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

Nearby one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Giza – Egypt officially opens what it considers a modern-day cultural landmark.

The Grand Egyptian Museum, described as the largest archaeological museum in the world, is filled with approximately 100,000 artifacts covering approximately seven thousand years of the country’s history from pre-dynastic times to the Greek and Roman eras.

Leading Egyptologists say the establishment of the museum strengthens their demand for the return of key Egyptian antiquities found in other countries – including the famous Rosetta Stone on display at the British Museum.

One of the most important attractions of the Grand Egyptian Museum is the complete contents of the intact tomb of the young king Tutankhamun, which will be displayed together for the first time since it was found by the British Egyptologist Howard Carter. They include Tutankhamun’s stunning golden mask, throne and chariots.

“I had to think about how we could show it in a different way, because since the discovery of the tomb in 1922, about 1,800 pieces out of a total of more than 5,500 pieces that were inside the tomb have been on display,” says Dr. Tarek Tawfik, president of the International Society of Egyptologists and former head of the Grand Egyptian Museum.

“I had the idea of ​​displaying the entire cemetery, which means nothing is left in storage, nothing is in other museums, and you get the full experience, the way Howard Carter did over a hundred years ago.”

The massive museum complex, costing around $1.2bn (£910m, €1.1bn), is expected to attract up to 8m visitors a year, giving 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 for Egyptology and cultural tourism,” says Ahmed Siddiq, a guide and aspiring Egyptologist of the pyramids on the Giza Plateau.

Aside from the Tutankhamun exhibition and a new display of Khufu’s stunning 4,500-year-old funerary barge – one of the oldest and best preserved ancient vessels – most of the site’s galleries have been open to the public since last year.

“I organized many tours to the museum even though it was partially open,” Ahmed continues. “Now he will be at the height of his glory. When you open Tutankhamun’s collection, you can imagine that the whole world will return, because this is an iconic pharaoh, the most famous king of antiquity,” he added.

“It’s a must-see,” says Spanish tourist Raul, who is anticipating the full public opening on November 4. “We’re just waiting to go and check out all the Egyptian artefacts,” says Sam from London, who is touring Egypt. “It’s an opportunity of a lifetime.”

Another British tourist says she had previously seen Tutankhamun exhibits displayed at the new Classical Egyptian Museum in bustling Tahrir Square. “The old museum was very chaotic, a bit confusing,” she comments. “I hope the big museum will be much easier to comprehend and I think you will get more out of it.”

The new museum is huge, spanning 500,000 square meters (5.4 million square feet) – the equivalent of about 70 football fields. The exterior is covered with hieroglyphics and transparent alabaster cut into triangles with a pyramid-shaped entrance.

Among the exhibits on display at the Grand Egyptian Museum is a 3,200-year-old, 16-meter-tall hanging obelisk of the powerful pharaoh Ramesses II, and his colossal 11-meter-high statue. The majestic statue was moved from nearby Cairo railway station in 2006, in a complex operation, in preparation for the new institution.

There is a giant staircase lined with statues of other ancient kings and queens, and on the top floor there is a huge window that offers a wonderful view of the pyramids of Giza.

The museum was first proposed in 1992, under President Hosni Mubarak, and construction began in 2005. It has now taken nearly as long to complete as the Great Pyramid, according to estimates.

The project was hit by financial crises, the Arab Spring of 2011 – which overthrew Mubarak and led to years of unrest – the Covid-19 pandemic, and regional wars.

“It’s been my dream. I’m really happy to finally see this museum open!” Dr. Zahi Hawass, the former long-time Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, tells me. The veteran archaeologist says this shows that Egyptians are equal to foreign Egyptologists when it comes to excavations, archaeological preservation and museum management.

Dr. Hawass says: “Now I want two things: first, museums stop buying stolen artifacts, and second, I need three things back: the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum, the Zodiac from the Louvre, and the bust of Nefertiti from Berlin.”

He created online petitions – attracting hundreds of thousands of signatures – calling for the three items to be repatriated.

The Rosetta Stone, found in 1799, provided the key to deciphering hieroglyphs; It was discovered by the French army and seized by the British as a spoil of war. A French team cut the Dendera Zodiac Map, an ancient Egyptian celestial map, from the Temple of Hathor in Upper Egypt in 1821. Egypt accuses German archaeologists of smuggling the colorful bust of Nefertiti, wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten, out of the country more than a century ago.

“We need the three things to come as a good feeling from these three countries, as a gift, just as Egypt has given the world many gifts,” Dr. Hawass says.

Another prominent Egyptologist, Dr. Monica Hanna, calls the same objects “taken under a colonial pretext” as objects that should be repatriated. “The GEM gives this message that Egypt has done its homework very well to officially claim things,” she adds.

The British Museum told the BBC that it had not received any official requests to return or loan the Rosetta Stone from the Egyptian government.

Egyptian Egyptologists expressed enthusiasm for the new museum to become a center for academic research, leading to new discoveries.

Indeed, Egyptian restorers stationed there restored items belonging to Tutankhamun, including his impressive armor made of textiles and leather. According to Egyptian law, such restorations can only be carried out by Egyptians.

“Colleagues from all over the world have expressed their admiration for the wonderful restoration work that has been completed,” says Dr. Tariq Tawfik, adding that the entire project is a source of great national pride. He added: “In addition to ancient Egyptian history, we also display modern Egypt, because Egypt is the one that built this museum.”