GEM
GRAND EGYPTIAN MUSEUM
A first visit, two weeks after the opening of the first 12 halls
2/11/2024
Photos and text © Iannis Kallianiotis
The GEM has been for a long time on our waiting list. Was it really a long wait?
Actually, impatience was felt the last months, before its opening, when the first videos of the fabulous architectural design and its immense volumes started to circulate on the net.
Let us not forget, welcoming the new GEM, implied saying goodbye to the dearest of Cairo palaces the fabulous Archaeological Museum on Midan El Tahrir. The place where everything began.
Egyptology, Mariette Pasha, Neroutso Bey, Lord Carnavon, names drop like a golden rain around the unique intact regalia of the King of Kings, Tut-Ankh-Amon.
The King all in gold, encrusted with lapis lazuli and turquoise, held his earthly court in this Museum proving that history was present and alive in this glorious land.
Around him his people, priests and scribes, gorgeous papyrus like dancers, builders, agricultural workers. Dryness preserved everything. Never before such intimate details of people's lives were accessible to the visitor, so many centuries after.
All that exhibited in a lovely 19th century archaeological palace, within ochre and pinkish walls, very often powdered by this exquisite Egyptian dust, that penetrates anywhere, everywhere.
But time has come. A whole new crowd of antiquities, coming from so many excavations, the old monarchs, the recent stars, the humble and the not so humble, were waiting for their turn.
No triangle was left unemployed
Individuals must feel smaller, entering such a space, pilgrims to this civilization.
So, a pyramid lifts up one of its angles, to allow visitors to penetrate their mysteries.
The volumes, the light, gently filtered, discreetly assisted by artificial means
The entrance, the hill of steps
Tickets sell only by credit or debit cards at 200 Eg.Pounds for Egyptians between 21-60 years old and 100 E.P for over 60. Foreigners pay 1.200 E.P. and 1.700 E.P. if they wish a guided tour.
On the right, the commercial part, shops and restaurants, on the left, the entrance to the exhibition halls
We are greeted by the iconic Master of this Universe
Ramses II
Past the colossal statue of Ramses II, looking towards a hill of steps adorned with statues
We notice a plan of the Museum, equipped with buttons, lighting if needed the various areas of exhibits
On a very large screen, projections of aerial Museum views, from different angles, show what we can expect and which parts of the Museum house various archaeological entities.
Then a map of Egypt, where at points of archaeological interest, small platforms rise, "offering", as on a round tray, the main monument of the area: a statue, a pyramid, a temple.
On an horizontal panel, all along the map, summaries narrate to the visitor, what every area beholds of the country's history...
Starting from the Mediterranean ... up to Abou Simbel
Now, one can choose, traditional steps or electrically assisted ... three steep levels await the visitor...
A first summary on Royal image
Another group of models for persons with impaired vision
Then, on the upper level you have a plan of the 12 halls and 3 proposed trajectories
Society, Kingship, Beliefs
Then, historical periods and their iconic artefacts
Projections of photorealistic scenes
Evolution of Pyramids' design
In this whitewashed space, at the tomb's dimensions,
projections of the painted frescoes take place every few minutes
Lively colorful paintings reminding us of the murals in Minoan Crete
Window views of the splendid geometry of the palm alleys
Projections on a map of Egypt, show foreign influences coloring the area,
according to the colors of above table
Quite the introduction, for the major foreign Greco-Roman influence, initiated by Alexander the Great
Hence we arrive to the last Pharaoh, Nectanebo II
Alexander comes to Egypt
At the 12th hall, ancient jewellery displays, almost prepare us for the Museum shops
Books, jewellery, scarves, plenty of ideas addressed to children, are only a few of the selections of this truly unique GEM SHOP.
Workmanship is exquisite, quality at its heights, prices too...
Our champion is this "nos reef" (half bread) wallet, best quality/price ratio, a truly Egyptian souvenir.
Each one of them different, as if freshly sorted from the oven, sell at around 360 E.P.
We will come back !
Once is not enough
And then, plenty of new arrivals are expected, including old, very old friends...
GEM
GRAND EGYPTIAN MUSEUM
A first visit, two weeks after the opening of the first 12 halls
2/11/2024
Text and photos © Iannis Kallianiotis
Whoever wishes, can find the same article in Greek language, at the following link :
thymamai@remembering
