After two decades under construction, Egypt has officially thrown open the doors to the largest archeological museum in the world, spanning 94 football fields (5.4 million sq ft or 500,000 sq m) and built to house some 100,000 exhibits through millennia, from prehistoric times going as far back as 700,000 BCE, to the Roman era (394 CE).
The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is located on the edge of a desert plateau between the pyramids of Giza and the capital city of Cairo. It's spread across 12 halls all on a single level, and features a Grand Staircase that serves as a chronological guide through the space, with a view of the pyramids at the top.
While it's been partially accessible to the public over the past year, the official opening over the weekend revealed a new gallery dedicated to the Boy King Tutankhamun, along with the entire contents of his intact tomb, including some 5,300 of the ruler's belongings displayed together for the first time since it was discovered over a century ago. Also new to visitors is a fully reconstructed 4,500-year-old funerary boat of King Khufu that once traversed the Nile.
The US$1.2-billion museum is sure to enthrall history buffs even before they step foot inside. The imposing exterior is covered in hieroglyphics and pyramid-inspired design elements, while the doors open into an enormous atrium that houses a 3,200-year-old statue of King Rameses II standing the II, standing 36 ft (11 m) tall.
Thousands of employees are said to be at work restoring and maintaining the exhibits, and this work can only be carried out by Egyptians.
Dublin, Ireland-based firm Heneghan Peng Architects won a competition to design the museum; other design tasks across the ambitious project involved 300 specialists from 13 companies.
The BBC noted that construction took nearly as long to complete as the Great Pyramid. Scores of artifacts have been relocated to be displayed in this space, and it's expected to attract eight million visitors annually.
The inauguration of GEM also sets the stage for key items from Egyptian history to be repatriated for proper display in their home country: the Rosetta Stone that's currently in the British Museum, the Dendera Zodiac map from the Louvre in Paris, and the Bust of Nefertiti from Berlin.
It's also a key part of Egypt's plan to achieve a target of 30 million tourists a year across the country by 2030. Given that it includes several never-seen-before exhibits in a stunning space, this could be the ticket.
You can find more info about planning a visit over on the official GEM site. You can see more imagery in our gallery.
Source: Egypt State Information Service
