The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) displays around 100,000 artifacts|Grand Egyptian Museum|Facebook
Egypt is set to fully open the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) today, making it the world’s largest museum dedicated to a single civilization. The ambitious cultural project cost over $1 billion and 32 years.
Originally budgeted at $500 million in 2002, the museum’s cost doubled amid decades of delays caused by financial crises, the Arab Spring, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Located just a mile from the Giza pyramids, GEM spans 5 million square feet and celebrates 7,000 years of Egyptian civilization, from prehistory to the Roman era.
It displays around 100,000 artifacts, including:
- The Hanging Obelisk, a 53-foot-tall, 3,500-year-old monument suspended over glass flooring.
- The complete collection of King Tutankhamun’s tomb, featuring all 5,398 artifacts, is shown together for the first time since their discovery in 1922.
- The 3,200-year-old statue of Ramses II.
- King Khufu’s Boats Museum, displaying 4,500-year-old funerary vessels reconstructed from ancient remains.
It would take visitors 70 days to finish viewing each artifact for a minute.
Officials expect the museum to draw 5 million visitors annually, positioning it as a cornerstone of Egypt’s tourism revival and economic recovery.