Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, the Egyptian Prime Minister, announced that the Grand Egyptian Museum will be officially opened in 2025.
The idea of establishing the Grand Egyptian Museum began in the nineties of the last century, and in 2002 the foundation stone was laid for the museum project, which was decided to be built in a distinguished location overlooking the immortal Giza Pyramids.
The Egyptian state, under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Union of Architects, announced an international architectural competition for the best design for the museum.
The design submitted by Heneghan Peng Architects in Ireland won the competition.
The design was based on the sun’s rays extending from the tops of the three pyramids when they meet to represent a conical mass, which is the Grand Egyptian Museum.
The construction of the museum project actually began in May 2005, where the site was paved and prepared, and in 2006, the largest center for the restoration of antiquities in the Middle East was established, dedicated to the restoration, preservation, maintenance and rehabilitation of the antiquities scheduled to be displayed in the museum halls.
The construction of the museum building was completed in 2021, and its area is more than 300 thousand square meters, to include a number of exhibition halls, each of which is larger than many current museums in Egypt and the world.
The museum contains a large number of distinctive and unique antiquities, including the treasures of the golden king Tutankhamun, which are being displayed for the first time in full since the discovery of his tomb in November 1922.
It also houses the collection of Queen Hetepheres, the mother of King Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, as well as the Museum of King Khufu’s boats, in addition to various antiquities dating from the pre-dynastic era to the Greek and Roman eras.
It does not stop there, but the Grand Egyptian Museum includes places for cultural activities and events such as a children’s museum, an educational center, temporary exhibition halls, a cinema, a conference center, as well as many commercial areas that include shops, cafes and restaurants, in addition to gardens and parks.
The opening date has been delayed several times, especially with the Corona pandemic, which severely affected the completion of the rehabilitation of the Grand Museum to receive visitors.
The genius of the design
The facade of the museum was designed in the form of triangles, each of which is divided into smaller triangles in a symbolic frame of the pyramids, according to a Polish mathematical theory that talks about the infinite division of the triangle shape.
The design of the Grand Egyptian Museum was designed to be dazzling for anyone who stands in front of it or sees it from the sky, as when standing in front of it, the pyramids can be seen with ease as it does not obstruct the view, and if you look at it from above from an airplane, you will see that it represents the “fourth pyramid.”
