The Egyptian Museum on Cairo’s Tahrir Square was inscribed on the Tentative List in 2021, at a time when the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) near the Giza pyramids had already been announced and long anticipated. That opening finally took place on 1 November 2025. We visited both museums in early November 2025, along with the New Museum of Egyptian Civilisation (NMEC) in Fustat.

Together, these three museums house an extraordinary wealth of artefacts from the pharaonic period of Egyptian history and culture, each with its own focus and highlights. It is not entirely clear to me why only the Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square was placed on the Tentative List; taken together, the three museums would make a compelling case for inscription as a single World Heritage ensemble.

The Egyptian Museum, Tahrir Square

Despite the immense attraction of the newly opened GEM — which reportedly drew over 20,000 visitors per day during its first week — the Egyptian Museum remains well attended, though no longer overcrowded as in the past. Entry tickets can be purchased online and are still reasonably priced at E£550 (about €10). The museum is open daily from 9:00 to 17:00.

Depending on the length of your visit, it is advisable to bring water, as there are no sales points inside the museum. Clean restrooms are available. Visitors pass a security check when entering from Tahrir Square and another at the museum entrance. Those with online tickets should keep to the right at the main gate.

The ground floor is arranged chronologically, beginning in Hall 43 with artefacts from the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods, and continuing clockwise through the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, before returning toward the entrance with displays from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. The upper floor is organised thematically and houses collections from undisturbed tombs as well as special exhibitions.

For more than a century, the museum was home to the Tutankhamun collection, which has now moved — along with many other iconic pieces — to the GEM. Nevertheless, the remaining display is still formidable and very much worth a visit. We spent around six hours in the museum, which allowed for a solid overview of ancient Egyptian art and culture.

The building, purpose-built as a museum in 1902, shows signs of age and could benefit from ‘some love’ and further restoration. Lighting, air circulation and labelling could be improved, yet this also lends it the charm of a “museum of a museum.” A plaque at the entrance to Hall 43 notes that the European Union has funded refurbishment work in several galleries, and conditions are noticeably better than during my previous visit a few years ago. Still, empty vitrines (due to transferred objects), worn floors, plastering and wall paint remain visible in many areas.

Hall 43 contains one of the museum’s absolute masterpieces: the Narmer Palette, depicting the unification of Egypt under the First Dynasty. Displayed in the centre of the room with its narrower side facing the entrance, it does not immediately command attention and can easily be missed if one does not know it is there. To compensate, a replica is displayed to the right of the room with an explanatory text in Braille, inviting a tactile experience. Braille labels appear throughout the museum, though not in a systematic manner.

Just outside Hall 43 is the “Object of the Month.” During our visit, this was a stela depicting the god Hapi celebrating the Nile festival. While the idea is commendable, the display is not particularly prominent and can easily be overlooked.

The Old Kingdom galleries have been partially rearranged, with Djoser’s statue and the green faience tiles from the Step Pyramid prominently placed at the end of the first corridor. Nearby are two of my favourite pieces: the Geese of Meidum (now framed, though not ideally), and the life-size wooden statue of Sheikh el-Beled, displayed in a side room alongside other masterpieces of wooden sculpture. The Triad of Menkaure (Mykerinos), a piece of flawless stone sculpturing, and the iconic Seated Scribe are located close by.

The Middle Kingdom follows with impressive life-size statues and reliefs. The New Kingdom begins with the colossal smiling face of Queen Hatshepsut. From here, a broad staircase leads to the upper floor, where several beautifully preserved papyri depicting the Book of the Dead are displayed on the walls — unfortunately without much explanation.

The upper floor houses three particularly important collections: the intact burial assemblage of Yuya and Thuya (parents of Queen Tiye) in the main corridor; the Tanis treasures of the third-intermediate-periode King Psusennes I, largely made of silver, in the former Tutankhamun galleries; and an exhibition documenting the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb.

The rooms that once housed the royal mummies are now empty and awaiting reactivation. On the opposite side of the floor, a special exhibition focuses on the discovery of hidden treasures, such as the royal mummies cachettes of Luxor.

Back on the ground floor, the Akhenaten collection remains an impressive assembly of objects from the Amarna period. The grand central hall displays large sections of the floor and wall decorations from Akhenaten’s palace, alongside colossal statues of Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye.

At the exit, visitors pass through another security check to ensure no artefacts ‘leave’ the museum. This is followed by a bazaar-like area with souvenir shops, including an official replica provider. Receipts should be kept, as travellers may be asked at the airport to prove that purchased items are not antiquities. Food and drinks in the area are overpriced; staff explained this as a consequence of high rental costs.

The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM)

The GEM offers a very different visitor experience in terms of presentation, layout and comfort. Located about 45 minutes from central Cairo and Tahrir Square, it sits next to the Giza pyramids as part of a vast complex, some sections of which are still under development. The long-term vision includes an organic connection with the Giza Plateau, which has recently benefited from significant improvements in organisation, cleanliness and control of touting.

Currently, the museum is accessible only by car (there is a large parking area available), though a metro station is planned. Tickets for non-resident foreigners cost E£1450 (about €25). Opening hours are 8:30–19:30 daily, with extended hours until 22:00 on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Entry is time-slotted.

From the vast open plaza, dominated by the suspended obelisk of Ramses II (hung so its lower inscriptions can be read), visitors proceed toward an impressive entrance crowned by an alabaster roof engraved with the names of the pharaohs. A discreet opening in the alabaster allows sunlight to illuminate the colossal statue of Ramses II in the main hall twice a year, on his birthday and coronation day — an effect reminiscent of Abu Simbel.

The statue, originally from the Memphis region, stood for decades outside Cairo’s main railway station before being relocated to the GEM, where it now enjoys a dignified and monumental setting. From the atrium, visitors ascend the grand staircase or escalator to a viewpoint offering a direct view of the Giza pyramids.

From the top you walk down twelve galleries organised chronologically from prehistory to the Roman period, with thematic sections on daily life, royalty and divinity, and funerary practices. In a separate wing, all 5,000 objects from Tutankhamun’s tomb are displayed together for the first time, fully restored and conserved. The king’s throne and iconic golden mask are clearly the centre of attention; during our visit, queues formed in multiple loops around the mask.

Khufu’s solar boat, previously housed in a modest structure near the Great Pyramid, is now displayed in a purpose-built hall within the GEM complex. A winding staircase allows visitors to admire every detail of this 43-metre-long vessel. A second boat is currently being reassembled in the same space.

High-end restaurants and shops are available, though at the time of our visit the official GEM catalogue was still in preparation.

The National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation (NMEC)

The NMEC houses the royal mummies formerly displayed in the Egyptian Museum. They were transferred here in 2021 during the highly choreographed “Golden Parade,” accompanied by full military honours awarded to the former sovereigns of the country. After a period in the 1980s when ethical concerns led to their removal from display, the mummies are now presented in a properly climatized, catacomb-like gallery in the museum’s basement.

The upper floors provide a concise overview of Egyptian history, from the Predynastic period to modern times, using well-selected representative objects. A separate section focuses on social life across the millennia.

The NMEC is open daily from 9:00 to 17:00. Tickets for foreigners cost E£550 (about €10).