The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) has been a project in the works since the 1990s. With unforeseen circumstances and delays repeatedly postponing the museum’s official opening, authorities are promising it will finally open its doors before the end of the year.
1. World’s greatest archaeological museum
GEM is located at the edge of the first desert plateau between the pyramids and Cairo. It is defined by a 50 m level difference, created as the Nile carves its way through the desert to the Mediterranean. The entire site for the museum covers 50 hectares, including, besides the construction itself, extensive gardens.
The 10-hectare building comprises 24,000 m² of permanent exhibition space, the equivalent of 4 football fields, a children’s museum, conference and education facilities, a large conservation centre, 28 shops, 10 restaurants and a cinema. The museum is designed as a series of layers, whereby the visitors move through a monumental forecourt, a shaded entrance area and a grand staircase that ascends to the level of the desert plateau, where the galleries and a viewpoint of the Great Pyramids are located.
“The Grand Egyptian Museum is the largest museum in the world that is dedicated to a single civilization. The most prominent feature at the GEM will be the exhibit of the complete treasures of Tutankhamun, with a total of over 5,000 pieces, which will be showcased for the first time in one place since its discovery in 1922”, H.E. Badr Abdelatty, Ambassador of Egypt to the EU, told Travel Tomorrow.
A 3,200-years-old statue of Rameses II has already been placed in the museum’s main hall to greet visitors. Another 87 statues are being placed along the grand staircase, while the museum overall should be housing about 100,000 artefacts. The most prominent collection will be the one of Tutankhamun, taking up two full exhibition halls.
2. Timeline
The idea for the museum was born over two decades ago, envisioned as the greatest archaeological museum in the world. In 2002, a competition was launched for the architects that would design the building and, one year later, the Irish company Heneghan Peng Architects was announced as the winner.
Construction started in 2005 and was initially supposed to be completed by 2013, but various unforeseen events, including the 2008 global economic crisis, the Arab Springs and, most recently, the Covid-19 pandemic, have constantly delayed the works. In 2021, Assistant Minister for Archaeological Affairs at GEM, Al-Tayeb Abbas, said the museum was almost complete and an opening was expected that year, but that date was again postponed.
Over the past few years, sections of the museum have been opened on a trial basis, but an official full opening is being promised for this year, with an exact date yet to be announced.
