Grand Egyptian Museum expected to attract 5M visitors annually

CAIRO - 9 January 2020: The Egyptian Cabinet issued an infograph Wednesday indicating that the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) will attract more than 5 million visitors annually.

The infograph also clarified that the GEM will be the largest archaeological museum in the world to be dedicated to one civilization, according to Traveler Conde Nast and Architectural Digest magazines.

Furthermore, the infograph reviewed a number of the 2019 achievements in the antiquities sector, including implementing large projects, making new discoveries, developing and restoring a number of archaeological areas, organizing international and local exhibitions, and recovering smuggled artifacts from abroad.

Completion of 90% of the Grand Museum

The infograph showed that more than 90 percent of the Grand Egyptian Museum project has been successfully completed, and that the total number of artifacts transferred to the museum reached 49,603 artifacts, 46,600 of which were restored.

98% of the third phase of the National Museum project has been implemented

The infograph also pointed out that 98 percent of the third stage of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization project has been implemented, to be partially opened in the first months of 2020.

Also, the infograph touched on the development and restoration of some areas such as the completion of 99 percent of the development works taking place in the Pyramids area, and the completion of 99 percent of the project to revive the rams road in Luxor.

This is in addition to the completion of 95 percent of the restoration process of the Jewish temple (Eliyahu Hanbi) in Alexandria, along with the completion of 95 percent of the restoration works in Baron Palace.

The infograph reviewed the 25 archaeological projects that were inaugurated during 2019, most importantly the Pyramid of Mortar in Fayoum, the establishment of two stone obelisks in the City of Culture and Arts in the New Administrative Capital, and the completion of the first phase of the development project in St. Catherine's Monastery.

Discoveries 2019

According to the infograph, the number of archeological discoveries in 2019 reached 18 discoveries made by the missions of the Ministry of Antiquities, the most important of which is the discovery of the cache of Assassif in Luxor, which includes 30 closed coffins. The discovery was classified as one of the 26 most important scientific discoveries in 2019, according to Business Insider newspaper.



Among the discoveries is the tomb of the noble, Khoy, in Saqqara, which dates back to the end of the Fifth Dynasty, and was ranked among the 10 best archaeological discoveries in 2019, according to the American magazine Archeology.

Additionally, three wells were found buried in the archeological area of Tuna Al-Jabal, Minya Governorate.

Also, a funeral furniture workshop was discovered in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. The discovery was classified as one of the 10 largest archeological discoveries in 2019, according to Live Science. This is in addition to discovering a rare archaeological statue of Alka in Mit Rahina, Giza Governorate.

Moreover, the infograph reviewed the exhibitions of the Ministry of Antiquities, indicating that the number of local archaeological exhibitions has reached 11 in 2019, most notably the two temporary exhibitions in the Egyptian Museum that were held in celebration of the 117th anniversary of the museum.

The infograph pointed out that three archeological exhibitions were held abroad, the most important of which was the exhibition King Tutankhamun’s Antiquities in Paris' Grande Hall De La Villette that was visited by 1.4 million people. The exhibition was also hailed by the Guardian magazine, which confirmed the museum is the most visited in French history.

In the same context, the flooded archeology exhibition was held in Los Angeles, California, USA, and the King Tutankhamen archeology exhibition (the treasures of the Golden Pharaoh) was held in London's Saatchi Gallery.

As for the artifacts recovered from abroad, their number, according to the infograph, has reached 23.

The infograph also highlighted Egypt's hosting of the Twelfth International Conference of Egyptologists for the first time since 2000, with the participation of 600 archaeologists from Egypt and more than 35 countries.