Delays to the GEM

Al-Ahram Weekly

7 days ago

The long-anticipated official opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum has been postponed to later this year
Despite its near completion and its having already hosted several high-profile events after its soft opening to the public in 2023, the official opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), originally scheduled for 3 July, has been postponed in the wake of current regional developments until late in 2025.
Across more than two decades and since its foundation stone was laid in 2002, the GEM's completion and official opening have been hindered by an epidemic, financial crises, political upheavals, and, lately, regional instability.
Plans for the GEM were first unveiled in 1992, when a site was allocated just 2 km from the iconic Giza Pyramids for what would become one of the most ambitious cultural projects in Egypt's modern history.
In 2002, the foundation stone for the GEM project was laid on a prime site overlooking the Pyramids of Giza. That same year, the Egyptian state working with the UN cultural agency UNESCO and the International Union of Architects announced an international architectural competition for the best museum design for the GEM.
The winning proposal came from the Irish architectural firm Heneghan Peng Architects.
Between 2005 and 2010, the site was prepared, and a high-tech conservation centre was built, funded by the Egyptian government. However, following the 2011 Revolution work on the project came to a halt. Construction officially began again in 2012 after a joint venture between Egypt's Orascom Construction Industries and the Belgium BESIX Group was awarded the contract for completion of the GEM's third phase, which included the construction of the museum's main building and landscaping.
In 2014, the project was resumed with the help of a $300 million soft loan provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). In 2015, the concrete shell of the main building was completed.
At the time, the target opening date was 2018, but a series of political and economic challenges caused repeated delays, pushing back the long-awaited inauguration and the construction slowed down. By 2016, only 20 per cent of the museum had been completed.
Another $460 soft loan agreement was then signed between the JICA and the ministries of antiquities and international cooperation to complete the GEM construction work within the scheduled time.
Progress surged, bringing the museum to approximately 95 per cent completion, but the official opening, scheduled in 2020, was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Work continued and the museum saw a soft opening in 2023.
Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli said that the present circumstances in the region called for reconsidering the inauguration's timing to preserve the efforts required to deliver the event at the most opportune moment.
He stressed that the upcoming opening would be a historic and pivotal event for Egypt and the world and therefore must take place under ideal conditions.
In an official statement, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities emphasised that the postponement aligns with Egypt's national responsibility to present an event of global stature and one that reflects the grandeur of ancient Egyptian civilisation and showcases the country's heritage to the world in a manner befitting its international standing.
Despite the delay, the GEM will remain open to visitors as part of its ongoing soft opening phase. The museum has already begun welcoming guests to selected exhibitions, offering a preview of what will become the world's largest archaeological museum dedicated to a single civilisation.
Built on 500,000 square metres, the GEM, with its trapezoidal architectural design and distinguished external walls, offers an enormous panoramic view of the Giza Plateau. It houses objects from ancient Egypt, beginning with prehistory and going up to the early Roman period. Among the objects on display will be the unique treasures of the boy king Tutankhamun, some of which will see the light of day for the first time.
The museum's main galleries offer visitors an unprecedented journey through ancient Egyptian civilisation. With 12 galleries organised into four broad time periods and three thematic pillars of Society, Kingship, and Beliefs, visitors are invited to explore Egyptian history in multiple ways.
The star of the museum will be the Tutankhamun galleries, which will put on show the whole funerary collection of the golden boy-king that consists of 5,537 artefacts.
The Khufu Boats Museum is another attraction of the GEM. Recognised as one of the world's foremost specialised museums, it houses two rare and invaluable artefacts: the first and second boats of King Khufu.
For the first time in history, both royal boats will be showcased side by side within a single exhibition space. The first boat has already been carefully transported from its original location near the Great Pyramid of Giza to the museum, where it has undergone meticulous conservation and preparation in accordance with the highest international museological standards.
The second boat, discovered adjacent to the Great Pyramid, has had all its wooden planks and components successfully extracted. Following an initial phase of restoration, the pieces were transferred to the GEM, where conservation work continues in close collaboration with Japanese experts.
Visitors will be able to witness the reassembly process in real time, as the boat's components are gradually restored and reassembled before their eyes in a distinctive interactive exhibition that brings ancient craftsmanship to life.
Both the Tutankhamun galleries and the Khufu Boats Museum were to be opened following the official inauguration and are not currently accessible.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 19 June, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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