The much-delayed Grand Egyptian Museum is finally open – and well worth the wait

There is nothing about the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) which does not scream “big”. Its mighty size is apparent long before you set foot in the cathedral-like entrance hall – the sheer heft of the building obvious as you drive along its elongated perimeter.

It is increasingly clear, too, as you approach the wall of ticket barriers, with its scrum of guides and security staff; as you stride across the vast plaza which spreads out in front of the structure, the sun bouncing off the flagstones. And it is confirmed as you slip into that giant atrium, to be welcomed by a gargantuan statue of Ramesses II, cut from red granite.

Actually, “welcomed” is probably the wrong word to use in relation to the most fabled pharaoh of the New Kingdom. Ramesses II was not a man who extended much of a warm greeting to those who knelt at his feet, and during a hawkish reign that endured for almost seven decades (1279-1213 BC), there were many who found his presence discomfiting. Nonetheless, if Egypt was going to position any of its former kings at the door of its new jewel, the state-of-the-art Giza museum devoted to its epic history, Ramesses II was the only choice. In rising to 36ft (11m) in this particular case, he performs the role admirably.

The statue is the starkest illustration of the scale of an institution that, with an astonishing 490,000 square metres (5,300,000 sq ft) of floor space to play with, has been hailed as the largest archaeological museum on the planet. In spite of his considerable height, this Ramesses II is in no danger of bashing his head on the entrance hall’s distant ceiling.

But it is also a reminder of the GEM’s lateness. The statue was initially uncovered in the ruins of (former Egyptian capital) Memphis in 1882. By the turn of the millennium, it was in dire need of a second rescue – having been plonked unceremoniously next to Cairo’s main railway station in 1955, and left to tarnish amid an ocean of exhaust fumes.

However, if the plan to relocate it to the long-promised new showcase for the country’s ancient story was a commendable one, it only emphasised the delays. Ramesses made the 14-mile journey to his latest home in 2018 – only to be kept waiting as the rest of the museum failed to fall into place around him. It would take another six years – a “soft launch” was announced last October – for the surrounding galleries to open to the public. It is a fair assumption that the man himself wouldn’t have taken kindly to such a hold-up.

Officially, the statue will have to wait a bit longer for admirers (the real thing, Ramesses’ mummy, is 12 miles away across the Giza-Cairo metropolis, in the almost-as-new National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation; nmec.gov.eg). In theory, the GEM is still not open – in that it is yet to stage the sort of formal inauguration ceremony which involves presidents and speeches (this ribbon-cutting is pencilled in for July). And what will be the highlights of the collection, the artefacts found in the tomb of Tutankhamun, are yet to be taken from their longtime home, the original Egyptian Museum on Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

But make no mistake, the Grand Egyptian Museum is unshuttered and accessible – especially if you have a guide to show you its treasures. In my case, Amani Shafie is the ideal tour companion; a Cairo-based expert who ushers me around the complex with both a precise attention to detail and a smiling enthusiasm for her subject. “We have the whole story of ancient Egypt here,” she says. “From pre-history to the Greek and Roman kings.”

It quickly becomes evident that, for all its failure to keep to the schedule (the initial blueprint had the museum ready for guests by 2013), the GEM has been thoroughly worth the wait. Even with Tutankhamun’s ongoing absence, 12 galleries, arranged in historical order, take the visitor on a ride from 7000 BC through to the fourth century AD.

The journey begins with the Grand Staircase. Well-named, this is as much a series of plinths for the display of myriad wonders as steps to the upper floors. Effigies of many of the stars of the pharaonic pantheon are here – including Thutmose III, the titan of the 18th Dynasty (who reigned from 1479 to 1425BC), as well as Hatshepsut, the formidable queen (and his stepmother) with whom he shared the crown for 21 years.

Amenhotep III, the grandfather of Tutankhamun (who ruled 1388-1351BC), often referred to as “the Magnificent”, stands proud – as does his son Akhenaten, the Boy King’s father, whose abandoning of Egypt’s gods for a single deity would later see his reign (1351-1334 BC) decried as heretical. Ramesses II appears again, of course – this time, in close conjunction with Anath, the goddess of war, carved as a literal power behind his throne.

The GEM is not, though, merely a case of playing the greatest hits. The 12 galleries shine light on less illuminated figures. Gallery 6 recalls Khenemetneferhedjet II, a queen of the 12th Dynasty, whose jewellery – collars of blue faience and precious stones – talk of her elegance some 4,000 years after her death (in 1879 BC). Gallery 7 charts a social trend of the 13th century BC in curiously sweet funerary statues of non-royal couples, the wife’s hand always on her husband’s shoulder.

Gallery 11 flashes forward to 358 BC and the rise of Nectanebo II, the final native Egyptian pharaoh, who was deposed by the Persian invasion of his country in 342 BC – which severed the bloodline. “The last true pharaoh,” Amani nods, surveying his statue. “The Ptolemaic pharaohs were not considered divine.”

But the most human moment belongs to Gallery 2, where an alabaster casket preserves the memory – and internal organs – of Queen Hetepheres I, who lived in around 2600 BC.

Outside, through the panoramic window designed to frame its glory, the Great Pyramid shimmers in the haze. It was built for Hetepheres’s beloved son Khufu, whose body may still lie within it (it has never been found). Almost five millennia separate this royal family from the present day, but here, now, they are kept apart by little more than a mile.

Essentials

Adult tickets (for non-Egyptians) cost 600 Egyptian pounds (£9.50); visit-gem.com

A four-night trip to Cairo – including accommodation at the Kempinski Nile Hotel, and a private guided visit to both the GEM and the Pyramids – starts at £2,429 a head, flights and transfers included, through Audley Travel (01993 838 410).