Shady Roshdy |
Giza, Egypt (EFE) delayed for years and that has left the imposing building as a venue for commercial events awaiting what will be a pharaonic inauguration.
“There is still no specific information about the opening of the museum, but it is expected to be within five or six months,” one of the heads of the museum’s information office, Samer Seif, told EFE from inside the enclosure. located west of Cairo.
Seif is one of those in charge of guiding visitors inside the complex, since at the beginning of this month the GEM offers limited visits -gardens, main lobby and auxiliary areas- to “test the preparation of the place and the experience of the visitors before the official opening”, according to the museum’s official website.
“Now the museum is partially open” to, above all, host events that are held in the outdoor gardens or for the minimum tour that for non-Egyptians costs 1,000 Egyptian pounds (32.30 dollars, at current exchange rates).
The museum put to the test
Passing the main entrance of the building, where an 83-ton colossus of Ramses II reigns, moved there from a central square in Cairo more than five years ago, there are several stairs decorated with statues of pharaohs that communicate with “12 large galleries that have 46 exhibitions”, highlighted Seif.
At the moment, however, it is forbidden to record or take photos, and it is also forbidden to access the historical collections area before the official opening of the museum.
In fact, the museum’s security personnel insist that visitors not record even one centimeter of that area.
To the right of the lobby is the cultural area that houses an events building, where a theater and a 3D cinema are located, as well as an area of restaurants, cafes and gift shops that are already open.
So far, access is limited to the Great Hall, the Crystal Courtyard, the conference center, the shopping area and the outer gardens, while the other interior spaces, including access to the galleries and collections, remain off-limits. view.
Almost there
“Almost all the works on the main building have been completed, but the annex building that will house the solar ship of King Cheops is still missing”, the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty (2609-2584 BC), who gives its name to the Great Pyramid of Giza, where his remains are believed to be, not yet found.
Ahmed Mustafa, an owner of a soft drink and snack shop, tells EFE that his business started up three months ago and only works “exclusively for event participants.”
Concerts or presentations of fashion collections, such as Dior x Denim last December, have already been held at the GEM.
Mustafa hopes that after the official opening, which will be “extraordinary”, he can double his profits due to the flow of visitors that will be able to enter, which could be around 15,000 daily.
The first stone of the GEM, which will be the largest archaeological museum in the world, with a space of 480,000 square meters, was laid in 2002.
Numerous events over the last two decades, such as the popular uprisings known as the Arab Spring and the instability of the following years, paralyzed the project.
In May 2017, the then Minister of Antiquities, Khaled al Anany, told the media, including EFE: “God willing, we want to open (the museum) before May 2018.”
It was not so. The great economic crisis that worsened with the devaluation of the currency in November 2016 caused it to be delayed and later, when the light seemed to be seen at the end of the tunnel, the coronavirus pandemic arrived in 2020.
Now, although the country of the pharaohs is going through an even worse economic crisis, tourism is one of the key pieces for its development. For this reason, throughout the country there is hope that this museum, considered the jewel in the crown of Egyptology, can help recover all the lost years.
