The Grand Egyptian Museum Has Finally Opened — Here's What You Need To Know

It takes a certain audacity to stand next to the Pyramids of Giza, arguably the most celebrated manmade structures on the planet, look them up and down, and then think to yourself, "I can do better than that." But that's exactly what the team at Heneghan Peng Architects must have thought when they were commissioned by the Egyptian government to create a museum impressive enough to hold the treasures of Tutankhamun. And you know what? They've actually gotten pretty close to achieving that goal.

The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) has been a very long time coming. For over a hundred years, many of Egypt's more important historical artifacts have found a home in the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in central Cairo. But, by the start of the 21st century (a full 4,500 years after the Great Pyramid of Khufu had the finishing touches done to it), this museum was starting to look very dated and, with some 120,000 items, there simply wasn't enough space for everything. This meant that a new, state-of-the-art museum was called for. The Grand Egyptian Museum, which has taken 20 years to come to fruition and cost an astonishing one billion U.S. dollars, has been partially open for some time now. Its official opening on November 4 will be the moment when all the galleries will be revealed.

Now the Grand Egyptian Museum can claim the Pharaoh's crown of being the world's largest museum dedicated to just one civilization. But with so much to see, where do you start and what are the top highlights? Here are our expert tips on how to make the most of a visit.

The Building

Before you step inside, take a moment to appreciate the building itself. A vast esplanade leads up to the tapering glass and concrete structure, which incorporates pyramidal shapes and patterns into the walls. The building is situated at the edge of the Giza plateau and just 2 kilometers (about 1.25 miles) from the pyramids. According to the architects behind it, "The museum exists between the level of the Nile Valley and the plateau," and their hope is that it creates a "new 'edge' to the plateau, a surface defined by a veil of translucent stone that transforms from day to night."

The Main Auditorium

Entering the museum via a desert-yellow pyramidal gateway brings you face to face with a superb 11-meter- (about 36-foot-) high statue of Ramses II set beside a reflecting pool. The cinematic lighting and scale of the auditorium make this a dramatic opening salvo. Head up the Grand Staircase, which, with dozens of giant statues, tombs, obelisks, and columns, takes you on a "Journey to Eternity." Appropriately, once you reach the top of the stairs, a giant glass wall gives views out across the Giza plateau to the pyramids.