THE opening of a mega-museum – home to the famous “cursed” coffin – has been postponed again over war tensions.
Cairo’s Grand Egyptian Museum will be home to more than 100,000 artefacts and the largest collection of Tutankhamun artefacts ever displayed.
Although some parts of the museum are open already, King Tut’s galleries were being held off until July 3.
However, in a statement released today, the tourism and antiquities ministries announced that the opening will now be postponed until the end of the year due to the recent conflict between Israel and Iran.
“In light of the current regional development, it has decided to postpone” the opening of the museum, officials said.
They stated, “A new date … will be announced in due course, following coordination with all relevant authorities to ensure the organisation of an event that reflects Egypt’s prominent cultural and tourism status on the international stage.”
The museum covers an impressive 500,000 square feet, making it the biggest museum in the world dedicated to a single civilisation – ancient Egypt.
Visitors will begin their tour of the museum by passing through a magnificent alabaster archway, where they will be welcomed by an awe-inspiring 83-ton statue of Ramses II, dating back 3200 years.
They will then head up the grand staircase, past an impressive display of statues of ancient kings and gods.
From there they will have an impressive view of the pyramids, which are just a mile away.
The museum boasts twelve galleries containing art ranging more than 3000 years.
Visitors will also be able to see the dazzling treasures of Queen Hetepheres, the mum of the builder of the Great Pyramid, including her alabaster sarcophagus, furniture and jewellery, along with King Khufu’s grand cedar wood boat.
Construction of the site began in 2005, but came to a halt during the Arab Spring in 2011.
Work resumed in 2014, and a decade later the museum is finally opening.
The project has cost $1.3 billion, but it is hoped it will boost the Egyptian economy by attracting tourists from across the world.
The ‘cursed’ coffin
The Tutankhamen collection is currently in the old Egyptian museum in downtown Cairo, but will be moved ahead of the official opening.
Tutankhamen’s body will remain in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor.
The tomb was discovered by English archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922 after seven years of searching.
The discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb is associated with a dark curse.
Following the unearthing of Tutankhamen’s remains, various figures connected with the expedition died in mysterious circumstances.
These included Lord Canarvon, the financial backer of the excavation team, who died from an infected mosquito bite.
Sir Archibald Douglas-Reid, who X-rayed the pharaoh’s remains, was killed by a mystery illness.
Carter himself died in 1939 from Hodgkin’s Disease aged 64.
No royal tombs had been uncovered since King Tut’s until last week when archaeologists discovered King Thutmose II’s burial site.
The king’s mummified remains had been found two centuries ago but his his tomb was never found.
The entrance to the tomb and its main passage were initially discovered in 2022, but continued excavations found evidence linking it to the Pharaoh.
Fragments of vases inscribed with the Pharaoh’s name were found, identifying Thutmose II as the ‘deceased king’.
Sections of a religious text and blue paint and yellow stars that were placed in the tomb of kings were also found.
Dr. Mohamed Ismail Khaled, Secretary-General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities,described the discovery as one of the “most significant archaeological finds in recent years”.
King Thutmose II was the fourth Pharaoh of Egypt‘s 18th Dynasty, and is thought to have reigned from about 1493 BC to 1479 BC. He died at the age of 30.
King Thutmose II was married to Queen Hatshepsut, who made history as a powerful female pharaoh.
GLIMPSE OF THE PAST
The grand museum has been designed in a way that pays tribute to its historic surroundings.
Shaped like a chamfered triangle, the museum aligns with the Great Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Menkaure – and is built extremely close to the great structures.
The museum’s design was picked through an international architectural competition in 2002 that attracted more than 1,500 entries from around the world.
And winning design was a brainchild of Heneghan Peng Architects in Dublin, Ireland, who are known for their unique, colossal designs.
Incredible plans for the architectural marvel were first revealed in 1992 a huge, empty site close to the Giza pyramids was secured by the then-president of Egypt Hosni Mubarak.
However, construction could only begin in 2012 – and the structural shell was completed in just three years, with the museum expected to open by 2018.
But several political and economic setbacks kept the plans on hold.
The Grand Egyptian Museum is now expected to open by the end of this year.
Who was King Tutankhamen?
Here’s everything you need to know about King Tut…
- King Tutankhamen is the most famous of Egypt’s ancient pharaohs
- He ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago from 1332 to 1323 BC
- Tut is known as the “boy king” as he was just 10 years old when he took the thrown
- When he became the king he married his half-sister Ankhesenpaaten. They had two daughters together but both were stillborn.
- Tut died aged just 19 under mysterious circumstances
- Some believe that King Tut was assassinated but most believe that his death was an accident
- The pharaoh is also famous for the supposed curse that haunts his tomb
- After the tomb’s discovery in 1922, archaeologists, and even their family members, died from horrible illnesses or in strange accidents – and some say the deaths weren’t a coincidence
