After more than a decade of delays and much anticipation, the Grand Egyptian Museum has opened its 12 main galleries, the Grand Staircase, and the Children’s Museum. The caveat is that its prized King Tutankhamun collection and two King Khufu solar boats will remain under wraps until the yet-to-be-announced official opening. Nevertheless, there is plenty to see, with 15,000 artifacts spanning as far back as 700,000 BCE, up until the 4th century AD.
The Grand Egyptian Museum has revealed itself in phases over the last couple of years, starting with private events in November 2022 before opening its main atrium and retail area in February 2023. The over 30-foot high, 82-ton, 3,200-year-old Ramses II statue was the first piece to be moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum site back in 2006, and it is the first artifact to greet visitors upon entering. Tours of the Grand Staircase—lined with more than 60 large statues, stelae, doorways, columns, and sarcophagi—followed a year ago. The Children’s Museum also quietly opened, and then, earlier this fall, with only a week’s notice, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced that the main galleries would open for a “trial run” starting October 16.
Billed as the world’s largest archaeological museum dedicated to a single civilization, the Grand Egyptian Museum holds more than 50,000 artifacts. These include the full Tutankhamun collection of about 5,300 items, another 30,000 in temporary rotating exhibitions, and the 15,000 artifacts that are now on display in the newly opened main galleries. We were among the first inside to get a glimpse.
What to expect from the Grand Egyptian Museum (so far)
Visitors can opt to book admission tickets or 90-minute guided tours, which are offered in English and Arabic every hour, seven times a day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. However, as one of the first to visit, I can attest that 90 minutes doesn’t feel long to cover thousands of years of ancient history, so expect to speed through the museum and just grasp the highlights. After a brief overview of the pieces in the Grand Hall, the guide took my group up the escalator to whizz past the Grand Staircase and touch on its four themes, before stopping at the top to admire a view of the Pyramids of Giza, then turning into the main galleries.
The galleries are organized both in chronological order and by theme. Galleries one to three cover the Prehistoric Period, Predynastic Period, Early Dynastic Period, Old Kingdom, and First Intermediate Period between around 700,000 BCE to 2,034 BCE. Galleries four to six cover the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period between 2,034 BCE and 1,550 BCE. Galleries seven to nine cover the New Kingdom between 1,550 BCE and 1,069 BCE. The last galleries, 10 to 12, cover the Graeco-Roman Period, Late Period, and Third Intermediate Period between 1,069 BCE and 394 AD. Each period touches on three themes: society, kingship, and beliefs.
