Grand Egyptian Museum to display thousands of artifacts
Egypt gears up for the big opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum in 2021, where 50,000 artifacts will be displayed.
CAIRO — Some 2,000 artifacts of various sizes have recently arrived at the Grand Egyptian Museum, located in Remaya Square. They were moved from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, Tell el-Yahudiya (Mound of the Jews) and the Giza Pyramid complex to be among the distinctive items on display at the museum.
Maj. Gen. Atef Meftah, general director of the Grand Egyptian Museum, said in a Sept. 19 press statement that the number of items transferred to the museum had reached 54,000 artifacts so far, including two pink granite columns belonging to King Ramses II, each six meters (20 feet) high and weighing 13 tons, which will be the last pieces to be placed on the Great Stairs of the museum.
Tayyeb Abbas, director of archaeological affairs at the Grand Egyptian Museum, said in a press statement that these items include 54 artifacts from the King Tutankhamun collection, including jewelry and gold necklaces as well as a gilded wood statue of Tutankhamun standing with his left foot forward on a rectangular base placed on the back of a leopard, holding a stick in one hand, a flail in the other, a Hedjet on the head and a wide necklace covering his chest and shoulders.
Eissa Zeidan, head of the restoration affairs and transfer of antiquities department at the museum, explained that the items are being transferred based on a specific schedule and special display scenario at the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is set to be inaugurated next year. He told Al-Monitor that 47 wooden pieces of Khufu's second solar ship were also moved from the Giza Pyramid complex, making the total number of wooden items transferred to the Grand Egyptian Museum 1,053.
