In Giza, Egypt, drones form a pyramid of lights in the sky. Crowds watch. They’re celebrating the opening of a new museum. The museum, meanwhile, is celebrating something very old. Ancient, actually. Egypt!
Museums mean tourists. Tourists mean money. The question: Will this museum mean enough money to help Egypt’s struggling economy?
The Museum has a handy nickname—GEM. That’s short for the Grand Egyptian Museum. People started building GEM 20 years ago. But then political clashes happened. Work slowed way down. The grand opening was put off last summer. Why? Because Israel and Iran were fighting.
GEM might remind you of the nearby pyramids. It has a towering, triangular glass front. A granite statue of Ramses the Great (one of ancient Egypt’s most powerful pharaohs) greets visitors inside.
Twelve galleries opened in 2024. They hold relics from prehistoric times to the Roman era. On November 1, the main attraction had its grand opening.
One of the greatest draws for the museum: relics from King Tutankhamun’s tomb. For the first time since its 1922 discovery, the entire collection is on display. No single museum before had space to show all the artifacts. There are 5,000!
GEM’s Tut exhibit includes:
- three funeral beds
- six chariots
- a golden throne
- a gold-covered sarcophagus (stone coffin)
- King Tut’s burial mask made of gold, quartzite, lapis lazuli, and colored glass.
Zahi Hawass is Egypt’s most famous archaeologist. He calls the King Tut collection the museum’s masterpiece.
“Why this museum is so important? Because of Tutankhamun,” he says.
The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. — 1 John 2:17
Why? Artifacts, monuments, and mummies can help us reflect on the shortness of life.
