Coming This Summer: Cairo’s Grand Egyptian Museum Announces Opening Date
From a contemporary marketing perspective, the centenary of the discovery of Pharaoh Tutankhamen’s 3,200-year-old tomb found on Nov. 26, 1922 would have been the ideal date for the inauguration of Cairo’s spectacular Grand Egyptian Museum.
But in contemporary Egypt, life crawls at the pace known as shuwaya, shuwaya (meaning little, little). Not surprisingly, the much-delayed GEM — more than two decades in the making — is finally set to have its grand opening on July 3.
For wannabe Egyptologists, the delay promises to be well worth the wait. Located on the Giza plateau near the Pyramids and the Sphinx, the $1.2 billion attraction showcases the cultural heritage of the civilization of the Nile Valley. The museum also stands as a tribute to this ancient civilization, their many gods and goddesses and a complex system of beliefs and rituals.
Designed by the Dublin-based architectural firm of Heneghan Peng, the GEM houses an unparalleled collection of more than 100,000 ancient Egyptian artifacts — no doubt the blockbuster attraction will be all 4,549 items discovered by Howard Carter in the tomb of King Tut.
Touted as one of the world’s largest museums, the hyperbole seemingly has no end. Measuring a staggering 5,300 square feet, the massive building is twice as large as the Louvre in Paris, and nearly three times the size of the British Museum in London. In 2024, shortly after the GEM’s soft opening, UNESCO awarded the still-unfinished museum its prestigious annual Prix Versailles for being one of the world’s most beautiful cultural institutions.
“We are exploring various options, potentially extending the festivities for several days or even weeks, including holding celebrations internationally,” said GEM CEO Ahmed Ghoneim.
He added, “The format will be unlike any previous celebration.”
One of the biggest challenges for the architects was to strike the right balance between ancient Egypt — known for its innovations — and the modern, majority-Muslim nation of 115 million people. This balance between old and new as wekk as luxury and poverty starts at the expansive atrium that serves as the museum’s main entrance.
Visitors will find themselves standing in awe of the granite statue of Ramesses II, the legendary ruler of Egypt’s 19th Dynasty. Discovered broken in six fragments at a temple near Memphis, the restored 83-ton colossus was erected in 1955 in Ramesses Square in front of Cairo’s main train station. Over time, the statue was degraded by car fumes and vibrations of the vast city’s perpetual traffic jams. It now stands preserved in pride of place.
Equally grandiose are the hanging obelisk, the grand staircase and the main galleries, including 12 exhibition halls. All of this is meant to evoke a paradigm shift restoring Egyptology back to the Egyptians. That field was established in 1798 when Napoleon and his army arrived, found the Rosetta Stone (which led to the unlocking of hieroglyphics) and carried it back to Paris.
France’s brief invasion of Egypt, followed by British and German excavations and studies, led to institutions approaching the subject through a Western lens. This developed challenges that Egypt (and other Middle Eastern countries) continue to address, including the illicit trade in antiquities and a foreign examination of its cultural identity.
Time will tell if the GEM will facilitate the repatriation of Egypt’s legacy, such as the painted stucco-coated limestone bust of Queen Nefertiti, the wife of pharaoh Akhenaten that are now on display in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin.
For more information on the GEM, visit the museum’s website here.
Gil Zohar was born in Toronto and moved to Jerusalem in 1982. He is a journalist writing for The Jerusalem Post, Segula magazine and other publications. He’s also a professional tour guide who likes to weave together the Holy Land’s multiple narratives.