File: Grand Egyptian Museum’s products.
CAIRO -29 August 2020: In March 2019, visual artist Rabee Mohamed, head of the Handicrafts and Arts centre presented samples of hand-made jewellery to Major General Atef Moftah, the General Supervisor of the GEM Project.
Major General Moftah applauded the samples and suggested the use of high quality materials to create pieces with the same specifications as the original types manufactured in ancient Egypt.
Furthermore, Major General Moftah recommended that the GEM Logo be added to become the nucleus of GEM products as a Brand.
The GEM is now the first Egyptian museum to produce and market its own products in line with many international museums.
After implementation of the Major General’s earlier recommendations, the jewellery collection was presented to the GEM Board of Directors in mid-2019. All members of the Board of Directors were impressed by the high quality of production.
On the 26th of August 2020, Major General Moftah used the visit of Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary General of the World Tourism Organisation as an occasion to introduce the work of the Handicrafts and Arts Department and the youth who have produced the branded GEM jewellery.
Rabee's Table, as the Major General called it, has won the approval of both His Excellency the Minister of Antiquities and the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organisation, who expressed his great admiration for the products.
Made of gold-coated copper and inlaid with precious stones, Mr. Pololikashvili chose one piece in the form of a lotus flower.
The GEM Centre for Handicrafts and Arts will provide workshops and artistic programmes within the framework of the museum’s goals to create a sense of belonging with Egyptian identity and personality, spread awareness of cultural legacies, and revive heritage.
The Grand Egyptian Museum is a national project that the whole world is highly anticipating. It is the biggest museum in the world dedicated to one civilization and will house over 50,000 artifacts.
Below are four artifacts that will not be shown anywhere else but the Grand Egyptian Museum.
The Great Staircase:
The Great Staircase in the Grand Egyptian Museum will serve as an introduction to the museum. It will focus on the various powers of the king and will be labelled Zone 1.
The foyer will contain a visual expression of the essence of the Kingship theme. It all starts with a huge statue of King Ramses II, the head of government, the army chief and the high priest of all the gods in each temple. The king was also the mediator between the gods and the people of Egypt. His presence was considered a link between heaven, earth and the souls of the dead.
The Great Staircase focuses on two themes, the royal image, and gods and kings. It is divided into four sections. The first section will deal with how the king was represented in the three-dimensional statues / sculptures.
The exhibits of the staircase date back to various eras throughout Egypt's history from the Old Kingdom until the Roman era.
The second section focuses on the status of the deities. This will include representation of kings participating in religious rituals and offering sacrifices to the gods. This will be displayed in addition to pillars, columns and other distinctive elements of temples that were built for the gods, dating back to the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms.
The complete set of King Tutankhamun’s belongings:
The holdings of the golden king Tutankhamun, which exceed 5,000 artifacts, will be displayed on an area of 7,000 square meters inside the Grand Egyptian Museum, for the first time.
Khufu’s Ships:
Initially, the Second Khufu Solar Ship was the only one set to be displayed in the Grand Egyptian Museum. However, it was decided to display Khufu’s First Solar Ship along with the second one in a specialized hall in the Grand Egyptian Museum. This was the idea of Atef Moftah, general supervisor of the Grand Egyptian Museum and the surrounding area.
The Hanging Obelisk:
The first hanging obelisk square in the world is being constructed in the Grand Egyptian Museum. The hanging obelisk shows the ingenuity of the ancient Egyptians in designing and carving ancient monuments.
Atef Moftah was keen to take into account the accuracy in the archaeological, engineering and technical aspects of the obelisk that will be erected in the Grand Egyptian Museum in the external lobby, which spans over an area of about 28,000 meters.
From an archaeological point of view, the design was based on the possibility of seeing the cartouches of King Ramses II, located at the bottom of the base of the obelisk hull, which remained out of sight for nearly 3500 years.
Through Moftah's design, the obelisk square's visitor can enter the base of the obelisk, in order to see the archaeological base below it, and by looking up, the cartouches of King Ramses II can be seen in an eye-catching panorama.
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