Inside the Long-Awaited Opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum | Condé Nast Traveler

"After more than a century since Tutankhamun's tomb was found and decades of planning and construction, I witnessed the Grand Egyptian Museum finally open as a $1 billion, 5-million-square-foot complex — billed as the world’s largest museum dedicated to a single civilization and housing over 100,000 artifacts. The inauguration was a dazzling, state-level affair with royals, presidents and prime ministers, a laser-and-fireworks show beside the museum’s 110-ton hanging obelisk and an ambition to make the GEM a “fourth pyramid” just over a mile from the Pyramids of Giza. Inside the building, designed by Heneghan Peng Architects with a limestone, glass and metal façade that mirrors the three pyramids and aligns with their positioning, visitors will find a 36-foot-high, 83-ton Ramses II statue, a grand staircase lined with colossal statues, 12 main galleries spanning prehistoric times to the Graeco‑Roman period, a Children’s Museum, the Tutankhamun Gallery, a Solar Boats Museum, the Middle East’s largest restoration centre, exhibition halls and conference spaces. The Khufu solar boats and the Tutankhamun collection — including the golden mask, chariot and throne — were transferred from older institutions and were scheduled to be revealed to the public from Tuesday, November 4; Aly Abdelhalim confirmed the recent moves. The project, whose plans were announced in 1992 and whose construction began in 2005, faced repeated delays due to the 2011 revolution, the Covid-19 pandemic and regional conflicts, and was largely financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency with about $800 million in loans. Experts such as Salima Ikram have praised the museum’s variety, quality and number of objects. The inauguration also showcased international musical and dance performances (with a score by Hisham Nazih conducted by Nayer Nagui and featuring artists like Fatma Said), after which dignitaries received private tours; tickets can be booked online and the museum is expected to draw several million visitors annually." - Nada El Sawy