After more than a decade of delay and much waiting, The Grand Egyptian Museum It has 12 main galleries, a grand staircase, and a children’s museum. The caveat is that its valuable King Tutankhamun collection and two King Khufu solar boats will remain in storage until the official unveiling, which has yet to be announced. However, there is plenty to see, with 15,000 artifacts spanning from 700,000 BC to the 4th century AD.
The Grand Egyptian Museum has revealed itself in stages over the past few years, starting with private events in November 2022 before opening its main atrium and retail area in February 2023. The 30-foot-tall, 82-ton, 3,200-year-old Ramses II statue was the first piece to be moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum site in 2006, and is the first. Artwork to greet visitors upon entry. Tours of the Grand Staircase—filled with more than 60 statues, stelae, doors, columns, and sarcophagi—were conducted a year earlier. The Children’s Museum also opened quietly, and then, earlier this fall, with just a week’s notice, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced the opening of the main galleries for a “trial run” starting October 16.
Billed as the world’s largest archaeological museum dedicated to a single civilization, the Grand Egyptian Museum houses more than 50,000 artifacts. It includes the complete Tutankhamun collection of approximately 5,300 objects, another 30,000 in temporary rotating exhibits, and 15,000 artifacts that are on display in the newly opened main galleries. We had to get a glimpse inside first.
What to Expect from the Grand Egyptian Museum (So Far)
Visitors can book entry tickets or opt for 90-minute guided tours, which are offered every hour in English and Arabic, seven times a day from 9 a.m. to 3 a.m. However, as one of the first to visit, I can attest to that 90 minutes. It doesn’t take long to cover thousands of years of history, so expect to speed through the museum and grasp the highlights. After a brief overview of the pieces of the Grand Hall, the guide led my group up the escalator past the Grand Staircase and touching on its four themes before pausing at the top to admire the view above. The Pyramids of GizaThen turn to the main galleries.
Galleries are organized chronologically and by subject. Galleries one through three cover the Prehistoric Period, the Predynastic Period, the Early Dynastic Period, the Old Kingdom, and the First Intermediate Period from about 700,000 BCE to 2,034 BCE. Galleries four to six date to the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period between 2,034 BCE and 1,550 BCE. Seven to nine galleries cover the New Kingdom between 1,550 BC and 1,069 BC. The final galleries, 10 to 12, cover the Graeco-Roman period, the Late Period, and the Third Intermediate Period between 1,069 BC and 394 AD. Each period touches on three themes: society, monarchy and faith.