Grand Egyptian Museum: Cairo's New Museum Near the Pyramids
One of the world's largest museums and the largest devoted to a single civilization, the Grand Egyptian Museum stands about a mile from the Giza pyramids.
The Grand Egyptian Museum is one of the largest museums in the world and the largest dedicated to a single civilization: ancient Egypt. Its collection is so large that, if you spent one minute looking at each artifact, it would take almost 70 sleepless days to see it all.
A Building Aligned with the Pyramids
The triangular building radiates from its entrance toward the three main pyramids of Giza and aligns with them. Its walls and sloping ceilings rise toward the pyramids' highest points without exceeding their height, out of respect for the ancient structures. Inside, the museum offers panoramic views of the pyramids.
Size, Scope and Cost
- History covered: about 7,000 years, from prehistory to the end of the Greek and Roman eras around AD 400.
- Size: more than 5 million square feet, about a mile from the Giza pyramids.
- Construction: workers spent seven months excavating and removing some 79 million cubic feet of sand to reshape the local topography.
- Cost: more than double the initial estimate, at over $1 billion, funded through Egyptian resources and international cooperation.
A media adviser to the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities said that "the Grand Egyptian Museum is finally and officially open" and called it "a great day for Egypt and for humanity."
The Hanging Obelisk
In front of the entrance stands the Hanging Obelisk: 53 feet high, about 3,500 years old and described as the only structure of its kind in the world. It is suspended over a glass floor, so visitors can view its inscriptions from an unprecedented angle.
