Ancient artifacts. Hieroglyphics. Huge statues. Tourists in Egypt have a new place to go this week. Twelve halls of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza opened on Wednesday. 

The Grand Egyptian Museum really is grand. The building is on a large plot of land. It spans the length of about 80 football fields! It’s near the famous Giza Pyramids.

Plans for the building began in 2002. But war in the region and the coronavirus pandemic slowed the project. The museum cost well over $1 billion.

An official opening date isn’t set yet. Some sections have been open since 2022 for limited tours. Five million square feet of the museum opened to the public on Wednesday. Staff expect about 4,000 visitors per day.

Visitors see a statue of Ramesses the Great at the entrance. Was he the Pharoah who wouldn’t let the Israelites leave Egypt? It’s possible. Scholars can’t be certain. Egypt’s historical records don’t mention Israel’s exodus. That could be because officials didn’t always record their mistakes. 

Ramesses did make a note about the kings who came before him. That includes Tutankhamun. The young ruler is nicknamed “King Tut.” King Tut left behind a huge treasure collection. Tourists will be able to see part of the collection when more of the museum opens. 

Visitors currently can view about 100,000 artifacts. Some halls explore history going back 2,130 thousand years before Christ! 

Eissa Zidan is one of the museum’s directors. He explains that the museum hopes to help children learn about ancient Egyptian history.  He says, “The museum is a gift to all the world.”