The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) near Egypt's Pyramids of Giza will fully open in November, backed by nearly 20 years of support from Japan's International Cooperation Agency (JICA). This massive museum, one of the world's largest, will showcase ancient Egyptian artifacts and strengthen ties with Japan.
The Grand Egyptian Museum will house about 100,000 artifacts from ancient Egyptian dynasties spanning 3000 B.C. to 30 B.C., with a highlight being the collection linked to Pharaoh Tutankhamun and his golden mask. It is poised to become a flagship attraction for Egypt's tourism industry.
Construction faced delays from political turmoil after the Arab Spring and the COVID-19 pandemic, yet JICA persisted in its support. Ahmed Ghoneim, the museum's CEO, said during a video lecture at the Egyptian Embassy in Tokyo on Oct. 17: “If you take history of what the Japanese have done in this worldwide project … they are a real partner in this journey and didn’t stop at any stage.”
Spanning 470,000 square meters with pyramid views, the museum features permanent exhibition spaces, a children's museum, and conference and education facilities. It partially opened in October 2024, with the official grand opening on Saturday and full public access from Tuesday.
The project arose from the aging Egyptian Museum in Cairo, opened in 1902. At Egypt's request, Japan began support in 2006 with yen loans, covering ¥84.2 billion of the ¥140 billion total cost—about 60%. Technical cooperation started in 2008 for artifact conservation and restoration, building human resources like specialists and scientists.
Previously, only government-authorized Egyptians could restore relics, but following collaboration, JICA assisted with Tutankhamun artifacts from 2016. About 40 Japanese specialists participated. Kei Toyama, JICA’s director general of the Middle East and Europe Department, said: “Touching and working with unrestored artifacts was a tremendous learning experience for Japanese researchers.”
Mie Ishii, an associate professor at Saga University and textile restoration specialist who joined in 2008, noted: “Even amid the Arab Spring and following the [2011] Great East Japan Earthquake, JICA never stopped dispatching experts. This ultimately strengthened trust and fostered a sense of mission.”
Another highlight is the two Khufu boats, built 4,500 years ago, comparable to Tutankhamun's treasures for evidencing Nile navigation and advanced woodworking. One was excavated, restored, and displayed in 1971; the second, found degraded in 1987, saw Japanese and other researchers begin work in 2011, unearthing 1,700 components for assembly.
At the on-site Khufu Boat Museum, Egyptian specialists will restore the second boat before visitors with Japanese help—a method Ghoneim described as “[It] has never been experienced in any museum.”