The largest Egyptian museum in the world was inaugurated in Giza with a pharaonic ceremony

The inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Giza is underway, the largest museum complex ever dedicated to a single civilization. The opening ceremony took place on Saturday 1st November, more than twenty years after the start of the works, which were often postponed for economic reasons or political instability.

The opening evening saw fireworks, light displays, dances and artistic performances in the presence of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who defined the museum as “a new chapter in the history of the country”. Around forty heads of state and government, crowned heads and international personalities were present, including the Italian Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli and the German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

A pharaonic project

The complex extends over 470 thousand square meters and is located a few kilometers from the pyramids of Giza, to which it is connected via a bridge that can be traveled on foot or with electric vehicles. With an investment of more than $1 billion, the museum was financed primarily through Japanese loans and is considered the largest archaeological museum in the world dedicated to a single civilization, surpassing even the Louvre in total area.

The project was announced in 2002 by then president Hosni Mubarak, with the aim of creating a new large museum center for Egyptian antiquities. However, work has dragged on for decades due to rising costs, the Arab Spring of 2011, the pandemic and recent regional conflicts.

Tutankhamun’s treasure

The museum houses more than 50 thousand objects ranging from prehistory to Roman civilization. The main attraction is represented by the entire collection of Pharaoh Tutankhamun: over 5 thousand artefacts which for the first time in history are displayed all together, after having been divided between Cairo and Luxor.

At the entrance to the museum, visitors are welcomed by the 83-ton colossus of Pharaoh Ramses II, while one of the rooms houses a boat over 4,500 years old that belonged to Pharaoh Cheops. The structure also includes a children’s museum, conference rooms and laboratories for the conservation of artefacts.

Technology and tourism

CEO Ahmed Ghoneim underlined the massive use of multimedia panels and immersive technologies, designed to attract new generations. Augmented reality, digital simulations and artificial intelligence characterize the visiting experience, in stark contrast to the old Egyptian Museum in central Cairo.

The museum will open to the public from November 4, a symbolic date that coincides with the anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922. The Egyptian authorities expect between 15,000 and 20,000 daily visitors and aim to grow tourism, a vital sector for the country’s economy which recorded 15 million visitors in the first nine months of 2025.