After over 20 years of construction, the Grand Egyptian Museum opened its main halls on Wednesday.
The halls showcase various aspects of ancient Egyptian life.
Located on a 120-acre site near the pyramids of Giza, the museum will display more than 100,000 objects, including treasures from the tomb of King Tutankhamun.
King Tut’s priceless collection has yet to be displayed, but visitors can now see objects ranging from pharaonic statues to sarcophagi and mummified bodies.
Functional issues of Grand Egyptian Museum
The Egyptian Museum cost more than $1 billion. It was originally scheduled to open in 2012, but budget issues, political unrest and the pandemic delayed the process.
The trial run, which begins today (Wednesday), will help prepare for the full opening by identifying operational issues, including parts of the museum that may attract excessive numbers of visitors.
Limited tours
Beginning in 2022, limited tours of parts of the site will be allowed to test the visitor experience and the museum’s operational readiness.
A Canadian tourist, Aude Porcedde visited parts of the museum and told AP she was surprised by it, adding that Egyptian culture is important to her and that people should know more about it.
“There’s a lot of history and a lot of things we don’t know, especially coming from the other side of the world, and seeing everything here and learning from the locals was great,” said Costa Rican tourist Jorge Licano.
Layout of the museum
The grand staircase, six floors overlooking the pyramids, and the commercial area are open to the public, with monuments and artifacts including sarcophagi and statues.
Other parts of the museum, including King Tutankhamun’s treasure collection, will open later.
The periods displayed in the main galleries include the Third Intermediate Period (c. 1070-664 B.C.), the Late Period (664-332 B.C.), the Greco-Roman Period (332 B.C.-395 A.D.), the New Kingdom (1550-1070 B.C.), the Middle Kingdom (2030-1650 B.C.), and the Old Kingdom (2649-2130 B.C.). One of the halls contains statues of the “Royal Elite,” members of the royal family and high-ranking officials who served in priesthood, and government.
The halls of Advanced Technology
The exhibits in the 12 halls cover topics related to society, religion and doctrine in ancient Egypt. The open-air halls are arranged by dynasty and historical order and will display thousands of objects.
All halls are equipped with advanced technology and feature multimedia presentations to explain the lives of ancient Egyptians, including kings, according to Eissa Zidan, general director of preliminary restoration and antiquities transfer at the museum.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that according to CNN, one of the rooms will use virtual reality to explain the history of burial and its evolution in ancient Egypt.
