The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) at Giza will be Egypt’s modern, state-of-the-art, flagship museum for the country’s ancient past. Located just north of the Giza pyramids, the GEM will provide an opportunity for those short on time to visit both the Giza pyramids and some of the greatest artefacts from ancient Egypt. Over the last six years, there have been several high-publicity transfers of various ancient artefacts to the GEM. Tutankhamun’s treasures were on their way to the GEM when I last visited the Cairo Museum in Tahrir Square in 2017. The colossal granite statue of Ramses II from Memphis was moved to the GEM from Ramses Square in 2018, in a fittingly complex feat of engineering since the statue had to be kept upright in transit. Khufu’s solar boat, previously in a special museum next to the Great Pyramid, was moved to the GEM in a grand parade in 2021. The ancient Egyptian designers of pyramids and transporters of heavy granite obelisks would surely be impressed at their descendants accomplishments.

Practicalities

Although the formal opening has been delayed, it is now possible to visit the GEM atrium, Grand Staircase, and Children’s Museum, as well as the shops and audio-visual exhibits. I visited in February 2024, enjoying a guided tour of the Grand Staircase and an immersive Tutankhamun audio-visual experience, entitled Tutankhamun: The Immersive Experience. You can also book a GEM Children’s Museum tour, although time slots are limited. Unfortunately, I can’t review the Children’s Museum tour as there were no tickets on the day we went. Both the adult and the children’s museum tours take about 45 minutes. The Immersive Tutankhamun takes about an extra half an hour and takes place before the tour. So if you want to do the tour and the Immersive Tutankhamun, allow at least an hour and half for both. Longer if you want to explore the Grand Staircase at the end of the tour. Tickets are available online via the GEM website. I was pleasantly surprised that although I visited during the UK half-term holidays, it was possible to book tickets for the same day. I suspect that once the GEM is fully open, it will become much busier, and advance booking will be advisable.

First Impressions

The GEM is undoubtedly a beautiful and impressive building, which echoes ancient Egyptian architecture, but thankfully avoids pastiche. The main entrance is on the south side, reached by a sloping courtyard containing the only hanging obelisk in existence. This obelisk, of Ramses II from Tanis, is the partner to the Tahrir Square obelisk, and has cartouches of Ramses II on its bottom. It rests on a base, situated on four pillars carved with the name of Egypt in many different languages. The base has been carefully engineered to protect the obelisk from vibrations. In addition to allowing visitors to view the cartouches on its base, raising the obelisk also means that it appears at roughly the same level as the GEM floor.

The Atrium

The entrance to the GEM is pyramid-shaped and decorated with the cartouches of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs. It gives entrance to the grand atrium, dominated by the granite colossus of Ramses II. This is a fittingly impressive space, redolent of the hypostyle hall of one of the larger temples. When I visited it was occupied with tiered seating and sound equipment for an upcoming event, suggesting that the atrium will be a multi-functional space both welcoming visitors and providing a venue for cultural events. The curators have chosen a few impressive statues to set the scene for the visitor. The granite colossus of Ramses II is perhaps the most noticeable feature of the atrium. Standing on his own plinth, surrounded by a low-level pool, he is positioned to ‘greet’ his visitors. I’m not quite sure how Ramses might feel about this welcoming role, but I suspect he’d approve of his statue’s grand surroundings and that he is the first thing that GEM visitors see on entering the museum. One particularly nice feature of his new home is that you can walk all around him (at a respectful distance) and see all the details of the statue in a way that would have been impossible when he stood outside Ramses Station. Ramses is joined by a column of his son, Merneptah, and a pair of Ptolemaic monarchs, a King and Queen from the Sunken Cities of Thonis-Heracleon. These latter stand opposite the entrance to the Grand Staircase and the museum galleries.

Beyond the atrium, the museum is divided in two. To the south, is the Grand Staircase, giving access to the museum galleries and views over the pyramids. To the north are shops, cafes, and the audio-visual area with the Immersive Tutankhamun exhibit. There are, of course, also state-of-the-art labs, research spaces, and offices. It’s an impressive space, and deliberately so. As the premiere museum in Egypt, its designers intended to create a space that is worthy of the incredible artefacts it contains and capable of holding the very large numbers of visitors that are anticipated. Although we overheard some visitors compared it to a Dubai mall or a larger London tube station, its complex architecture, careful evocations of ancient Egypt, high ceilings, and large open spaces are perhaps closer to a Cathedral of Culture.

Tutankhamun: The Immersive Experience

The Tutankhamun Immersive Experience was very interesting. It takes place on the north side of the atrium, just past the column of Merneptah. Practically it’s somewhat like an Imax Cinema, but with projection on all four walls and the floor, and neat stools for visitors to sit. We took our five-year-old and although she can find loud noises overwhelming, she was perfectly happy. She particularly liked the scarab beetles that periodically skitter across the projection as the scene changes.

Technologically, it was obviously very well designed and beautifully realised. Vibrant imagery and effective but not overwhelming surround sound make for an impressive experience. The imagery of the ancient Egyptian gods, creation and the afterlife worked particularly well in this format. The parts of the story involving the gods were strongly redolent of the best of Marvel’s ‘Moon Knight‘, nicely balancing a certain oversized awesomeness without becoming cartoonish. Recreations of ancient Egyptian buildings and structures were also effective, following the process of creating painted buildings, with gridlines, followed by the outlines of the artwork, and finally the finished, coloured scenes.

The experience loosely told the story of Tutankhamun, beginning with creation of the gods. Then Khnum and Heqet appear, making the Pharaoh and his Ka on a wheel. We follow Tutankhamun through his life as Pharaoh, ending with the rediscovery and excavation of his tomb and his successful entry into the afterlife, having been reborn from the lotus. Overall it was a narratively loose retelling of the story of Tutankhamun, drawing on Egyptian philosophy and Pharaonic imagery in the visuals. This made for a visually stunning experience, but several visitors suggested that it needed a little more narrative cohesion. While I could see the story of Tutankhamun behind the spectacular visuals and sound, I suspect those who aren’t so familiar with it would struggle to follow the logic of the narrative. There are obvious difficulties in creating an experience like this, pitching it at the right level, and negotiating the complexities and uncertainties that underlie Tutankhamun’s story. Nevertheless, the Tutankhamun Immersive Experience is still well worth visiting. Everyone can enjoy the slick, Egypt-themed audio-visual experience, but it will likely be a richer experience for those familiar with the history of Tutankhamun, the discovery of his tomb, and ancient Egyptian culture in general.

The Grand Staircase

When the museum is fully open, the Grand Staircase will lead to the galleries of museum exhibits, but for now, it is the only display of ancient Egyptian artefacts accessible to the visitor, apart from the statues in the atrium and the hanging obelisk. The guided tour of the atrium and Grand Staircase is included with Tutankhamun: The Immersive Experience, and takes place immediately after the audio-visual experience finishes. The staircase is a fascinating vertical sculpture gallery of ancient Egyptian statuary, which I will review in detail in my next post.