Grand Egyptian Museum opens with King Tut’s full collection

Grand Egyptian Museum Opens with King Tut’s Complete Collection for First Time

The Grand Egyptian Museum officially opened to the public on November 5, 2025, marking the first time visitors can view all 5,500 artifacts from King Tutankhamun’s tomb displayed together since British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered it 103 years ago. The $1 billion facility near the Giza Pyramids welcomed approximately 18,000 visitors on its inaugural day.nashuatelegraph

Located just two kilometers from the ancient pyramids, the 490,000-square-meter complex houses nearly 100,000 artifacts spanning 7,000 years of Egyptian history. President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi presided over a grand opening ceremony on November 1 attended by royals and heads of state from 79 official delegations, calling the museum “a gift from Egypt to the world”.evrimagaci

The museum’s centerpiece Tutankhamun galleries showcase the boy pharaoh’s golden funerary mask, gilded coffin, ceremonial throne, and chariots, along with previously unseen items including body armor crafted from leather pieces resembling fish scales. “Most Tutankhamun treasures were in the old Egyptian museum,” explained Ahmed Ghoneim, the museum’s CEO. “However, some were scattered in other museums and others were kept in storage. Bringing all those treasures in one place enriches the museum display experience”.nytimes

Boosting Tourism and Economic Revival

Egyptian officials project the museum will attract 5 to 7 million visitors annually, with daily attendance expected to triple from 5,000 to 15,000 visitors. Egypt welcomed 15 million tourists in the first nine months of 2025, a 21 percent increase from the previous year, with tourism revenues rising 18 percent. The government aims to reach 18 million visitors by year’s end and 30 million annually by 2030.apnews

The museum’s opening coincides with intensified calls for the return of Egyptian antiquities held abroad. Former antiquities minister Zahi Hawass launched a petition that has gathered over 300,000 signatures demanding the repatriation of the Nefertiti bust from Berlin’s Neues Museum, the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum in London, and the Dendera Zodiac from the Louvre. “The old arguments against return are crumbling,” said Monica Hanna, a prominent Cairo-based Egyptologist. “Egypt has the capacity, determination, and world-class facilities to preserve its own heritage”.newarab

Adding momentum to repatriation efforts, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof announced on November 2 that the Netherlands would return a 3,500-year-old stone sculpture from the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose III, which was seized at a Maastricht art fair in 2022 after being stolen during the 2011 Arab Spring. The artifact will be handed to Egypt’s ambassador in the Netherlands by year’s end.arabnews

However, both German and British authorities have maintained their positions. The German Federal Foreign Office stated it “has not received any requests from official Egyptian entities the return the Nefertiti,” while the British Museum said it received no formal request for the Rosetta Stone and remains bound by the British Museum Act 1963.dw