By Ewald König

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The opening date was a kind of state secret and was repeatedly the subject of speculation. It had to be postponed again and again. Now it's finally decided. It will be July 3 of this year. The grand opening will attract political and cultural celebrities from all over the world.

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A few days before Egypt's tourism minister comes to Berlin for ITB, the date has been set and published. The news is expected to dominate the one-day visit by Sherif Fathy, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of the Arab Republic of Egypt. Immediately after the ITB, Fathy will fly to Tokyo. There, he will open the traveling exhibition “Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs” on Friday, March 7. Originally, the minister was supposed to announce the opening date in Japan on this occasion — and for a specific reason: A large part of the project was financed with Japanese loans. This is presumably why the news was only to be announced in Tokyo.

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The museum is regarded as “Egypt's gift to the world.” A gift that does not come cheap: The total cost is more than a billion US dollars. The estimated figure was around 550 million.

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Highlights include the treasures of Tutankhamun and the colossal statute of Ramses II. The 3,200-year-old sculpture weighs 82 tons. Due to its size, it had to be erected as early as 2018 when the entrance hall was built.

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The previous museum was built in 1900. It was planned for 5,000 exhibits. The collection grew to 150,000 exhibits, of which only a small proportion could be shown. A new building was therefore started in 2009. Covering an area of 50 hectares, the museum complex is the largest archaeological museum that has ever existed.

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The location of the GEM is also sensational: It is situated near the pyramids of Giza on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital.

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