More than two decades and over $1 billion later, Egypt has officially opened the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), showcasing some 100,000 artifacts spanning seven millennia of history.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi described the monumental project as “a new chapter in the history of the present and the future.”
The long-delayed facility, billed as the world’s largest museum dedicated to a single civilization, was inaugurated Saturday in a lavish, spectacle-laden ceremony attended by dozens of foreign leaders and dignitaries.
The GEM, set on a gentle slope just over a mile from the Pyramids of Giza, is more than a cultural showcase; it is a key plank of plans to revive the tourism industry so vital to its troubled economy. Egyptian officials, banking on the museum to attract five million visitors annually, hope this cultural infrastructure project can anchor the nation’s financial recovery following years of political and economic volatility.
One of Egypt’s most iconic monuments, this colossal statue of Pharaoh Ramses II, welcomes visitors to the new Grand Egyptian Museum, which officially opens on November 1 pic.twitter.com/54lvNLBgWI
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 23, 2025
The Grand Egyptian Museum will fully open to the public on Nov. 4. The hours will be from 9 am to 6 pm daily except Saturdays and Wednesdays.
World leaders attend inauguration of Grand Egyptian Museum
The opening ceremony drew a high-level roster of international guests, underscoring the project’s diplomatic and strategic importance. Attendees included Spain’s King Felipe, Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. In total, 79 official delegations participated.
The inauguration ceremony included a stunning display of fireworks and a drone light show depicting ancient civilization and pyramids in the sky.
#Egypt celebrated Saturday the opening of the #GrandEgyptianMuseum, or GEM, built near the Pyramids to house one of the world’s richest collections of antiquities. The museum’s most heavily promoted attraction is the expansive collection of treasures from #Tutankhamun‘s tomb. https://t.co/hCWv79oZI8 pic.twitter.com/c8x2Yoibph
— ShanghaiEye🚀official (@ShanghaiEye) November 2, 2025
Addressing the gathering, President al-Sisi framed the museum as an instrument of soft power and global outreach. “Today, as we celebrate together the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, we are writing a new chapter in the history of the present and the future,” the president stated. He also urged attendees to “make this museum a platform for dialogue, a destination for knowledge, a forum for humanity, and a beacon for all who love life and believe in the value of humankind.”
The project, which received major financial and technical support from Japan, is one of several megaprojects championed by President al-Sisi since he took office in 2014. These massive investments aim to revive an economy weakened by decades of stagnation and battered by the unrest that followed the 2011 Arab Spring uprising. Nevine El-Aref, media adviser to the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, declared the facility to be “Egypt’s gift to the world. It’s a dream come true, after all these years, the GEM is finally and officially open.”
Key Attractions and Collection Highlights
The Grand Egyptian Museum, the world’s largest devoted to a single civilization, houses over 100,000 artifacts across its immense galleries. Key attractions include:
- King Tutankhamun’s Complete Collection: All 5,398 items from the boy pharaoh’s tomb are displayed together for the first time since their discovery in 1922, including his iconic gold-covered sarcophagus and burial mask.
- The Grand Staircase: A six-story structure that guides visitors past colossal statues and pharaonic monuments arranged in reverse chronological order, leading up to the main galleries.
- The Ramesses II Statue: A massive, 3,200-year-old, 83-ton statue of the pharaoh that stands solemnly on guard in the soaring atrium, welcoming visitors.
- King Khufu’s Boats Museum: Dedicated to the 4,500-year-old royal boats found near the Great Pyramid, designed for the journey to the afterlife. Visitors can view the fully reconstructed first boat and watch conservation work on the second.
- The Hanging Obelisk: A unique, 53-foot-high, 3,500-year-old obelisk suspended overhead on a modern structure, allowing visitors to peer up through a glass floor to view its ancient inscriptions from a never-before-possible angle.
- Conservation Facilities: 17 state-of-the-art conservation laboratories, including a live lab visible through floor-to-ceiling glass, allowing visitors to watch restorers at work on fragile artifacts.
- The Vista: The museum’s apex offers a direct and unobstructed panoramic view of the Giza pyramid complex, a deliberate design choice linking the modern structure to the ancient world.
- Immersive Experience: The new space features immersive galleries, precision lighting, and virtual-reality exhibits, offering a sharp contrast to the previous, cluttered displays of the century-old Egyptian Museum in central Cairo.
House of Treasures
Spanning approximately 500,000 square meters, the GEM will house 100,000 ancient artifacts, with 50,000 on initial display. This collection is housed across more than 258,000 square feet of permanent exhibition space, a vast departure from the cramped, century-old Egyptian Museum in central Cairo.
The centerpiece of the collection is the complete 5,398-piece collection of treasures from the tomb of King Tutankhamun, which are now displayed together for the first time since their discovery by Howard Carter in 1922. This collection, which includes the boy pharaoh’s golden throne and his iconic burial mask, occupies a showroom six times the size of its previous home.
Visitors begin their journey in a soaring atrium guarded by an 83-ton, 3,200-year-old statue of King Ramesses II. They then ascend the six-story Grand Staircase, which leads them past colossal stone monuments arranged in reverse chronological order to a viewing area offering a direct and unobstructed view of the Giza pyramid complex. Elsewhere, the museum features immersive galleries, virtual-reality exhibits, a children’s museum, and a live conservation lab where visitors can watch experts working on the 4,500-year-old King Khufu’s Boat.
The GEM is a bold affirmation of Egypt’s cultural heritage and its ambition to solidify its position as a global tourism destination, a crucial move as the nation navigates regional complexities and seeks long-term economic stability.
Path through geopolitical turbulence
The path to the GEM’s opening was marked by significant financial and political hurdles, reflecting the complex environment of Egyptian governance and regional foreign affairs. First announced in 1992, the plan endured the turmoil of the Arab Spring-era revolution in 2011 and a military coup d’état two years later. The budget ballooned to well in excess of $1 billion, more than double the initial $500 million estimate. Delays also included the Covid-19 pandemic and a recent planned grand opening being put off after the 12-day-long war between Israel and Iran erupted in June.
According to Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, “largest part of construction, finishing and bringing this global landmark to its current form occurred during the past seven to eight years.”
The museum’s architecture itself required a sophisticated balance between modern design and cultural deference. The contract was awarded in 2003 to the little-known Irish firm Heneghan Peng Architects, whose co-founder Róisín Heneghan recalled thinking the initial call was a “prank.” Despite working from Dublin, she noted the inherent challenges of large-scale construction.
“Big projects are complicated,” Heneghan said diplomatically of the successive delays. “This is a big museum, and they’re moving very, very sensitive pieces in. So, if it takes a little longer and do it properly, I think it’s worthwhile.”
The final structure is mathematically aligned to the Giza vista, with its roof slope pointing directly at the Great Pyramid’s summit, but never exceeding its height. The challenge, Heneghan explained, was one of prominence and respect: “We spoke about it as creating a new ‘edge’ to the desert plateau,” describing the fine line between the two. “It was always a balance. It’s a very large and very significant building.” The design, she concluded, was about giving the museum “the prominence it demands” but only in “the horizontal,” not the vertical.