The museum houses the world's largest archaeological collection, and we were among the first inside
After more than a decade of delays and much anticipation, the Grand Egyptian Museum has opened its 12 main galleries. 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 artefacts 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 11-metre-high, 83-tonne, 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 artefact 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, before finally, with only a week's notice, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced the main galleries would open for a "trial run" from 16 October.
Billed as the world's largest archaeological museum dedicated to a single civilisation, the Grand Egyptian Museum holds more than 50,000 artefacts. These include the full Tutankhamun collection of about 5,300 items, another 30,000 in temporary rotating exhibitions and the 15,000 artefacts that are now on display in the newly opened main galleries.
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 9am to 3pm. However, 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 takes 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, before turning into the main galleries.
The galleries are organised 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 covers the three themes of Society, Kingship and Beliefs.