CAIRO (AP) — Egypt is set to unveil the highly anticipated Grand Egyptian Museum on Saturday, marking it as the largest museum worldwide dedicated to ancient Egyptian civilization. This massive project aims to rejuvenate the nation’s tourism sector and boost its struggling economy.

Located near the iconic Giza Pyramids on the outskirts of Cairo, the museum has been two decades in the making. It will feature an impressive collection of over 50,000 artifacts that tell the story of life in ancient Egypt.

The grand opening will see attendance from global dignitaries, including monarchs and heads of state, as highlighted in a presidential statement. The museum is described as “an exceptional event in the history of human culture and civilization.”

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi expressed on social media that the museum symbolizes the fusion of ancient Egyptian genius with modern Egyptian creativity. He emphasized that it will serve as a new cultural landmark, attracting those who value history and knowledge.

A ‘symphony of humanity’

This museum is among several ambitious projects spearheaded by el-Sissi since he assumed office in 2014, focusing on substantial infrastructure investments to revive an economy long hindered by stagnation and the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring.

Details surrounding the museum’s grand opening have been kept under wraps, adding an element of intrigue to the event.

A stage was built in the museum courtyard where an orchestra and musicians would later preform what the Egyptian media described as a “global symphony of humanity.”

Security around Cairo was tightened ahead of the opening ceremony, with the government announcing Saturday would be a public holiday. The museum, which has been open for limited visits over the past few years, was closed for the final, two-week preparations.

The government has revamped the area around the museum and the nearby Giza Plateau that holds the pyramids and the Sphinx. Roads were paved and a metro station is being constructed outside the museum gates to improve access. An airport, Sphinx International Airport, has also opened west of Cairo — 40 minutes from the museum.

The $1 billion facility had faced multiple delays, with construction beginning in 2005 but interrupted due to political instability.

Ramses the Great and King Tut

The museum, known as GEM, boasts a towering, triangular glass façade imitating the nearby pyramids, with 24,000 square meters (258,000 square feet) of permanent exhibition space.

It opens to a granite colossus of Ramses the Great, one of ancient Egypt’s most powerful pharaohs who reigned for around 60 years, from 1279 B.C. to 1213 B.C., and is credited with expanding ancient Egypt’s reach as far as modern Syria to the east and modern Sudan to the south. The statue greets visitors once they step inside the museum’s angular atrium.

From the atrium, a grand six-story staircase lined with ancient statues leads up to the main galleries and a view of the pyramids. A bridge links the museum to the pyramids, allowing tourists to move between them either on foot or via electric vehicles, according to museum officials.

The museum’s 12 main galleries, which opened last year, exhibit antiquities spanning from prehistoric times to the Roman era, organized by era and by themes.

Two halls are dedicated to the 5,000 artifacts from the collection of King Tutankhamun — a boy pharaoh who ruled from 1361 B.C. to 1352 B.C. — that will be displayed in its entirely for the first time since British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered King Tut’s tomb in 1922 in the southern city of Luxor.

Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s most renowned archaeologist and former minister of antiquities, said the Tutankhamun collection is the museum’s masterpiece.

“Why this museum is so important, and everyone is waiting for the opening?” he told The Associated Press. “Because of Tutankhamun.”

The collection includes the boy pharaoh’s three funeral beds and six chariots, his golden throne, his gold-covered sarcophagus and his burial mask, made of gold, quartzite, lapis lazuli and colored glass.

Boosting tourism and economy

The government’s hopes the museum will draw more tourists who will stay for a while and provide the foreign currency needed to shore up Egypt’s battered economy. The state-run Al-Ahram daily said the museum is expected to attract 5 million visitors annually.

The tourism sector has suffered during years of political turmoil and violence following the 2011 Arab Spring uprising. In recent years, the sector has started to recover after the coronavirus pandemic and amid Russia’s war on Ukraine — both countries are major sources of tourists visiting Egypt.

A record number of about 15.7 million tourists visited Egypt in 2024, contributing about 8% of the country’s GDP, according to official figures. Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy has said that overall, Egypt expects about 18 million tourists this year, with authorities hoping for 30 million visitors annually by 2032.

This will translate into more jobs and pump foreign currency into the economy, said Walid el-Batouty, a tour guide.

“It will be boost the economy of Egypt tremendously not just the hotels and the museum itself,” he said. Whenever a tourist rides a cab or even just buys a bottle of water, “that is pumping money” into Egypt’s coffers, he added.

The museum will open to the public starting Nov. 4 — the anniversary of Carter’s discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, authorties said.

___

Associated Press journalist Ahmed Hatem in Cairo contributed to this report.