gold, quartzite, lapis lazuli and coloured glass.
The federal government’s hopes the museum will draw extra vacationers who will keep for some time and supply the overseas forex wanted to shore up Egypt’s battered economic system.
The tourism sector has suffered throughout years of political turmoil and violence following the 2011 Arab Spring rebellion. In recent times, the sector has began to get better after the coronavirus pandemic and amid Russia’s struggle on Ukraine — each nations are main sources of vacationers visiting Egypt.
A report variety of about 15.7 million vacationers visited Egypt in 2024, contributing about 8% of the nation’s GDP, in accordance with official figures. The federal government goals to draw 30 million guests yearly by 2032.
The museum will probably be open to the general public beginning Tuesday, authorities mentioned.
