Marrakech – Egypt has officially unveiled the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). One of the most ambitious cultural projects of the 21st century, it is located just a stone’s throw from the ancient Great Pyramid of Khufu in Giza. 

Touted as the world’s largest archaeological museum, the cavernous complex houses around 100,000 artefacts that chart more than seven millennia of Egyptian history, from pre-dynastic times to the Greek and Roman eras.

For many Egyptologists, this launch represents more than a national milestone. They believe the establishment strengthens calls for repatriation of key Egyptian antiquities held overseas, most notably the Rosetta Stone at the British Museum.

A centerpiece of the GEM is the complete collection of treasures from Tutankhamun’s tomb, displayed in full for the first time since its discovery in 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter. 

Among the 5,500 items found with the boy king: the iconic gold death mask, gilded chariots, and ornate throne, now displayed exactly as they appeared over a century ago.

“I wanted to show him differently,” Tarek Tawfik, former head of GEM, told BBC. “Nothing remains in storage. Nothing in other museums. Visitors will experience the tomb just as Carter did.”

With a price tag of $1.2 billion and spanning 500,000 square meters, equivalent to 70 football fields, the museum is expected to draw up to 8 million visitors annually.

This is a critical boost for Egypt’s tourism sector, which has been battered by years from regional instability and global crises.

Though the main flux of visitors will come for Tutankhamun, many other exhibition spaces have been open since last year, including the 4,500-year-old solar boat of Khufu and colossal statues of pharaohs like Ramesses II.

The museum’s architecture is a statement in itself. With its alabaster-clad façade etched in hieroglyphs and a dramatic pyramidal entrance, the GEM blends modern design with reverence for the past. A sweeping staircase lined with statues of ancient rulers leads to a glass wall framing the majestic Giza pyramids.

The colossal 11-meter statue of Ramesses II in the grand atrium has already become a favorite selfie spot.

Originally proposed in 1992 under former President Hosni Mubarak, the GEM has since weathered political upheaval, global economic crises, a pandemic, and regional turmoil. 

Today, as the museum finally opens in full, it stands as a triumph of patience, vision, and cultural stewardship.