Egypt: The Grand Egyptian Museum will finally be fully open on November 1st.
It is intended to be the world's largest archaeological museum, but for a long time, visitors couldn't see this for themselves. The official opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Egypt has been repeatedly postponed for years. That has now come to an end.
After the planned opening on July 3, 2025, was postponed – due to the Iran-Iraq War – it was finally opened with a ceremony on November 1, 2025. It will be open to the public from November 4th.
The story of the GEM began over 30 years ago. In 2002, the Egyptian government announced a global competition for the design of the complex. Construction began in 2005, right next to the Pyramids of Giza. Work on the museum came to a standstill for several years, partly due to the Arab Spring. When the country stabilized again in 2014, work resumed. Then came the economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Following the grand opening on November 1st with politicians and celebrities, the Grand Egyptian Museum will be open to the general public from November 4th, 2025. Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly described it as an "outstanding international event." Visitors will then finally be able to see all of the more than 100,000 objects in the collection.
Previously, those interested had to make do with only around 15,000 archaeological artifacts from prehistory to the Roman period. Since mid-October 2024, at least the main hall, the outdoor areas, and twelve galleries have been open to visitors.
The opening hours of the Grand Egyptian Museum vary depending on which section you plan to visit and on which day. All information and tickets for the exhibition can be purchased on the museum's website . The cheapest tickets cost around €14 for adults; children pay less.
The museum's dimensions are enormous: its total area is equivalent to almost 70 football fields. Among the highlights of the exhibits will be the twelve-meter-high statue of Ramses II and the 42-meter-long, over 4,000-year-old solar barque of Pharaoh Khufu. In total, the museum houses more than 100,000 artifacts from Pharaonic, Greek, and Roman antiquity.
The tomb collection of the famous Pharaoh Tutankhamun will also be made fully accessible to the world for the first time. This alone is planned to occupy approximately 7,000 square meters of the exhibition space.
Even though countless relics of ancient Egypt have already been found, archaeologists continue to stumble upon new ancient treasures. As reported by "Der Spiegel ," a four-meter-high fragment of a pharaoh's sculpture was discovered last year.
This is believed to be the upper part of a statue of Ramses the Great, the third pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty, who ruled ancient Egypt between 1279 and 1213 BC. The lower part may have been discovered as early as 1930 by the German archaeologist Günther Roeder. The white limestone block was unearthed south of the city of al-Minya, almost exactly halfway between Cairo and Luxor.
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