Egyptian Grand Museum: Will it Boost The Country’s Tourism Rate?
By Nada Hamouda
With 7000 years of history, it’s no surprise that Egypt is one of the world’s capitals of culture. However, the great treasures of Egypt, including thousands of them that have never been exhibited, can be seen before the end of this year when the Great Egyptian Museum opens.
Conceived in 2010 by the Irish firm Heneghan Peng Architects, the new Grand Museum, in Cairo, is built on an area of 224,000 square meters. The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is expected to be Egypt’s art project of the century, as it’s believed to be the largest museum all over the world.
In 1902, the Egyptian Museum, located in Tahrir Square, was established. However, it has become loaded with many artifacts which made the need to have a new museum increasingly urgent.
So, let’s go through some of the stunning features the GEM is promised to offer:
- Establishing a museum only two kilometers away from the great pyramids would be such a refreshment to develop the Giza Pyramids area. As Egypt has been struggling to prevent its great Pyramids slipping into decay.
- Reports indicate that the number of tourists to Egypt will increase after the museum’s inauguration. Considerably, locating a grand museum in approximate to the pyramids would be a great time saving for its visitors.
- The new museum would display more than 100,000 artifacts, covering 3,500 years of the Egyptian history. Those antiquities pieces are affiliated to the Pharaonic, Greek, and Roman civilizations.
- The building is shaped like a chamfered triangle which just fits right into an incredible landscape. The front facade of the building would be formed of translucent stone.
- The Egyptian revolution that took place in 2011 increased the costs to build the museum to around one billion euros (from the initial 550 million euros) and delayed its construction. However, the Egyptian company Orascom Construction was awarded the contract for the third phase in 2013.
- The new home of the royal mummies and other treasures of ancient Egypt will also offer a children’s museum, 3D cinemas, conference center, training center, and workshops similar to the old Pharaonic places. However, the main attraction will be the first exhibition of the full tomb collection of King Tutankhamun. Other objects will be relocated from museums all over Egypt.
- The Minister of Antiques stated previously that the Grand Egyptian Museum will be partially open in May 2018. However, a big fire erupted last April causing a delay in the opening of the establishment. It’s set to be opened at the end of this year, though the exact date has yet to be determinate.
