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Cairo (AFP)
Egypt held the official inauguration of the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) near the Pyramids on Saturday, in a lavish ceremony with dancers and stars wearing colourful and golden pharaonic costumes.
In addition to the dancers, the ceremony saw a large orchestra and opera singers, while drones formed pictures of ancient figures above. The Pyramids, in the background, were illuminated with colourful lights, and fireworks were launched over the museum.
"I welcome you to your second home, Egypt, the land of civilization and history, peace and love," Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said during the opening ceremony.
First look inside #Egypt's #GrandEgyptianMuseum, its #treasures on opening night
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"I invite you to make this museum a platform for dialogue, a destination for knowledge and a meeting place for humanity," he added.
Drones also carried banners reading "Welcome to the land of peace" flying in front of the pyramids.
Saturday's inauguration comes nearly a decade after it was originally planned, due to economic crises, political upheavals, regional conflicts and the coronavirus pandemic.
Deemed the world's largest museum dedicated to the ancient Egyptian civilization, GEM showcases more than 100,000 ancient pieces spanning from the prehistoric era around 5,000 BC to the Roman period around 400 AD.
President of #Egypt opens #GrandEgyptianMuseum, calls it 'new chapter in history'
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Some 80 official delegations attended the opening, including 39 world leaders, the authorities said.
The government declared Saturday a public holiday, and the evening ceremony was expected to be broadcast on large public screens nationwide.
GEM has permanent exhibition halls, a children's museum, conference halls and an educational centre spread over 24,000 square meters.
The 5,000-piece complete collection of King Tutankhamun, discovered in 1922, will be displayed for the first time together in one place, including the boy king's iconic golden mask.
The museum also houses the massive 3,000-year-old statue of King Ramses I. The
11.3-metre-long statue, which weighs more than 80 metric tons, was relocated to the grand hall in 2018 while the museum was still under construction.
Another highlight is the 42-metre-long solar boat of King Khufu, or Cheops, unearthed in 1954.
First revealed in the early 1990s, GEM's foundation stone was laid in 2002 near the Pyramids and the Sphinx; Construction began in 2005.
The $1-billion project aimed to offer visitors more space as the museum situated in central Cairo's Tahrir Square was overcrowded with artefacts that were not properly displayed.
After its completion, the official inauguration was postponed several times. Most recently it was moved from July to November.
Many halls have been accessible to the public for almost two years, but the entire museum has been closed since mid-October for preparations ahead of Saturday's ceremony.
GEM is scheduled to reopen on November 4.
"Despite many obstacles, Egypt has finished a project that has been the dream of many people. We have finalised the largest museum in the world dedicated to one civilization," Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy said ahead of the opening.
He expects 5 million people to visit the museum yearly. Right now, around 5,000 people visit the museum per day, he said, expecting the number to reach 15,000.
Egypt hopes the official inauguration will boost its tourism industry - a main source of national income.
In the first six months of 2025, Egypt registered 8.7 million visitors, a 22% increase over the same period in 2024. The tourism minister said 18 million visitors are expected by the end of the year.
