Egypt opens more galleries in long-awaited antiquities museum

Egypt opened a series of galleries to the public on Tuesday in its flagship new museum, but the glittering King Tutankhamun collection and solar boats buried by the Pyramid of Khufu are yet to be unveiled, pending a long-delayed grand inauguration.

More than 20 years under construction, the sprawling Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) next to the pyramids of Giza was initially scheduled to open in 2012 but the launch was repeatedly pushed back due to cost overruns and political tumult.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly last week announced a "trial opening" ahead of a formal inauguration. Egyptian officials say many world leaders have expressed interest in attending the official opening but have not indicated when this will occur.

The museum's main entrance hall with its stairway of Pharaonic statues and an annex for commercial shopping opened to the public in February 2023.

Tourists walk in front of Pharaonic statues displayed at the Grand Staircase of the Grand Egyptian Museum during a partial trial in Giza, Egypt on October 15, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)

Ali Abu Dshish, a member of the Egyptian Archaeologists Union who attended Tuesday's opening of almost a dozen galleries, said the trial operation of the vast museum was evidence Egypt now had the space to exhibit its antiquities, including those being returned by Western states and museums.

It's an "important message that we can recover our antiquities, which are spread across various countries in the world," he said.

A tourist sits beside Pharaonic statues displayed at the Grand Staircase of the Grand Egyptian Museum during a partial trial in Giza, Egypt on October 15, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany)

Visiting Russian tourist Kseniia Muse said: "We are so happy to be here, to have visited these beautiful sculptures... It is very modern and at the same time you can touch the ancient."

Tourism is an important source of foreign currency revenue for Egypt. The government has been trying to increase tourist numbers after facing a long foreign currency shortage exacerbated by external shocks.

Until now, Egypt's most famous collections have been housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo's Tahrir Square, largely unmodernised and unrenovated since opening in 1902.