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Thousands of years have passed since the pharaohs exercised their power in Ancient Egypt, but the magic and mystery that this land reveals has not disappeared.
Advanced in their time, the Egyptians of that time had extensive mathematical knowledge with which they created great constructions as well as medicinal and anatomical knowledge with which they could preserve corpses against the passage of time. In this way, they left us a great legacy (temples, sphinxes, pyramids, tombs) from which we can learn what culture and life was like in ancient times in this area of the Mediterranean.
Until now, a good part of the treasures of ancient Egypt could be seen in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which contained more than 120.000 objects classified between statues, paintings, vessels, furniture or funerary objects. But this museum had become too small for all that Egypt has to show. Thus, In 2018, the Grand Egyptian Museum will be inaugurated, which will become the largest archaeological museum in the world.
Why a new Egyptian Museum?
Inaugurated in 1902, the ancient Egyptian Museum in Cairo was the historical center for the exhibition of Egyptian culture and the pharaohs. However, saturation and lack of space made it necessary to have a new place due to the impossibility of expanding this museum, considered an architectural gem of the late XNUMXth century that was designed by Marcel Dourgnon.
A decade ago, the government decided to build a new facility to house all the pieces that until now it has been forced to keep in warehouses or to display them in disarray, since the old Egyptian Museum only had space for 12.000 objects and currently has a collection which exceeds 150.000.
What will the new museum be like?
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The Great Egyptian Museum was conceived in 2010 by the Irish firm Heneghan Peng Architects, after an international competition in which 83 countries participated. In 2011 the Arab Spring delayed the works and it was in 2013 when they began to build this great museum that will have a total area of 224 thousand square meters.
The Great Egyptian Museum will occupy an area of about 50 hectares and will be located two kilometers west of the Giza necropolis and close to the city of Cairo. It will be shaped like a beveled triangle and the front façade of the museum is made of translucent alabaster stone that will be transformed during the day. The main entrance will feature several Egyptian statues.
As for the exhibition space of the Great Egyptian Museum, it will have about 93.000 m2 and will be divided into three large galleries with glass walls and beautiful views of the pyramids.
This new museum will house a collection of more than 100.000 objects but will not only have a space for exhibitions but will also have restaurants, cafeterias, storage and archive rooms, a children's museum, conference rooms, auxiliary buildings and a beautiful botanical garden that will be inspired by the time of the pharaohs.
Likewise, the Great Egyptian Museum will also house the largest conservation and restoration center in the world. Almost 20 laboratories will carry out research work on the 50.000 unexposed pieces that will remain in warehouses and will be accessible to researchers and academics from all over the world.
The Egyptian authorities expect to receive the visit of some five million people a year in the Grand Egyptian Museum with a daily average of 10.000 people.
What will be shown at the opening?
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On the occasion of the inauguration of the Great Egyptian Museum, more than 4.500 pieces of the Neb-jeperu-Ra Tut-anj-Amun grave goods will be displayed to the public. Two-thirds of them for the first time since Howard Carter discovered in 1922 the tomb of the pharaoh known as Tutankhamun. A part of the pieces will be transferred from dozens of warehouses scattered throughout the country and from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square in Cairo, which currently houses the mask of the child pharaoh.
This monarch ruled between 1336 and 1327 BC. C. and died very young due to a leg infection at the age of 19. As was tradition, he was buried with his most precious treasures for the afterlife.
With this exhibition, the Great Egyptian Museum wants to show the lifestyle of this pharaoh in ancient Thebes (Luxor) and what was the clothing, footwear, food or leisure of those times. Without a doubt, a good claim to attract the interest of tourists and scholars from all over the planet.
However, Egypt has so many treasures that after the opening of this great building, the museum will continue to show the majesty of that civilization through other exhibits.
Would you like to visit the Great Egyptian Museum in the future?