Did you know that the Pyramids of Giza, the only standing Ancient Wonder of the World, has been quietly undergoing a serious facelift over the past three decades?
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Back in 1992, Egyptian authorities announced their megalithic plans: to create a place to showcase thousands of years of Ancient Egyptian history in a larger-than-life museum that would stand on par with the pyramids themselves.
Not too shabby for the Grand Egyptian Museum, eh?
Since the foundation was laid 23 years ago, progress on the Grand Egyptian Museum has paused multiple times—thanks to factors ranging from the 2011Arab Spring to COVID. On Saturday, November 2, it finally opened its doors to the public to celebrate ancient Egypt, the ongoing contributions of contemporary Egyptians, and humanity’s achievements as a whole.
As the celebrations took place, drones flew overhead to write the message, Welcome to the land of peace.
While it might sound a little odd to have a message of peace tacked onto a museum showcasing ancient history, the goal is to remind visitors that the Pyramids of Giza are a shared human inheritance and that these types of shared landmarks highlight our ability to collectively and peacefully achieve goals.
Or, as Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi declared: “Peace is the only path to building civilizations…”
As of Tuesday, November 4th, the entire museum is open to the general public.
Inside the Grand Egyptian Museum
Consider this your sign to book a trip to visit the Pyramids of Giza. Not only does the newly opened Grand Egyptian Museum add the perfect stopover to your visit (one that will help you hammer out the finer details of a multi-millennia civilization), but it’s a pretty mind-blowing and impressive museum all on its own.
The museum spans 5.38 million square feet and includes 12 primary galleries, starting with prehistory and ending during Greek Antiquity. The most widely anticipated is the Tutankhamun Gallery, which will house more than 5,900 artefacts from the great king.
You’ll notice grand artefacts, including an 83-tonne statue of Ramses II that’s over 3,000 years old, along with a solar boat from King Khufu that’s over 4,600 years old. But there’s also plenty in the way of smaller wonders, as the museum holds over 100,000 artefacts dating throughout the Egyptian period.
