GRAND EGYPTIAN MUSEUM TO OPEN AFTER 30 YEARS AND OVER $1 BILLION IN COSTS. (PHOTO).

 Grand Egyptian Museum to open after 30 years and over $1 billion in costs

CAIRO, EGYPT - Egypt is preparing for the grand opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) on Saturday, welcoming dozens of foreign leaders and dignitaries to celebrate a project more than three decades in the making and costing over $1 billion. Originally budgeted at $500 million, the museum’s cost more than doubled due to delays and escalating expenses. The massive 5-million-square-foot, triangular-themed structure sits about a mile from the Giza pyramids and is now among the largest museums in the world dedicated to a single civilization, chronicling roughly 7,000 years of Egyptian history from prehistory to the end of the Greco-Roman era around 400 A.D.

The museum’s design features a striking 53-foot-high Hanging Obelisk—the only one of its kind in the world—suspended over a glass floor so visitors can view its inscriptions from beneath. Visitors ascend a grand staircase of 108 steps, flanked by colossal statues, to reach the main galleries. GEM houses 12 primary exhibition halls covering nearly 194,000 square feet, with around 100,000 artifacts on display—nearly double initial estimates. Its triangular architecture radiates toward the three main Giza pyramids, maintaining alignment without exceeding their heights, while offering panoramic views. The museum’s construction required significant reshaping of the landscape, including moving 79 million cubic feet of sand over seven months.

Among the museum’s centerpiece displays is a 3,200-year-old statue of King Ramses II, relocated from central Cairo in 2006 to its permanent position near the pyramids. GEM also features the complete collection of King Tutankhamun, with all 5,398 artifacts from his tomb displayed together for the first time since their 1922 discovery. The museum houses the King Khufu’s Boats, 4,500-year-old royal vessels reconstructed for display, which were originally intended for the pharaoh’s journey in the afterlife.

Plans for the GEM date back to 1992, when the government allocated 117 acres for the museum. A massive international design competition launched in 2002 attracted over 2,200 submissions from 103 countries, with the Irish firm Heneghan Peng ultimately winning the project in 2003. Although originally slated to open in 2010, financial crises, political upheaval, the COVID-19 pandemic, and regional conflicts delayed completion.

Egyptian officials hope the museum will boost tourism and the struggling economy, projecting annual attendance of up to 5 million visitors. The opening ceremony is expected to draw an unprecedented number of world leaders and dignitaries, with around 40 heads of state and royalty anticipated among the attendees.