27.02.2025 15:10
The Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo is opening its doors to visitors after a 20-year wait. The museum houses over 100,000 artifacts, including the 'cursed' golden mask and sarcophagus of King Tutankhamun, within an area of 500,000 square meters. This particularly makes it the largest museum in the world dedicated to ancient Egypt.
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The mega museum that will host the world's most valuable archaeological finds will finally open its doors to visitors after more than twenty years of waiting.
The Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo will host more than 100,000 artifacts, including the "cursed" iconic golden mask and sarcophagus of King Tutankhamun.
The museum impressively covers an area of 500,000 square meters, making it the largest museum in the world dedicated to a single civilization - ancient Egypt.
Visitors will enter the museum through a magnificent marble arch and will be greeted by the impressive 83-ton statue of Ramses II, dating back 3200 years.
They will then ascend the grand staircase, passing by an impressive exhibition of statues of ancient kings and gods.
From there, they will see the stunning view of the pyramids just a mile away.
The museum has twelve galleries containing artworks spanning more than 3000 years.
Visitors will also be able to see the dazzling treasures of Queen Hetepheres, the mother of the builder of the Great Pyramid, including her marble sarcophagus, furniture, and jewelry, as well as King Khufu's magnificent cedar boat.
Construction of the site began in 2005 but was halted during the Arab Spring in 2011.
Work resumed in 2014, and a decade later, the museum is finally opening.
The project cost $1.3 billion, but it is hoped to revitalize the Egyptian economy by attracting tourists from around the world.
The Tutankhamun collection is currently located in the old Egyptian museum in downtown Cairo but will be moved before the opening in July.
Tutankhamun's body will remain in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor.
The tomb was discovered in 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter after a seven-year search.
The discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb is associated with a dark curse.
After the remains of Tutankhamun were uncovered, various individuals connected to the discovery died under mysterious circumstances.
Among them was Lord Carnarvon, the financial backer of the excavation team, who died from an infected mosquito bite.
Sir Archibald Douglas-Reid, who X-rayed the pharaoh's remains, died from a mysterious illness.
Carter himself died in 1939 at the age of 64 from Hodgkin's disease.
Until last week, no royal tomb had been discovered since King Tutankhamun's, until archaeologists discovered the burial site of Thutmose II.
The king's mummified remains had been found two centuries ago, but his tomb had never been located.
The entrance and main passage of the tomb were first discovered in 2022, but ongoing excavations found evidence linking it to the pharaoh.
Vase fragments inscribed with the pharaoh's name were found, and Thutmose II was identified as the "dead king."
Additionally, sections of a religious text placed in the kings' tomb, along with blue paint and yellow stars, were also found.
Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt, described this discovery as "one of the most important archaeological finds in recent years."
Thutmose II was the fourth pharaoh of Egypt's 18th Dynasty and is believed to have reigned from around 1493 BC to 1479 BC. He died at the age of 30.
Thutmose II was married to Queen Hatshepsut, who is remembered as a powerful female pharaoh.
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