The Great Egyptian finally has a start date, with the inauguration ceremony scheduled for Saturday, November 1, 2025. The last date we had in the calendar was July 3rd with many days inaugurated and events.
A month earlier than planning, postponement was announced at the end of this year due to the escalation of tensions in the area.
From the contemporary marketing perspective, the centenary of the discovery of the 3,200 -year -old Pharaoh of Pharaoh Tutankhamen, found on November 26, 1922, would be the ideal date for the inauguration of the impressive Egyptian Museum (GEM).
However, in modern, life flows at the pace of Shuwaya, Shuwaya, which means “a little, a little”. Therefore, it is not surprising to “use” the anniversary symbolism.
The Great Egyptian Museum: Two decades of waiting
With more than 20 years of preparation, the Great Egyptian Museum is perhaps the most awaited cultural body in the world.
It will remain temporarily closed to the public from October 15, in order to make preparations for the three -day festivities of the inauguration, which will only have access to invited, and will reopen the public from November 4.
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The exhibits are presented on three interrelated issues – kingdoms, society and beliefs – highlighting the relationship between the Egyptian kings, their nationals and religion.
From November 1, visitors to the museum will have the opportunity to admire the Museum’s complete collection, including 100,000 exhibits and its full collection of Tutankhamen – over 5,000 treasures discovered in the grave of Pharaoh.
Egypt is “betting” on the tutankhamen
Egypt bets on Tutankhamen to revive its tourism. According to the Financial Times, “Egypt bets on a new museum that honors its ancient pharaoh culture, with the aim of giving tourism to boost, as the country’s economy faces growing debt.
Photo Credits: AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo
The number of tourists visiting the country, which declined after the start of the clash between Israel and Hamas in October 2023, has recovered, in part, thanks to the increase in visitors to the seaside resorts of the Red Sea, mainly from Eastern Europe and the former.
Sherif Fathi, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of the country, told Asharq Business News last month that it expects the number of tourists to reach 18 million in 2025, from 15.7 million in 2024, adding that revenue increased by $ 22% to $ 8 billion.
Tourism is a critical source of foreign exchange, representing 8.5% of the country’s GDP and about 2.7 million jobs, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
Great Egyptian Museum: History and Design
In 1992, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced plans for the construction of a new museum that would bring together the ancient artifacts that were scattered throughout the country.
The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, in particular, was filled with objects, was faintly illuminated and sensitive to vibrations by the city’s circulation. The Ministry of Culture has chosen a location outside Cairo, away from traffic congestion, but close enough to be easily accessible to tourists.
In 2002 he announced an international design competition- under the auspices of UNESCO- and laid the foundations.
Photo Credits:AP Photo/Khaled Elfiqi
In 2003, Heneghan Peng Architects, based in Dublin, won the design contract. The construction began in 2005, but the project faced a series of delays.
Political turmoil during Arab Spring in 2011 and the subsequent resignation of President Mubarak stopped work for three years. With the help of international funding, the project resumed in 2014, but was interrupted again, this time due to the launch of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Eventually, the work resumed and the first private guided tours were offered in 2022. The building scale, the triangle motif on its facade, and the sloping ceilings of its interior are reminiscent of the Giza pyramids, 2 kilometers southeast.
Visitors pass through an entrance covered with translucent alabaster panels and framed by hieroglyphs to reach the shady patio, where they are welcomed by a colossal statue of Ramsi II, 3,200 years old.
Then they can climb a large staircase, framed by statues of gods and kings, to reach the huge exhibition halls.
The main purpose of the facade of the Great Egyptian Museum is to express Egyptian culture using all its elements. Egyptian raw materials, eternal symbols, which characterize ancient culture, were used to invest in this unique and innovative design.
The facade includes seven pyramids, a number that is of significant importance throughout Egyptian history.
The eastern facade of the GEM is 46 meters high and over 800 meters in length and is divided into three parts, two of which contain three pyramids. The use of lighting to connect the earth to heaven through light represents the fourth dimension.
A seventh transparent pyramid is on the facade that sees north, towards the Giza Plateau.
The facade was covered with Egyptian marble by Sinai quarries, which was also used by the ancient Egyptians in statues and architectural elements in temples. The tall glass windows at the southeast end of the building offer unobstructed views of the pyramids.
Photo Credits: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
The idea of the Heneghan Peng Architects, selected through 1,557 proposals from 83 different countries, was based on the creation of a building 50 meters below the pyramids but 500 meters long.
The CEO of the Grand Egyptian Museum, Ahmed Ghoneim, has stated: “It is not only the exhibition of antiquities, but of experience, narrative and study. Our goal is to make Egypt not only the homeland of history, but also a worldwide research center for cultural heritage. “
An architectural challenge
At an estimated cost of $ 1.2 billion, the large Egyptian Museum is the largest archaeological museum in the world. With an area of 500,000 square meters, the huge building is twice as high as the Louvre in Paris and two and a half times larger than the British Museum in London.
In 2024, shortly after the premature launch of GEM, UNESCO awarded the Famous Annual Prix Versailles award to the still unfinished museum as one of the most beautiful cultural institutions in the world.
The challenge for the architects was to find the proper balance between ancient Egypt – a superpower of its time – and the modern country of 115 million people and a huge external debt.
This balance between the old and the new, luxury and poverty, starts with the spacious patio that serves as the main entrance. Visitors stand with awe in front of the granite statue of Ramsi II, the legendary ruler of the 19th Egyptian dynasty, which ruled from 1279 to 1213 BC.
Photo Credits: AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo
The statue, discovered broken into six pieces in a temple near Memphis, was restored and in 1955 set up in Ramsi Square, in front of the Cairo Central Railway Station to suffer extensive damage to the vehicles and vibration.
The most notable feature of the museum is the way it reflects the basic pillars of ancient Egyptian culture: preserving, inheritance and documentation.
GEM continues this commitment through advanced maintenance laboratories that use cutting -edge technology to protect more than 100,000 objects, ensuring that they are maintained for future generations.
Factors such as temperature control, moisture regulation and ultraviolet protection play a critical role in conservation methods.
With information from Financial Times, Condé Nast Traveler Middle East, The Jerusalem Post, Egypt Today, Britannica and Art News.
