The story behind the pyramid wall design of Grand Egyptian Museum. - Egypt Today

https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/91119/The-story-behind-the-pyramid-wall-design-of-Grand-Egyptian

The story behind the pyramid wall design of Grand Egyptian Museum.

BY

Egypt Today staff

Sat, 22 Aug 2020 - 11:50 GMT

File: Grand Egyptian Museum.

CAIRO - 22 August 2020: The main focus of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) façade is to express Egyptian civilization using all its elements.

 

Egyptian raw materials are used in the cladding of this unique and innovative design, employing eternal symbols to characterise our ancient civilization.

 

The façade includes seven pyramids, a number that has held significant meaning throughout Egyptian history. The eastern façade of GEM is 46 metres high and more than 800 metres long and is divided into three parts, two of which contains three pyramids.

 

The use of illumination to link the earth to the sky through light represents the fourth dimension.

 

 

 

A seventh transparent pyramid is located on the façade facing north toward the Giza Plateau.

 

This pyramid represents the continuity of Egypt's pioneering influence from antiquity to the modern day.

 

Egypt's historical role in the transmission of civilization through sciences, arts and literature to the world is symbolised as emerging from the south to influence and educate the north (western culture).

 

The façade was built by Egyptian workmen with locally sourced materials in acknowledgment that we are following in the steps of our ancestors in this great engineering and construction project.

 

The façade was covered with Egyptian marble extracted from the Sinai quarries, which was used by the ancient Egyptians in statues and the architectural elements in temples. The main entrance façade presents a series of cartouches containing the kings of Egypt to welcome all visitors.

 

 

 

The previous design of the GEM façade was originally designed as a metal wall that would have stood independently 17 metres away from the museum body!

 

It consisted of a metal triangular structure similar to billboards, with a maximum height of 46 metres and a minimum height of 12 meters, to be made of transparent marble only available from quarries in the region of Macedonia.

 

It was decided that the concept was not in-keeping with the ancient Egyptian narrative and was subsequently replaced by a façade more in keeping with the GEM's character.

 

This project was completed in three months at a cost of 20 million dollars, whereas the original estimated cost of the initial plan had been expected to reach 250 million dollars!

 

The GEM presents an elegant design that is well implemented, using locally sourced materials, built by Egyptians for the world.

 

The world is waiting for the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is the largest museum in the world.  It contains a large number of artifacts that exceed 50,000 pieces. The entire belongings of the golden king, Tutankhamun, will be displayed for visitors for the first time.

 

Also, the construction work of the museum helped to develop its surroundings, to facilitate the movement of traffic to and from the museum.

 

Among the works developed in the vicinity of the museum is the re-route of Alexandria Road, the development of Al-Fayoum Road; which will be the main entrance to the new Pyramid Plateau Project, in addition to constructing a new tunnel.

 

There will also be a walkway of two km long by half a kilometer wide, which starts from the site of the museum down to the three pyramids. The shooting club will also be evacuated, and a stage will be placed in its location to hold the various events of the opening. 

 

Coordination is being made with the concerned authorities to link the pyramid project and some important hotels to the site.

 

Also, there are networks linking the regions with each other through a teleferic that travels through ten stations,  in addition to a subway access to the area, as well as the presence of an airport close to the Grand Egyptian Museum and the pyramids area, which is the Sphinx Airport, six to seven kilometers away.

 

As for the development work of the Grand Egyptian Museum and the pyramids area, 96 percent of the Grand Egyptian Museum project has been completed, and it is scheduled to open in 2021.

 

General Supervisor of the Grand Egyptian Museum project and the surrounding area Atef Moftah, , confirmed that nothing in the Grand Egyptian Museum is left to chance, as the museum's planning and the planning of the surrounding roads are done in a world-class standard using the latest scientific methods followed internationally. 

 

In view of the importance of the largest archaeological museums in the world, there is huge interest from the state for this great edifice.

 

 

Khufu's solar ships are among the most important discoveries of the twentieth century, which caused a sensation in various countries of the world, due to the distinct archaeological and heritage value of the ancient Egyptian history and civilization.

 

A project to transport the King Khufu's 1st solar ship is currently underway, to preserve the relic, so that it will be among the exhibits of the Grand Egyptian Museum. 

 

The acclaimed American news-based pay television channel CNN presented a 30-minute Inside the Middle East special program explores the conservation of treasures, the exhibits of the Grand Egyptian Museum and what it means for Egypt.

 

''This weekend CNN goes behind the scenes of the Grand Egyptian Museum; a new home for Tutankhamun's treasures. The 30-minute Inside the Middle East special programme explores the conservation of treasures, the exhibits of the Grand Egyptian Museum and what it means for Egypt'' previously tweeted CNN on its official Twitter account.

