Grand Egyptian Museum receives Tutankhamun artifacts

Cairo – 21 June 2017: A collection of precious artifacts from the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun were transported Sunday from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir to the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). The artifacts were moved to their new home near the Giza Pyramids in preparation for the soft opening in 2018.

This batch includes dried and mummified seeds and fruits as well as a number of tiny symbolic boats and a chair painted in white plaster, GEM’s supervisor Tarek Tawfik said.

The most significant is a number of dried dates, onions, garlic, wheat, and doum that have been transported safely, director general of the First Aid Restoration at the GEM Eissa Zidan said.

Restorers used advanced scientific methods in packing and transportation, also a scientific report on the current condition of all transported items has been made before the transportation, Zidan added.

The highly anticipated GEM is situated on 120 acres of land and located 2km southwest of the Giza Pyramids.

It was scheduled to open in August 2015, but due to financing problems, the inauguration was postponed. Construction is expected to be finished by the end of 2017, after which an inauguration date will be set.


Construction of the GEM began in 2003 but was stopped after the 2011 revolution. Construction resumed again in 2012.