In Egypt, the world's most anticipated museum is finally open... mostly

The Star

21-05-2025

I was drawn to the outskirts of Cairo by the colossal complex in the desert – a towering site that arose over decades, built at unimaginable expense, with precisely cut stones sourced from local quarries; a set of buildings whose construction, plagued by extraordinary challenges, spanned the reigns of several rulers; a collective cultural testament, the largest of its kind, teeming with royal history.
No, I'm not referring to Giza's famous pyramids. I came to see the Grand Egyptian Museum.
There is perhaps no institution on Earth whose opening has been as wildly anticipated, or as mind-bogglingly delayed, as the Grand Egyptian Museum outside Cairo. Its construction has been such a fiasco – mired by funding lapses, logistical hurdles, a pandemic, nearby wars, revolutions (yes, plural) – that it begs comparison to that of the pyramids that lie just over a mile away on the Giza Plateau.
(The 4,600-year-old Great Pyramid of Giza, built from around 2.3 million stone blocks and without the use of wheels, pulleys or iron tools, took 25 years to build, by some estimates. So far, the Grand Egyptian Museum has taken more than 20.)
Visitors in the Grand Hall of the museum, where a colossal statue of Ramses II – moved from downtown Cairo in 2006 – now stands.
Planned openings have come and gone since 2012. (Even The New York Times got it wrong; its list of 52 Places To Go in 2020 prematurely referred to the 'fancy new digs for King Tut and company.')
In time, frustrations bubbled over for would-be visitors, many of whom had planned vacations around the new museum.
The wait is now over. Well, mostly.
Visitors take in the ancient pyramids of Giza, framed through a set of windows at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt, in February 2025. The Grand Egyptian Museum, outside Cairo, has been delayed by revolutions, wars, financial crises and a pandemic. (Stephen Hiltner/The New York Times)
When I visited in mid-February, 11 of the 12 main exhibition galleries were open, along with the cavernous entrance hall and a broad staircase strewn with dozens of artefacts.
But arguably the museum's biggest draw, the Tutankhamen galleries, which will showcase more than 5,000 artefacts from the boy king's tomb, remained closed.
(For now, Tutankhamen's gold funeral mask, among the most iconic archaeological artefacts in the world, is still on display at the old Egyptian Museum in Cairo's Tahrir Square.)
A collection of ushabti, the figurines left as servants for the dead, on display at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt, in February 2025. Summarizing the exhibition halls would be a thankless task — and besides, the joy of visiting any vast museum is uncovering the peculiar selection of items that stands out to you alone. (Stephen Hiltner/The New York Times)
Also inaccessible was a separate annex that will showcase two royal boats discovered near the Great Pyramid in 1954.
Those portions of the museum are expected to open this summer, with an official ceremony scheduled for July 3. (You might take that date with a grain or two of salt.)
Still, even the museum's incomplete offerings – along with the building itself and its billion-dollar views – are staggering.
A limestone statue of the pharaoh Djoser on display at the old Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square in Cairo.
Entering the main hall, I was struck by both the scale of the structure and the textural allure of its surfaces.
Just inside the pyramidal entryway (the motifs aren't exactly subtle), I was greeted by one of the museum's many showstoppers: a 3,200-year-old statue of Ramses II, widely regarded as the most powerful of ancient Egypt's pharaohs, that stands about 10m tall and weighs more than 80 tonnes.
The red-granite figure has a fabled modern history: It was found – lying on its side, broken into six pieces – by an Italian Egyptologist in 1820; in 1954 it was installed at a traffic circle in downtown Cairo, where it stood for half a century before being painstakingly transported to the new museum site in 2006.
The innermost coffin of Tutankhamen, currently displayed at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, will soon be part of the complete collection exhibited at the museum.
From the atrium I ascended the Grand Staircase, first via a long escalator and then again on foot, having returned to the bottom for a closer look at the dozens of large-scale statues, columns and sarcophagi that line the ascent.
Atop the stairs was another breathtaking surprise: an unobstructed view of the Giza pyramids, perfectly framed in a set of floor-to-ceiling windows.
I stood before the windows, helplessly transfixed, for the better part of an hour. If there's a better human-made view on the planet, I've yet to take it in.
A painted limestone statue of Meryre, an Egyptian high priest, and his wife, Iniuia, on display at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt, in February 2025. Billed as the largest archaeological museum in the world, as well as the largest museum devoted to a single civilization, it was initially proposed by Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's longtime authoritarian president, who announced his plans for a new flagship institution in 1992. (Stephen Hiltner/The New York Times)
From the top of the stairs I entered the first of the museum's 12 main galleries, which are organised both chronologically and by theme, spanning from prehistory to the Roman era.
The arrival of the Grand Egyptian Museum establishes a trio of must-see museums in and around Cairo. In Tahrir Square stands the oldest: the Egyptian Museum, a beautiful beaux-arts building that for more than a ­century has showcased one of the world's great collections of antiquities.
(Largely unmodernised, the museum has transferred, and will continue transferring, many of its most prized items to Giza, prompting concerns about its future.)
Hieroglyphic motifs and translucent stone adorn the exterior of the museum.
Also in the mix is the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation, another landmark that fully opened in 2021 and whose main draw is its haunting collection of royal mummies. All three are worthy of extended visits.
In many respects, the Grand Egyptian Museum now stands alone. Billed as the largest archaeological museum in the world, as well as the largest museum devoted to a single civilisation, it was initially proposed by Hosni Mubarak, Egypt's longtime authoritarian president, who announced his plans for a new flagship institution in 1992.
A ceremonial foundation stone was laid 10 years later, and Dublin-based Heneghan Peng Architects won a competition to design the building in 2003. Construction began in 2005.
A golden figure that dates to around the Naqada III period, about 5,000 years ago, made with lapis lazuli inlays around the eyes, on display at the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt, in February 2025. The Grand Egyptian Museum, outside Cairo, has been delayed by revolutions, wars, financial crises and a pandemic. (Stephen Hiltner/The New York Times)
Then came the long series of spectacular setbacks: the 2008 global economic crisis, the Arab Spring (and the subsequent decimation of Egypt's tourism industry), the pandemic, and wars in the Gaza Strip and Sudan. Over time, excitement for the museum was eclipsed by coverage of its postponement.
But I doubt the epic delays will get the spotlight for much longer.
If my experience is any indication, then all it takes to overlook the long wait is a leisurely stroll through the museum's timeless collection – and an extended gaze from the top of its staircase. – By STEPHEN HILTNER/©2025 The New York Times Company