Latest news with #EgyptianMuseum
Egypt Independent
a day ago
- Egypt Independent
Tourism Ministry denies confirming November 4 as opening date for Grand Egyptian Museum
The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has denied reports claiming that November 4 was officially set as the opening date for the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). It explained that the official opening date of the GEM will be announced in due course through official channels. The ministry urged media outlets to verify the accuracy of published information and to refer to official sources before circulating any news related to this important event, which has received widespread local and international attention. The Ministry of Tourism announced in a statement that the official opening of GEM, which was scheduled for July 3, has been postponed 'Out of the Egyptian state's national responsibility and its commitment to presenting an exceptional global event in an atmosphere befitting the greatness of Egyptian civilization and its unique heritage, ensuring broad international participation commensurate with the significance of the event.' The statement noted that a new date for the museum's official opening will be set during the last quarter of this year, to be announced in due course, after coordination with all relevant authorities to ensure the organization of an event befitting Egypt's tourism and cultural standing on the international stage. The GEM is one of the world's most important cultural projects. Located just minutes from the Giza Pyramids, it houses more than 100,000 artifacts from various eras. It is designed to be the largest museum in the world housing artifacts from a single civilization. Egypt aims to attract three million tourists upon its opening.
Al-Ahram Weekly
3 days ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Egyptian Museum trains archaeology students, offers free local tours - Ancient Egypt
The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir has launched a summer training programme for university students specializing in archaeology, tour guiding, and history. The initiative provides hands-on experience in museum operations, heritage management, artefact display, and documentation. Running alongside the programme is a community outreach initiative offering free guided tours for Egyptian visitors, led by volunteers from the Friends of the Egyptian Museum group. The aim is to enrich local cultural engagement during the summer. The training is part of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities' strategy to bridge academic education with the practical needs of Egypt's tourism and cultural sectors. Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy emphasized the importance of investing in youth to build a skilled heritage workforce. 'This initiative aligns with our vision to cultivate a skilled workforce capable of responding to the practical demands of the tourism sector and contributing meaningfully to the preservation of our national heritage,' he said. Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, described the programme as part of the Council's broader mandate to build human capacity and promote social responsibility. 'This initiative offers students an interactive and immersive educational environment that fosters both professional development and a deeper sense of national identity,' he noted. Ali Abdel Halim, Director General of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, stated that students will receive comprehensive training in exhibition curation, artefact classification, conservation, restoration, documentation, and museum administration. Experienced curators and conservators deliver the programme. The Friends of the Egyptian Museum initiative continues to offer free guided tours throughout the summer, in a bid to improve public appreciation of heritage and access to educational museum resources. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Kuwait Times
16-07-2025
- Business
- Kuwait Times
Egypt grand museum delay puts tourism hopes on hold
In the shadow of the Grand Egyptian Museum, souvenir shop owner Mona has been readying for the tourist boom she hoped the long-awaited opening would bring - now once again out of reach. 'I had bet everything on this opening,' she told AFP from her shop, just steps from the iconic pyramids of Giza, which the much-anticipated museum overlooks. Originally scheduled to fully open this month, the museum was expected to attract up to five million visitors annually, fuelling optimism across Cairo's battered tourism sector. 'We planned our entire summer and fall packages around the museum opening,' said Nadine Ahmed, a 28-year-old agent with Time Travel tours. 'But with group cancellations, refunds and route changes, we've lost tens of thousands of dollars.' Though parts of the museum have been open for months, the main draw - the treasures of Tutankhamun - will remain under wraps until the official launch. Less than three weeks before its July 3 opening, the government announced another delay, this time pushing the landmark event to the final quarter of the year. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly cited regional security concerns and the desire to host an event of 'global scale'. Visitors tour the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza on the southwestern outskirts of the capital Cairo following a partial opening in October.--AFP photos Visitors walk next the 3,200-year-old pink-granite colossal statue of King Ramses II at the entrance of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), in Giza on the southwestern outskirts of the capital Cairo. A visitor takes pictures of the eight-metre tall colossal statues of the ancient Egyptian king Amenhotep III (1391–1353 BC) -- father of Amenhotep IV or Akhenaten and believed to be the grandfather of Tutankhamun -- and his consort queen Tiye, at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo's central Tahrir Square. A man approaches the main entrance of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo's central Tahrir Square. Tourists visit a papyrus shop near the Great Pyramids plateau in Giza, south of Cairo. A tourist visits Philae Jewellery Bazaar shop near the Great Pyramids plateau in Giza, south of Cairo. Visitors tour the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza on the southwestern outskirts of the capital Cairo. Decades in the making The vast museum, two decades in the making, has faced repeated delays - from political upheaval and economic crises to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ahead of the expected launch, Mona, who asked to be identified by her first name only, took out a loan to renovate her store and stock up on goods inspired by the museum's collection. A few streets away, Mohamed Mamdouh Khattab, 38, prepared months in advance, hiring and training extra staff and expanding his inventory. 