Planning a trip to Egypt? If you are excited about your trip to Egypt, questions are already racing through your mind about the much anticipated spots you want to see! Is the Grand Egyptian Museum open yet and where is the Grand Egyptian Museum? Constructed on 500,000 square meters, the much awaited opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, located near the Giza Pyramids, is likely to be announced by Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi.
According to reports from Egypt, the number of tourists expected to visit Egypt in 2020 will exceed a whopping 15 million! Further, an infographic issued by Egypt’s Cabinet shows that the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is expected to attract over 5 million visitors annually, according to a report in Egypt Today.
Notably, the Cabinet infographic highlighted three historic Egyptian archaeological exhibitions held abroad, the most important one being the exhibition of King Tutankhamun’s Antiquities in Paris’ Grande Hall De La Villette, that was visited by 1.4 million people! The exhibition was also hailed by the Guardian magazine, which confirmed the museum is the most visited in French history.
Grand Egyptian Museum: What travelers can expect
For those who are curious to explore the Grand Egyptian Museum once it opens, a highlight for travelers would be to get a glimpse of all Tutankhamen’s burial treasures in one place for the first time ever!
The Egyptian cabinet note further positions GEM as the world’s largest archaeological museum dedicated to one civilization, quoting Architectural Digest and Traveler Conde Nast magazine.
Interesting discoveries included the discovery of a funeral furniture workshop in Luxor and the discovery of a rare archaeological statue of Alka in the Giza Governorate.
Notably, 25 archaeological projects were inaugurated in 2019, with the most prominent ones being Pyramid of Mortar in Fayoum and establishing two stone obelisks in the new administrative capital.
Grand Egyptian Museum: Ticket prices for foreigners, students
While the entry fee for foreigners is around US$25, the good news for students is that they can avail a 50 percent discount! For Egyptians, the entry fee is about US$3.75 only.
Cabinet Infographic on Egyptian Grand Museum
The Egyptian cabinet infographic shows as follows:
- Over 90 percent of the GEM project has been successfully completed.
- About 98 percent of the third stage of National Museum of Egyptian Civilization has been implemented and set to be open to be partially opened in the first few months of the year.
- Also, 99 percent of the development works in Egypt’s famous Pyramids area and revival of Luxor’s Rams road in Luxor is almost complete.
- The restoration process of Eliyahu Hanbi, a Jewish temple in Alexandria is nearing completing, as is the restoration work in Baron Palace.
- Notably, among the discoveries highlighted by the Egyptian Cabinet in its infographic, one of the most important scientific discoveries includes the cache of Assassif in Luxor, which includes 30 closed coffins.
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Egypt’s tourism sector has significantly revived itself with around 13 million tourists in 2019, Saeed al-Batouti, member of UN Economic Commission for Europe, stated in a recent interview.
Among the best archaeological discoveries in 2019 is the tomb of the noble, Khoy, in Saqqara. This dates back to the end of the Fifth Dynasty! No wonder, this was ranked among the 10 best archaeological discoveries in 2019 by the American magazine, Archaeology.
For those who enjoy exploring Egyptian history through discovery, there is just so much to probe, investigate, examine and deduce, besides enjoying the cultural extravaganza and historical milestones.
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