The Grand Egyptian Museum: A Project of Ambition and Inertia
There are few cultural projects that have so perfectly captured both a nation’s ambition and its inertia as the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM).
Two decades in the making, with over $1bn spent, the colossal complex at Giza has finally opened its doors, near the pyramids and the Cairo ring road.
what does Egypt really want this museum to say?
From its conception in the early 1990s, the GEM was always about more than archaeology.
- Cost: over $1bn
- Location: Giza, near the pyramids and the Cairo ring road
- Notable exhibit: 3,200-year-old Ramses II statue
Author's summary: The Grand Egyptian Museum raises questions about its purpose.