Minister of Culture, Farouk Hosny announced that the project’s aim is to provide more services and facilities to the museum’s patrons, which will include adding a new visitor’s route and extending the hours of operation until 10:00 pm.
The museum is now equipped with a brand new visitor’s center that includes a beautiful bookstore, cafeteria, restaurant and a children’s museum. This center is located on the western side of the Egyptian Museum and will be accessible through the museum’s new tour route.
Dr. Hawass also will announce the opening of an open-air permanent exhibition on the eastern side of the museum. The collection includes a number of sarcophagi, statuary and architectural elements from ancient Egyptian tombs and temples.
At the completion of this Development Project, visitors will enter the museum from the main entrance gate located at Tahrir Square and exit from the side gate next to Mariette’s mausoleum.
This phase of the Egyptian Museum Development Project is one part of a multi-phase plan to transform the museum into a beautiful space for the display of ancient Egyptian art. The project will be complete after transferring some of the existing Egyptian Museum collection to the planned Grand Egyptian Museum overlooking Giza plateau.
The basement of the museum has also gotten a face-lift as part of the project. Hawass explains that it has been transformed into a research center for scientific testing, equipped with a DNA lab, documentation center and administrative sector.
