The opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) has been pushed back again to 2020. The museum was originally set to partially open in 2019, then fully in 2022.
The museum now aims to open the full 490,000 sq m complex in 2020.
The star attraction will be all 5,400 objects from the tomb of King Tutankhamun.
It is hoped that the museum will boost cultural tourism to the Giza Plateau after the industry was hit by political instability and terrorist attacks.
GEM anticipates around five million visitors a year, with international tourism providing “an important source of revenue to ensure the sustainability and maintenance of this huge museum”, he says.
GEM will be the world’s largest archaeological museum at a cost of $1b. It will feature 28 shops, ten restaurants, a conference centre and a cinema. There will also be around 100,000 objects in the collection. More than 20,000 items have never been shown before. The museum has been designed by Heneghan Peng Architects
The building project is now around 85% complete.
Last week, Museum director Dr Tarek Tawfik called on the British Museum, London, to return the Rosetta Stone after it was captured 200 years ago.
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/grand-egyptian-museum-pushes-full-opening-to-2020