'The opening of the museum is a key milestone,' said Khattab, who owns a sprawling bazaar of handcrafted jewellery and ancient replicas. 'It's a project that should have been launched a long time ago,' said the vendor, whose family has been in the industry since the 1970s. Tourism accounts for about 10 percent of Egypt's workforce, but the sector has struggled - from the fallout of the 2011 Arab Spring to militant attacks and the Covid shutdown. Still, signs of recovery have emerged: Egypt welcomed 3.9 million tourists in the first quarter of 2025, up 25 percent from the same period last year - itself a record. Fragility At a Giza papyrus workshop, 30-year-old tour guide Sara Mahmoud hopes the opening will revive visitor numbers. 'Big openings have brought a lot of tourism to Egypt before,' she said, pointing to the 2021 Pharaohs' Golden Parade and the reopening of the Avenue of the Sphinxes. 'These events get people excited - we saw the crowds coming in.' Such momentum could make a real difference, said Ragui Assaad, an economist at the University of Minnesota. 'Any initiative that directly increases foreign exchange earnings is likely to have a good return on investment,' he told AFP. 'If you compare it with all the other mega-projects, which do not increase foreign exchange earnings... this is a far better project.' He was referring to a sweeping infrastructure drive under President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, including the construction of a massive new administrative capital east of Cairo. The stakes are high: since 2022, Egypt's currency has lost two-thirds of its value, squeezing household budgets and straining every layer of the economy. 'There were days when I sold just one bracelet,' Mona lamented, thinking back to the years when 'tourists arrived in droves'. — AFP
The Sun
10-07-2025
- Science
- The Sun
Egyptian conservators restore King Tut treasures for Grand Egyptian Museum
GIZA PLATEAU: For over a decade, a team of Egyptian conservators has worked meticulously to restore thousands of artefacts belonging to King Tutankhamun, preparing them for display at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). The $1 billion museum, set to open later this year, will be the world's largest archaeological museum dedicated to a single civilisation. Among the conservators is Eid Mertah, 36, who once dreamed of holding King Tut's golden mask as a child. Now, he carefully brushes dust off gilded shrines he once only saw in textbooks. 'I studied archaeology because of Tut,' Mertah said. 'It was my dream to work on his treasures—and that dream came true.' The museum will house over 100,000 artefacts, with more than half on public display. A unique feature will be a live conservation lab where visitors can watch experts restore a 4,500-year-old boat intended for Pharaoh Khufu's afterlife journey. King Tut's collection, including his golden mask, gilded coffins, and ceremonial chariots, remains the highlight. Many items have not been restored since their discovery by Howard Carter in 1922. Early conservation methods, such as wax coatings, preserved the artefacts but obscured details over time. Conservator Hind Bayoumi, 39, spent months removing wax applied by British chemist Alfred Lucas. 'It preserved the objects at the time,' she said, 'but it then hid the very details we want the world to see.' The restoration is a joint effort between Egypt and Japan, which provided $800 million in loans and technical support. Egyptian conservators, trained by Japanese experts, work across 19 specialised labs. One of the most challenging tasks was reassembling Tut's gilded coffin. Conservator Fatma Magdy, 34, described it as 'solving a giant puzzle,' using magnifying lenses and archival photos to align delicate gold sheets. Before restoration, artefacts were retrieved from multiple sites, including the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square and Luxor Museum. Teams conducted X-ray analysis and material testing to assess each item's condition. Fragile pieces were stabilised with Japanese tissue paper and reversible adhesives. Mohamed Moustafa, 36, a senior restorer, emphasised restraint in conservation. 'The goal is always to do the least amount necessary—and to respect the object's history,' he said. For the conservators, the process has been deeply personal. 'When visitors walk through the museum, they'll see the beauty of these artefacts,' Moustafa said. 'But for us, every piece is a reminder of the endless working hours, the debates, the training. Every piece tells a story.' - AFP
Time Out
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Ancient Egyptian treasures are coming to Hong Kong in this special exhibition
Who has read the gold foil-covered Egyptology book, watched The Mummy films too much as a child, and has been obsessed with ancient Egypt ever since? Yeah, same here. If the Egyptian section of museums has always been your favourite, then you can look forward to this special exhibition on treasures from ancient Egypt that's coming to Hong Kong this year! From mid-November onwards, the Hong Kong Palace Museum will host the 'Ancient Egypt Unveiled: Treasures from Egyptian Museums' exhibition. Our museum has signed an agreement with the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt to bring 250 priceless artefacts from seven major museums in Egypt, including the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the Luxor Museum of the Ancient Egyptian Art, the Suez National Museum, and the Sohag National Museum. There will also be recent discoveries from Saqqara, a royal burial ground and the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital Memphis, that will be on display. Visitors can expect to see statues of pharaohs and deities, gold ornaments, stone sculptures, large-scale coffins and sarcophagi, animal mummies, and more, dating from up to 7,300 years ago and representing over 5,000 years of history from this ancient civilisation. All of the artefacts in this exhibition are on display in Hong Kong for the first time, and many of them have never even been shown outside Egypt before, so it's sure to be a feast for any history buff. Among the four themed sections, don't miss the monumental stature of the legendary boy pharaoh Tutankhamun measuring over 2.8 metres tall; a statue of the cat-headed goddess Bastet; and a colossal statue of Akhenaten, Tutankhamun's father and the ruler famous for trying to unite the worship of Egypt's multiple gods under one solar deity Aten. 'Ancient Egypt Unveiled: Treasures from Egyptian Museums' will run for an unprecedented nine and a half months from mid-November. Ticketing details and accompanying events like performances and workshops will be announced in August.
