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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.
A picture taken on April 13, 2020 shows the construction work at the entrance of the the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), which is set to be completed this year, in Giza on the southwestern outskirts of the capital Cairo. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

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.

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