All You Should Know About The Grand Egyptian Museum

Everything you should know about Egypt's New Grand Egyptian Museum.

The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is one of the largest archaeological museums in the world. Thousands of artifacts will be displayed during and after its launch, which will attract many tourists from around the world.

The museum is built on a land area of 117 acres. The project’s foundation was laid in February 2002. Construction of the mega-project began in May 2005. A total of 100,000 artifacts are being restored to be displayed in the GEM. Furthermore, the GEM consists of 19 restoration labs, making it the largest artifact restoration center in the world. In addition, the GEM consists of one of the biggest artifact documentation units for selected artifacts worldwide. Some of the artifacts planned to be displayed in the GEM date back to the pre-Pharaonic dynasties era (pre-family era).

King Ramses' statue was placed in the GEM’s lobby entrance to welcome the visitors. It is worth mentioning that the façade of the museum is coated with alabaster stones. Also, the walls of the GEM overlooking the Pyramids will have a glass panoramic view. The GEM is set to be opened by 2025.

What the Grand Egyptian Museum will look like?

The GEM is built on a slope and straddles the 162-foot difference in levels between the Nile Valley, where you enter, and the Giza plateau, where the main galleries are situated. There are sculpture gardens in the museum park, while a massive statue of Ramses II greets you upon entry into the main atrium. From here, the Grand Staircase, which leads from the valley level to the plateau, will be lined with 87 statues of kings and Gods.

The main galleries lead left from the staircase and are divided into four eras: pre-dynastic (up to 3100 B.C.) and Old Kingdom (the pyramid builders), Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom (Tutankhamun, Ramses, and Greco-Roman.

These chronological galleries are then organized according to themes, unlike in the old museum: Beliefs and Eternity (religion), Kingship and Power (rulers), and Society (the rest of us). In the end, visitors are led right back to tall glass windows, which look out toward the pyramids and drive home the magnificence of Ancient Egypt—the grand finale of a chronological show celebrating one of the world’s greatest civilizations.

To the right of the staircase are the Tutankhamun galleries where, for the first time, the contents of the tomb will be shown in their entirety. There is also a separate children’s museum within the museum, which will use state-of-the-art visual tricks to explain Egypt’s ancient world to kids. An especially cool note about the Tut galleries: the relics are displayed in the exact order that Carter came across them in the tomb.

The Location and Historical Significance of GEM!

The much anticipated and talked about Cairo hotspot, the Grand Egyptian Museum is nestled 2 kilometers inside the legendary pyramids of Giza. With magnificent monuments dating back to a long time ago, the museum complex is spread around 480,000 square meters and is nominated by the UNESCO for the World Cultural Heritage sites. All in all, the Grand museum is not just your gateway to the past but also the junction between the dry desert and fertile floodplain thanks to its central location in Cairo!

How the GEM is going to affect tourism?

Jim Berkeley, founder, and CEO of Destinations and Adventures International is altering his company’s itineraries to account for the sheer scale of the new museum. “It’s going to force everybody to recast their touring schedule in Cairo,” he says. “Heretofore, you really needed two full days of touring time, one day for the Giza pyramids one day, and another half day for the Egyptian Museum half a day. The Grand Egyptian Museum is now going to be so massive; people are going to want to go twice. It’s like trying to tackle the Louvre. It’s impossible in day.”

How much it will cost for the Tickets?

The museum recently announced that the ticket price for foreigners will be 550 EGP, between 30 $ to 35$, with a 50 percent discount for students.

What to Look for During your Visit GEM?

Though each of the dazzling main galleries has enough original and restored works to keep you browsing for the better part of the day, prioritize the Tutankhamun treasures there were about 1500 items from the boy king’s tomb in the old museum at Tahrir, and there are 5400 in the new, but few visitors will spare time to see the entire collection: the gold mask and sarcophagus, the jewels, throne, and chariots are the stand-out pieces. And unlike in the old museum, which simply displayed the treasures, here entire narratives have been developed in the designs of many of the galleries, to demonstrate King Tut’s lifestyle, including what and when he ate, and what he might have been wearing.

The pre-dynastic collection, which was limited to just a few items in the old museum, is finally being given some prominence, including gilded elongated figures. The 140-foot-long solar boat, buried beside the Great Pyramid, has been worked into the new displays. And we might finally see the glory of the little-known Middle Kingdom, which kicked off around 2050 B.C. and is considered to some a high point in ancient art but has been poorly presented until now. A point to focus on is the massive restoration effort from the 17 dedicated on-site labs that went into preserving and restoring these relics, many of which are nearly 5000 years old (keep an eye out for Tut’s colorful, 3500-year-old bejeweled sandals).

How To Get to the GEM?

Unlike the old antiquities’ museum, the GEM is well-placed for access. It’s close to the Cairo ring road, the freeway circling Cairo’s metropolitan area. It will be connected to the Cairo metro when the new line is completed and, conveniently, can be reached by air: the new Sphinx International Airport, 20 minutes away, will receive international flights, but the main advantage will be the domestic routes, making it an easy day trip from the Red Sea resorts. Alongside the galleries, there will be eight restaurants, 28 gift shops, and a 3D cinema.

What will happen to the old Egyptian Museum at Tahrir?

It’s being slowly cleaned up, but a major renovation of the 1902 building will be undertaken once everything has been moved to the GEM. The old museum will still house a world-class collection of antiquities, and really this museum will house unique treasures for Yuya and Tuya tomb the grandfather and grandmother of King Tutankhamun, and King Psusennes collection and this tomb is unique same like the tomb of King Tutankhamun but it didn’t take the same propaganda of King Tut, the old Museum of Tahrir in my opinion will contain the best collection of Fine art in the World and you should visit when you are in Cairo.

Experience the Grand Egyptian Museum with Look at Egypt Tours!

While you’re all welcome to explore the beautiful city of Cairo and mark your attendance at the Grand Egyptian museum, it is highly recommended you book a tour for an organized and hassle-free experience. In addition to ensuring that you can enjoy the sight of each of those 100,000 relics and artifacts at your pace, at Look at Egypt tours we make sure that you don’t miss anything important and cherish memories for a lifetime.