Egypt officially opened on Saturday the Grand Egyptian Museum, a long-awaited, billion-dollar showcase of pharaonic grandeur that Cairo hopes will revive tourism and boost its battered economy.
“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,” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told a gathering of dignitaries sitting in the museum’s square.
Spanning half a million square meters, the museum houses around 100,000 artifacts—half of them on display—dating back more than six millennia.
The audience at the opening watched a display of lights and music, with the pyramids towering in front of them.
Dozens of performers dressed in elaborate Pharaonic costumes played traditional tunes as a laser show depicting pharaohs and fireworks lit up the night sky above the museum.
On giant screens above, scenes from celebrations in Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro played out against the backdrop of Egypt’s ancient monuments.
“It is a living testimony to the genius of the Egyptian human,” Sisi said, referring to the new institution.
Roads around the museum were closed and security tightened Saturday ahead of its opening, with banners draped across buildings and streets.
“This is the dream that all of us imagined,” Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly told reporters, noting that most construction and finishing work took place over the past seven to eight years.
Set on a slope overlooking the Giza Plateau, the museum—built with Japanese support—has been more than two decades in the making, delayed by unrest, conflicts, and the pandemic.
Officials describe it as the world’s largest collection devoted to a single civilization. Inside are vast, light-filled halls featuring a colossal statue of Ramses II, immersive galleries, and a visible conservation lab where experts restore a 4,500-year-old solar boat.
The main draw is King Tutankhamun’s collection of more than 5,000 objects, many displayed together for the first time. AFP
