Egypt opened the Grand Museum of Giza, showcasing for the first time the complete treasures of Tutankhamun, marking a major step in heritage promotion and cultural tourism. The facility is located just about two kilometers from the Giza pyramid plateau, one of Egypt’s most visited sites.
This long-awaited project opens its doors this Saturday, after decades of work, in a museum complex built in the shadow of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Political instability, the 2020 pandemic, and cost overruns delayed for years this vast cultural space, announced in 2002 and initially scheduled to open in 2012.
The inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) marks a historic moment for the country and for the world of archaeology and cultural heritage. By exhibiting for the first time the entirety of Tutankhamun’s treasure and gathering in one place the wealth of seven thousand years of civilization, Egypt presents to the world its vision for the future without breaking ties with a past that continues to fascinate.
Egypt opens Grand Egyptian Museum with Tutankhamun’s complete treasures
The museum, conceived as “the pharaonic work of the 21st century,” has required more than two decades of planning, funding, and construction to come to light. With an area of approximately 500,000 m² (equivalent to about seventy European football fields) and 167,000 m² of built space, it is more than twice the size of emblematic institutions such as the Louvre Museum or the British Museum.
The design of the complex was commissioned to the Irish firm Heneghan Peng and formally began in 2005, although the project had already been presented in 1992 under the presidency of Hosni Mubarak. The final cost amounts to around US$1.5 billion, largely financed through international aid, with notable support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Construction has faced various interruptions—economic crises, popular uprisings, the global pandemic—making its completion a symbol of perseverance and cultural investment.
Starting November 4, when the museum opens to the general public (with tickets ranging from U$3.5 to U$30 for foreign visitors), travelers, researchers, and history enthusiasts will have the chance to experience an unprecedented cultural milestone. And while the pyramids of Giza continue to rise beneath the Egyptian sky, the new museum stands beside them with a promise: to keep the heritage alive, improve its accessibility, and project it toward new generations — in Egypt and beyond.
The treasure of Tutankhamun: the main attraction of the Grand Egyptian Museum
The centerpiece of the museum is, without a doubt, the complete collection of objects recovered from the tomb of Tutankhamun, the iconic archaeological discovery made in 1922 by the British explorer Howard Carter. Until now, only about one-third of those artifacts had been displayed to the public; this time, nearly 5,400 pieces—including statues, furniture, weapons, thrones, garments, even chariots and personal belongings of the young pharaoh—are being exhibited in their entirety for the first time.
Standing out, of course, are the famous gold funerary mask inlaid with turquoise and glass, the three gold coffins that protected his mummy, and a vast array of funerary furniture that reflects Tutankhamun’s journey to the afterlife according to ancient Egyptian beliefs. This section dedicated to the pharaoh covers about 7,500 m² within the museum, becoming the main draw for both international and local visitors.
Although Tutankhamun’s treasure grabs the headlines, the GEM goes far beyond this “star” attraction. Its galleries bring together about 100,000 artifacts spanning roughly seven thousand years of Egyptian history, from the Predynastic era to the Greco-Roman periods.
Among the most notable finds are the second solar boat of Pharaoh Khufu, the collection of Queen Hetepheres of the Fourth Dynasty, and the valuable collections of the aristocratic couple Yuya and Tjuyu of the Eighteenth Dynasty. One of the museum’s most spectacular features is a suspended obelisk, 16 meters long and more than 3,200 years old, displayed alongside an 11-meter-tall colossal statue of Pharaoh Ramses II, which was moved to the site from Cairo in 2006 through a complex logistical operation.
This broad approach makes the museum not only a tribute to the boy king but also a space that aims to tell the story of Egyptian civilization as a whole—with both depth and scale.
Tourism, economy, and cultural diplomacy
For Egypt, the opening of the Grand Museum also carries significant economic and symbolic weight. The country expects to attract around 15,000 visitors per day—equivalent to roughly 8 million per year—as part of its effort to revitalize a tourism sector weakened by regional conflicts and global crises.
Moreover, the inauguration ceremony has been handled with the utmost discretion and security, bringing together world leaders and royalty for a spectacle of lights, music, and technology with major media impact.
The goal is clear: to project an image of Egypt as a modern nation capable of managing its majestic historical heritage while opening itself to the world through cultural innovation and international collaboration.
The museum’s very location—near the iconic Giza Plateau, where the pyramids rise—reinforces the message of continuity between antiquity and the present. With its contemporary architecture and global ambition, the GEM aspires to become a new benchmark in the museum world. But the project is not without challenges.
Managing massive visitor flows, preserving millennia-old artifacts in a desert environment, and integrating a museum of this scale into Cairo’s urban and cultural life are enormous tasks. So is ensuring that its opening translates into tangible benefits for local communities and the national economy in a sustainable way.