One of the first to step into the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is a 36-foot-high 82-ton granite statue of Ramses II, the Egyptian pharaoh who ruled over 3,300 years ago. He has been in the Sentry on the site since 2006, and was one of the first artifacts brought to the construction site at the time. However, until recently, it was possible for tourists to see him as more than 100,000 other ancient treasures held in the new menagery of Egyptian history over five thousand years.
Covering an area of over 5 million square feet, the gem is the world’s largest civilization-focused archaeological museum, offering visitors a sneak peak of 12 exhibits ahead of the grand opening on July 3, 2025. According to the official museum and ticketing website, since last fall, the museum has been present in the soft opening phase to “test the site preparation and visitor experience before the official opening.”
“At this stage you can visit the main exhibition, the Grand Atrium, the Grand Steercase, the commercial area and the outdoor garden. The King Tutang Kamun Hall will remain closed until the official opening,” advises the site. The Jewelry Gallery is currently open daily from 9am to 5pm, with the museum closing for a brief period of time on June 15th to close the final preparations for the grand opening.
Later in political uprisings, economic instability, the pandemic and nearby wars, the museum will eventually open. . . 20 years after construction began.
Leading by an alabaster and glass façade decorated with hundreds of cartouches surrounding Egyptian hieroglyphs in the names of kings and queens, the new museum will not replace the Egyptian Museum, a two-person facility in downtown Chiologie, which first opened in 1902.
“For many years, artifacts began to pile up in basements, attics and storage rooms, and there were too many,” said Malwa Abbas, an Egyptian scholar who works with Amawater Ways, a cruise company that sails on the Nile on prenatal tours in Cairo. “It has been decided that a new museum will house new excavations and that curators will be able to better organize their findings on a theme basis and generate better understanding.”
Over the next few weeks, more than 5,000 objects discovered at Tutan Kamun’s tomb (known as King Chuttachi) will move from the Egyptian Museum to two giant exhibition halls of gems. Artifacts include the Throne of the Young King, Royal Jewelry, two golden stone co, his iconic gold funeral mask (made from almost 25 pounds of solid gold and considered one of the most important pieces of Egyptian art), and many works that have never been shown before. Although the TUT ruled for a short time, this tomb was well hidden and unlike most others, it was not raided. When rediscovered in 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter, it provided scholars’ unusual insight into ancient Egyptian culture and traditions.
Beyond Tut’s Trove, another annex will be opening to see two royal boats discovered near the Great Pyramid in 1954, following the grand opening.
From the central atrium where Ramses II stands, a spectacular staircase dotted with dozens of statues of some of Egypt’s most famous pharaohs, leading to a landing that welcomes an unobstructed view of the pyramids of Giza, four to six hundred years ago. Ultimately, the plan is to develop a passageway between the two.
Then, towards the gallery, it is arranged by three pillars of society, royal power and belief, which are further divided into four periods: the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, the New Kingdom, and the Greco-Roman period. They are arranged to allow visitors to participate in tours of theme and chronological order. Among the exhibits are thousands of years of old manuscripts written on paper made of papyrus, stone fragments, ceremonial tools, mythology engraved on jewels, real human hair, replicas of rosetta stones, royal mummies (including Mima’s walnuts), and more. Concise and bright descriptive placards are provided for collections of works or objects in Arabic, English, and Braille.
The pyramid motif is repeated from cutting window panes to stone shapes, from cutting into the shape of the windows to the shape of the stones, between the security area and the main building outside. Beyond the exhibition there is a food hall and multiple gift shops selling various memorabilia.
Tickets will cost £1,200 at the ticket booth online or on-site (where credit cards are accepted only) (approximately $24 based on current conversion rate), half the price for children under 4 and under 21, and guests can also purchase an optional 90-minute guided tour (English can be provided in English or Arabic).
