Egypt’s Grand Museum opens, displaying Tutankhamun tomb in full for first time

Near the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Egypt officially opened the structure it envisioned as a cultural highlight of the modern age.

Described as the largest archaeological museum in the world, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is filled with approximately 100,000 artifacts covering approximately seven thousand years of the country’s history, from the pre-dynastic period to the Greek and Roman periods.

Prominent Egyptologists claim that its establishment has strengthened their demands for the return of important Egyptian antiquities held in other countries, including the famous Rosetta Stone displayed in the British Museum.

The main attraction of the GEM will be the entire contents of the intact tomb of the boy king Tutankhamun, displayed together for the first time since its discovery by British Egyptologist Howard Carter. These include Tutankhamun’s magnificent golden mask, throne and chariots.

President of the International Association of Egyptologists and former president of GEM, Dr. “I thought about how we could show it in a different way, because since the discovery of the tomb in 1922, about 1,800 of the more than 5,500 total items inside the tomb were on display,” says Tarek Tawfik.

“I had the idea to exhibit the entire tomb, which means there’s nothing left in storage, nothing left in other museums, and you’ll have the full experience like Howard Carter had a hundred years ago.”

The massive museum complex, costing around $1.2 billion (£910 million; €1.1 billion), is expected to attract up to 8 million visitors a year and provide a major boost to Egyptian tourism, which has been hit by regional crises.

“We hope that the Grand Egyptian Museum will usher in a new golden age of Egyptology and cultural tourism,” says Ahmed Seddik, an aspiring Egyptologist and guide to the pyramids on the Giza Plateau.

Along with the Tutankhamun exhibition and a new exhibition of the magnificent 4,500-year-old Khufu funeral boat, one of the oldest and best-preserved ships from ancient times, most of the area’s galleries have been opened to the public since last year.

“Even though the museum is partially open, I organize a lot of tours,” Ahmed continues. “He will now be at the peak of his glory. You can imagine the whole world will come back when the Tutankhamun collection opens, because this is an iconic Pharoah, the most famous king of all ancient times.”

“It’s a must-see,” says Raúl, a Spanish tourist awaiting the public opening on November 4.

“We are waiting to go and examine all the Egyptian artifacts,” says Sam from London, who is on a tour of Egypt. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Another British tourist said he had previously seen the Tutankhamun exhibits at the neoclassical Egyptian Museum in bustling Tahrir Square.

“The old museum was quite chaotic and a bit confusing,” he comments. “Hopefully the Grand Museum will be much easier to visit and I think you’ll get more out of it.”

The new museum is a massive structure spanning an area of ​​500,000 square meters (5.4 m sq ft), approximately the size of 70 football fields. Its exterior is covered with hieroglyphs and translucent alabaster cut in a triangular shape, and it has a pyramid-shaped entrance.

Among GEM’s remarkable works are the works of the powerful pharaoh II. There is the 3,200-year-old, 16-meter-long hanging obelisk of Ramesses and his 11-meter-high giant statue. The imposing statue was moved near Cairo railway station in 2006 in a complex operation in preparation for the new institution.

A massive staircase is lined with statues of other ancient kings and queens, and a huge upstairs window offers a perfectly framed view of the pyramids of Giza.

The museum was first proposed in 1992 during the reign of President Hosni Mubarak, and construction began in 2005. It is estimated that it took almost as long to complete as the Great Pyramid.

The project has been affected by financial crises, the 2011 Arab Spring that toppled Mubarak and sparked years of turmoil, the Covid-19 pandemic and regional wars.

“This was my dream. I was really happy to see this museum finally open!” Egypt’s former long-time minister of tourism and antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawass tells the BBC: The master archaeologist says it shows Egyptians are equal to foreign Egyptologists when it comes to excavations, preserving monuments and organizing museums.

“I want two things now: first, for museums to stop purchasing stolen artefacts, and second, I need three objects returned: the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum, the Zodiac from the Louvre, and the Bust of Nefertiti from Berlin.”

Dr Hawass organized online petitions, which attracted hundreds of thousands of signatures, calling for all three items to be repatriated.

The Rosetta Stone, discovered in 1799, provided the key to deciphering hieroglyphs. It was discovered by the French army and captured by the British as spoils of war. A French team cut the Dendera Bastion, an ancient Egyptian sky map, from the Temple of Hathor in Upper Egypt in 1821. Egypt accuses German archaeologists of smuggling a colorfully painted bust of Nefertiti, the wife of Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten, out of the country more than a century ago.

“Because Egypt has given so many gifts to the world, we need these three objects to come from these three countries as a good feeling, a gift,” says Dr Hawass.

Another prominent Egyptologist, Dr. Monica Hanna calls the same objects “taken under a colonialist pretext” objects that should be repatriated. He adds: “GEM sends the message that Egypt has done its homework very well to officially request the objects.”

The British Museum told the BBC it had “not received a formal request for the return or loan of the Rosetta Stone from the Egyptian Government.”

Egyptian Egyptologists express their excitement that the new museum will become an academic research center and lead to new discoveries.

Egyptian conservators already there have meticulously restored items belonging to Tutankhamun, including his impressive armor made of textiles and leather. According to Egyptian law, such restorations can only be done by Egyptians.

“Our colleagues from around the world have been amazed by the amazing conservation work that has been carried out,” says Dr Tawfik, adding that the whole project is a source of great national pride. “We showcase ancient Egyptian history as well as modern Egypt because Egypt built this museum.”