Egypt: Grand Egyptian Museum to finally fully reopen
It is supposed to be the largest archaeological museum in the world, but after several delays, visitors have not yet been able to see this for themselves. The opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Giza, Egypt , has been postponed again and again for years. Most recently, there was talk of a "full opening expected in mid-2024" - but this has obviously not happened.
But now something is happening: Since mid-October, in addition to the large hall and the outdoor facilities, twelve galleries with an area of 18,000 square meters have been open to visitors. And it is set to continue: As “fvw” and others report, the GEM is set to be fully opened with a large ceremony on July 3, 2025.
Egypt's President al-Sisi is said to have already invited the Spanish king to the opening of the museum in July. After that, all visitors will finally be able to see all of the more than 100,000 objects.
This opportunity will be available after the full opening on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Wednesdays and Saturdays it will even be open until 9 p.m.
Until then, interested visitors will have to make do with a total of 15,000 archaeological artifacts from prehistoric times to Roman times. Tickets for the exhibition can be purchased on the museum's website . Visitors must pay around 12 euros.
About 15,000 archaeological exhibits can already be viewed.
Source: IMAGO/Xinhua
The history of the GEM begins in 2002. At that time, the Egyptian government announced a global competition for the design of the complex. Construction began in 2005. Due to the Arab Spring in 2011, among other things, work on the museum came to a standstill for several years. When the country stabilized again, work resumed in 2014.
An expensive and lengthy project: The Grand Egyptian Museum.
Source: IMAGO/Xinhua
The dimensions of the museum are enormous: the entire area is equivalent to almost 70 football fields. A highlight of the artifacts on display will be the twelve-meter-high statue of Ramses II or the 42-meter-long and over 4,000-year-old solar barque of Pharaoh Cheops.
The tomb collection of the famous pharaoh Tutankhamun will also be made accessible to the world for the first time. This alone is planned to cover around 7,000 square meters of exhibition space. If the museum is fully accessible to the public, this could lead to a new travel boom in Egypt.
“The opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum is eagerly awaited by our study tour guests,” says Peter Eschweiler from the travel agency Gebeco to “fvw”.
Even though countless relics of ancient Egypt have been found, archaeologists continue to come across new ancient treasures. As the “ Spiegel ” reports, a four-meter-high part of a pharaoh sculpture was recently discovered. It is said to be the upper part of a statue of Ramses the Great, who is known as the third pharaoh of the 19th dynasty and ruled ancient Egypt between 1279 and 1213 BC.
The lower part may have been found as early as 1930 by the German archaeologist Günther Roeder. The white limestone block was excavated south of the city of al-Minya, almost exactly halfway between Cairo and Luxor.
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