5 issues to know concerning the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo

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Close to the traditional Pyramids of Giza simply exterior Cairo, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is gearing up for a lavish opening on Saturday after 20 years of delays.

Large statues and historic artefacts from the nation’s historic civilisation can be on show throughout the 24,000 sq. metres (258,000 sq. toes) of everlasting exhibition area.

Listed here are 5 issues to know concerning the long-awaited museum, which Egyptian authorities have referred to as “the biggest cultural constructing of the twenty first century”.

Watch extra Egypt's $1 billion marvel: Arts24's unique look contained in the Grand Egyptian Museum

The Fourth Pyramid An imitation of the close by pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, the museum’s triangular glass construction was designed by the Irish agency Heneghan Peng Architects.

The state-of-the-art complicated – dubbed the “fourth pyramid” of the Giza Plateau – homes round 100,000 artefacts from the 30 dynasties of historic Egypt’s pharaohs.

About half of the gathering is on show, with the remainder stored in storage.

The towering $1 billion facility, which has been greater than 20 years within the making, is predicted to attract greater than 5 million guests yearly.

The federal government hopes the museum will play a central position in reviving an Egyptian financial system battered by debt and inflation.

Statue of Ramses II An 11-metre (36-foot) granite statue of Ramses the Nice greets guests within the huge entrance atrium.

Ramses II – the third king of the nineteenth Dynasty – reigned greater than 3,000 years in the past (1279-1213 BC)and is among the many biggest of all of the Egyptian pharaohs.

His statue has toured the world twice, attracting tens of millions of tourists in 1986 after which from 2021 to 2025.

The GEM would be the statue’s last dwelling after a number of relocations since its discovery in 1820 close to a temple in historic Memphis, south of Cairo.

From 1954 to 2006 the statue stood in entrance of Cairo’s important prepare station.

Egypt opens extra galleries in long-awaited antiquities museum

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01:35 Treasures of Tutankhamun One gallery is devoted to the 5,000 artefacts from the gathering of King Tutankhamun, essentially the most well-known determine of Historic Egypt.

The total assortment is in a single place for the primary time since British archaeologist Howard Carter found the famed pharaoh’s tomb within the Valley of the Kings close to Luxor in 1922.

Learn extra Egypt set to open grand museum in lavish ceremony

The boy king’s gold-covered sarcophagus and his burial masks, inlaid with lapis lazuli, will take centre stage at Saturday’s opening.

After years of debate, genetic exams carried out within the early 2010s advised malaria and a bone illness led to the pharaoh’s dying on the age of 19.

Photo voltaic Boats A separate constructing was designed for the 4,600-year-old photo voltaic boat of Pharaoh Khufu, one of many largest and oldest wood artefacts from antiquity.

The 44-metre-long (144-foot) cedar and acacia wood boat was found in 1954 close to the Nice Pyramid of Khufu – the biggest of the three constructions.

Over the subsequent three years, guests can even be capable of watch specialists from behind a glass wall as they restore one other boat found in 1987.

Why are the French so fascinated by Historic Egypt?

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<img fetchpriority="low" src="https://s.france24.com/media/display/b60d5dee-b322-11f0-a624-005056a97e36/w:1280/p:16x9/FR-MG-C-EST-EN-FRANCE-EGYPTOLOGIE-NO-MIX-V2.jpg" srcset="https://s.france24.com/media/display/b60d5dee-b322-11f0-a624-005056a97e36/w:388/p:16x9/FR-MG-C-EST-EN-FRANCE-EGYPTOLOGIE-NO-MIX-V2.jpg 388w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/b60d5dee-b322-11f0-a624-005056a97e36/w:720/p:16x9/FR-MG-C-EST-EN-FRANCE-EGYPTOLOGIE-NO-MIX-V2.jpg 720w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/b60d5dee-b322-11f0-a624-005056a97e36/w:1024/p:16x9/FR-MG-C-EST-EN-FRANCE-EGYPTOLOGIE-NO-MIX-V2.jpg 1024w,https://s.france24.com/media/display/b60d5dee-b322-11f0-a624-005056a97e36/w:1280/p:16x9/FR-MG-C-EST-EN-FRANCE-EGYPTOLOGIE-NO-MIX-V2.jpg 1280w" sizes="(max-width: 639px) calc(100vw - 32px), (max-width: 1076px) calc(100vw - 44px), 850px" width="1280" height="720" alt="FRANCE IN FOCUS" loading="lazy" class="a-img "/> FRANCE IN FOCUS © FRANCE 24 Panorama The museum was partially opened to the general public in October 2024.

Launched in 2002 beneath then-President Hosni Mubarak, its grand opening was delayed by political turmoil after the 2011 rebellion, the Covid-19 pandemic and regional conflicts.

The GEM is constructed round a colossal six-storey staircase lined with mammoth statues and historic tombs resulting in a panoramic window with a view of the close by pyramids.