 

Before its inauguration, Nick Glass reports for CNN's Inside the Middle East and goes behind the scenes at the museum, exploring the exhibits, conservation work and the museum's significance as a major new archaeological and cultural destination.

 

 

 

The Grand Egyptian Museum which is regarded as Egypt's gift to the world, is the biggest archaeological museum ever created and will house the greatest collection of artefacts from the unique ancient Egyptian civilization.

 

 

In the program promo, CNN said that this month a special inside the Middle East, visit the largest museum of its kind dedicated to one civilization. '' See Tutankhamun as u have never seen him before''

'' We thought we should built the largest museum in the world, Cairo will be the city of museums'' Acclaimed Egyptian Egyptologist Zahi Hawass said in the program promo.

 

 

 

 

 The greatness of the Grand Egyptian Museum

The Grand Egyptian Museum will be the largest museum in the world dedicated to ancient Egyptian culture.

This is one of a kind museum is tailor made to preserve and exhibits Egypt precious national heritage with state-of-the-art conservation laboratories, along with educational facilities, temporary exhibition halls, a children's museum, a conference centre, restaurants, cafes, shops and large gardens for everyone to enjoy.

GEM will house over 5000 artifacts of Egypt's most famous king Tutankhamun, from his royal tomb, many never seen in public before. The Main Galleries show material from the Prehistoric to the Roman periods, while our entrance areas focus on Kingship and Power. All GEM exhibitions will be contextualised for the visitor, with stories, texts, digital interactives and media displays.

The cherry on top that Grand Egyptian Museum will contain the first ever hanging obelisk on show at the entrance of the museum.

GEM's Executive Affairs for Restoration and Transportation of Antiquities Eissa Zidan said that the restoration and construction of the world's first hanging obelisk will be completed soon and placed in front of the main facade of the museum, the bottom of the obelisk will contain the cartridges of King Ramses II.

Zidan added that the aim of the obelisk design made by General Supervisor of the Grand Museum Atef Moftah, is to make GEM's visitor able see the cartridge from below.

The design allows the visitor to enter the obelisk base to see the archaeological base below it and by looking at the top of the obelisk, cartridges of King Ramesses II can be seen.

Zidan further explained that the design of the obelisk is unique in the world, where the obelisk will be hung on four columns, taking into account the loads and vibrations on the body of the obelisk. The hanging obelisk will be the first artefact to receive the visitor outside the lobby of the museum.

GEM's Executive Affairs for Restoration and Transportation of Antiquities confirmed the completion of the obelisk restoration work, including mechanical and chemical cleaning, and strengthening of cracks in it, pointing out that the reassembling the obelisk is currently being completed.

He added that the word (Egypt) will be engraved in all languages of the world on the the columns and on the sides of the base bearing the obelisk, so that this design becomes a mix between the Egyptian genius in the past, present and future.

The inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum is one of the main events that Egypt and the whole world is waiting for in 2020.

 

 

More than 49,603 artifacts were moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum so far.

One of the most important transferred artifacts were the statues of King Ramses II, Sekhmet and Seti, in addition to a huge pink-granite portray of Ramses VI, and another distinguished set of statues that express the mastery of ancient Egyptian art.

Also a statue of King Khafra made of alabaster and a statue of the priest Kay made of colored limestone, depicting the priest sitting on a seat with a half backrest, beside his left foot is a small statue of his wife and a sarcophagus of king Senusert I was transferred to GEM.

On October 19 ministry of antiquities announced the discovery of the largest cache in the cemetery of El-Assasif by the Egyptian archaeological mission. A total of 30 coffins spanning back to the 22nd Pharaonic Dynasty were discovered and placed in a warehouse to protect them from thievery.

The 30 archaeological coffins have been transferred to the Grand Egyptian Museum.

The cache was buried one meter from the surface of the ground. The first row consisted of 18 coffins and the second consisted of 12 coffins for men, women, and 3 children.

For the first time GEM will display Tutankhmaum treasures in one place. The total number of antiquities belonging to King Tutankhamen is 5398. Among king Tut's artefacts that was transferred is his coffin.

The transferred coffin is one of the three coffins of Tutankhmaum, portraying the golden king as God Osiris. The coffin was discovered in King Tut's burial chamber in 1922. The outer ark is made of gilded wood.

The hands are clipped with gold foil, crossed across the chest, while holding royal decals inlaid with blue and red glass beads. It is 223.5 cm in length, 86.8 cm in diameter, while its height is 105.5 cm. The ark contains silver handles on both sides that were used to move the lid.

Minister of Antiquities announced that 50000 artifacts will be displayed in the Grand Egyptian Museum.

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