We are writing a new chapter for both the present and the future, said Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in a speech to the royals and heads of government present.
Construction of the Grand Egyptian Museum began in earnest in 2005 on the Giza Plateau outside Cairo, with the famous pyramids as a backdrop. The project has since been delayed due to political and economic unrest, and was suspended during the Arab Spring of 2011.
After being completed in 2023, and secretly opened in 2024, the museum was formally inaugurated on Saturday with dancers in pharaonic outfits, a drone-controlled laser show and fireworks.
"It is a living reminder of the genius of the Egyptian people," al-Sisi said of the institution.
The museum replaces the cluttered, cramped and outdated Egyptian Museum in Cairo. With over 100,000 objects, half of which are on display, it houses the world's largest collection linked to a single civilization. The exhibition space is 24,000 square meters.
Behind the pyramid-like glass facade, visitors in the central light courtyard are greeted by an 83-ton statue of Pharaoh Ramses II, who ruled for 66 years in the 13th century BC.
Another promised highlight is an ongoing restoration of a boat over 4,500 years old – a so-called sun ship that was supposed to carry the soul of Pharaoh Cheops to the afterlife.
Perhaps the most magnificent is the collection from the tomb of the boy king Tutankhamun. The approximately 5,000 objects are being exhibited in their entirety for the first time since their discovery in 1922.
The Egyptian authorities see the museum as an injection into the country's important tourism industry and part of the effort to boost the economy. Expectations are for five million visitors to the museum annually. In total, they hope for eighteen million tourists this year.
