Egypt presents a cultural mega-project that took two decades to build

Egypt opens the Grand Egyptian Museum on Saturday, the largest archaeological museum dedicated to a single civilization. According to the Guardian, it is located less than a kilometer from the Pyramids of Giza, and the billion-dollar construction took nearly 20 years to complete.

Covering an area of 470,000 square meters, it houses more than 50,000 exhibits, including the colossus of Ramses II and the 4,500-year-old ship of Cheops. It is equipped with state-of-the-art technology and also offers mixed reality for the younger generation of visitors.

The complex includes exhibition halls, a children's museum, educational centers, and rooms for monument preservation. Many exhibits were brought here from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

In recent weeks, the country has mourned the loss of two stolen artifacts, including a three-thousand-year-old golden pharaoh's bracelet that was stolen from the conservation laboratory of the museum in Cairo.

The museum is intended to be not only a cultural attraction but also an investment in tourism. In 2024, a record-breaking 15.7 million tourists visited Egypt, and the government has set a goal of attracting twice that number by 2032.

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