Prince Albert II attends inauguration of Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo
© Michael Alesi / Prince's Palace
Prince Albert II was among eighty heads of state and government invited by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi for the official opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum.
On Saturday 1 November, Prince Albert II took part in the inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum near Cairo. Welcomed by the Egyptian president and his wife, the Sovereign attended the ceremony, which brought together more than eighty kings, princes and international leaders. The museum — the result of twenty years of work — stands at the foot of the Giza pyramids and offers a remarkable view over the site. Prince Albert II hailed a major step forward in preserving Egypt’s history, emphasising the importance of passing on the precious legacies of the ancient civilisation to future generations through the large-scale cultural project.
100,000 artefacts and Tutankhamun’s treasure
After speeches and artistic performances, Prince Albert II toured the museum galleries, exploring among them Tutankhamun’s treasures, unearthed in 1922 in an intact tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The museum houses more than one hundred thousand artefacts retracing five millennia of history and thirty pharaonic dynasties.
At the entrance hall, a monumental eleven-metre-high statue of Ramses II welcomes visitors. The Grand Egyptian Museum is now the largest archaeological museum in the world entirely dedicated to ancient Egypt.