The Grand Egyptian Museum GEM - The New Halls of the Pharaohs

The Old Egyptian Museum in Cairo´s Downtown near Tahrir Square has completely been overcrowded for years. It is still functioning fully  and reorganizing and modernizing the exhibition of the collections that are going to remain there. One can still see parts of the Tutankhamon collection which will eventually all be moved to the new museum. 

The New Museum is located at the first desert plateau, between the Pyramids and Cairo. It acts at the intersection between Modernity and Antiquity, literally redirecting the traveler from the modernity of Cairo to the Ancient Heritage of the Egyptians.

Designed by the Dublin-based architecture firm Heneghan Peng - which was awarded the job after winning one of the largest architectural competitions in history - the 650,000-square-foot building will be the permanent home to hundreds of thousands of ancient artifacts, a substantial amount of which have never before been shown to the public.

The Grand Egyptian Museum will witness for the first time the display of all Tutankhamun’s artifacts gathered in one place which amount to more than 5,000 pieces. 

The top of the Museum level will have a wonderful panorama of the three Giza Pyramids without obstacles. 

GEM’s lobby will host the statue of King Ramesses II and the column of his son King Merneptah, the grand staircase will include 87 royal statues and large architectural elements including a statue of Kings Khafre, Menkaure, Senusret, Akhenaten and Amenhotep III. 

“The GEM is not only for the tourists coming to Egypt. It also addresses the young generations of Egyptians, so they know about their cultural roots and to raise awareness about heritage among all different ages in Egypt,” said Dr. Tarek  Sayed Tawfik, the museum's general director.

The opening is scheduled for 2020.

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