The Grand Egyptian Museum sits on the Giza plateau as a bold, contemporary home for Egypt’s artifacts. Its sprawling campus houses more than 100,000 objects, from pre-dynastic tools to New Kingdom masterpieces. Highlights include the complete Tutankhamun collection, Khufu’s Solar Boat, the Ramses II statue, and chronological galleries that trace 5,000 years of history. State-of-the-art displays and a landmark setting create a seamless transition from modern Cairo to ancient Egypt.
Explore the Grand Egyptian Museum Collection | Artifacts, Exhibits, Highlights, & More
Welcome to the Grand Egyptian Museum collection—a modern gateway to Egypt’s 5,000-year heritage. Here, royal treasures sit beside daily-life artifacts, revealing beliefs and stories that shaped a civilization.
Discover the Grand Egyptian Museum collection
Grand Egyptian Museum Collection | What to Look Out For?
Tutankhamun Galleries
King Tutankhamun Galleries showcase the full 5,398 treasures recovered from the boy king’s tomb, presented together for the first time in history. Expect the iconic solid gold funerary mask, gilded chariots, jewelry, and personal belongings that illuminate daily life, ritual, and belief within New Kingdom Egypt. The display narrates burial practices, court life, and religious symbolism through exceptional craftsmanship in gold, glass, and precious stones.
Ramses II Statue & Grand Hall
The 83-ton Ramses II statue commands the Grand Hall’s atrium and creates a powerful first encounter with royal grandeur. The statue stands beneath a pyramid skylight, drawing visitors toward the Grand Staircase—an architectural timeline of statues, stelae, and sarcophagi that frames Egypt’s dynastic arc from the Old Kingdom to the New Kingdom. This opening sequence sets the scale and ambition of the museum’s collection.
Khufu’s Solar Boat
Khufu’s Solar Boat pavilion houses a cedar vessel built to accompany pharaoh Khufu in the afterlife. This exhibit highlights ancient shipbuilding and ceremonial maritime practice, showing how royal mortuary beliefs connected to pyramid construction. The hull’s precision and craftsmanship offer a tangible link to one of Egypt’s greatest architectural achievements and deepen your understanding of how ritual, engineering, and kingship intersected in ancient Egypt.
Hanging Obelisk
The Hanging Obelisk in the entrance courtyard marks GEM’s ambitious fusion of ancient iconography and modern architecture. This suspended, cartouche-adorned shaft invites photos from beneath the glass pit and sets the stage for the gallery journey inside. It creates an unforgettable framing moment before you begin exploring the museum, linking monumental symbolism with a distinctly contemporary approach to display and visitor experience.
Statue of Ramesses II
The centrepiece of the Grand Hall, this 11.35-metre-tall statue was carved from red granite during Egypt’s New Kingdom, over 3,000 years ago. Originally placed outside the Temple of Ptah in Memphis, it stood guard at one of the city’s most important religious sites.
- Monumental scale: The granite statue stands 11.35 metres tall and measures 1.8 metres wide, making it one of the first major artefacts you encounter inside the museum.
- Originally from Memphis: It once stood outside the main temple of the god Ptah, guarding the sacred inner space.
- A royal image with religious significance: For many years, people regarded the statue as a god who listened to prayers and received offerings.
- Look behind the king’s legs: Carvings of his son, Prince Khaemwaset, and daughter, Princess Bintanath, appear behind his legs.
- A symbol of royal power: Its enormous scale reflects how ancient Egyptian rulers used monumental statues to express authority and status.
- The first artefact installed at GEM: The statue was welcomed into the Grand Hall in 2018, before the museum’s construction was complete.
What to see on the Grand Staircase
The Grand Staircase at the Grand Egyptian Museum turns the journey between levels into a walk through ancient Egyptian history. Its monumental statues, temple architecture and funerary objects explore four themes: Royal Image, Divine Houses, Gods and Kings, and Journey to Eternity. As you make your way up, look closely at how these objects reflect royal power, relationships between rulers and deities, and beliefs about the afterlife.
These granite blocks once formed a monumental doorway, probably at a palace belonging to King Amenemhat I. Its inscriptions record the king’s building work and mention a later restoration by King Senwosret III, nearly a century afterward.
This group brings a king and two deities together, reflecting the close relationship between royal authority and religion in ancient Egypt. Look at how the figures are positioned to understand how rulers associated themselves with divine protection and power.
This red granite pyramidion once crowned an obelisk at Karnak’s Temple of Amun-Re. Its original carvings showed Hatshepsut receiving a blessing from Amun-Re, but the queen’s image and name were later altered, probably under Thutmose III. The changes offer a glimpse into how monuments could be modified to reshape a ruler’s legacy.
Carved from granite, this statue depicts the king seated on a throne in a nemes headcloth and royal kilt. The inscriptions along the throne identify him by name and royal titles. Notice the formal pose and regalia used to communicate his status as pharaoh.
This granite sarcophagus is decorated with deities, protective symbols and funerary texts, including spells from the Book of the Dead and Pyramid Texts. Images of Nut, Isis, Nephthys and the Sons of Horus reflect the religious ideas and rituals intended to protect Djehutymose on his journey into the afterlife.
This red granite statue combines traditionally feminine features with royal symbols such as the false beard, nemes headcloth and kilt. Hatshepsut ruled as king, and the sculpture reflects how she adopted the visual language of pharaohs to assert her authority. It was discovered at her mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahri in Luxor.
What to see in the Main Galleries
The Main Galleries at the Grand Egyptian Museum trace ancient Egypt’s history through objects from different periods, revealing how people lived, how rulers established their authority, and how religious beliefs shaped everyday life and death. Explore the collection through three connected themes: Society, Kingship, and Beliefs.
Ancient Egyptian society was shaped by family, skilled work, and the roles people held in their communities. These objects offer glimpses into family life, everyday production, literacy, and the practical knowledge that helped society function.
- Group Statue of Shepsi and His Family: Shepsi, a court official, is shown seated beside his wife, Nikau, and their son. Their poses and carved details offer a glimpse into family relationships, social standing, and how people commemorated themselves.
- Statuette of Two Women Making Beer: This model depicts women making beer, a staple of ancient Egyptian life. It offers a glimpse into food production and the work behind an everyday drink.
- Statue of the Scribe Mitri: Scribes played an important role in administration and record-keeping. This statue introduces the skills associated with literacy and the status that writing could bring.
- Plumb Line Level: This tool illustrates the practical measuring techniques used in construction. It highlights the technical knowledge needed to build accurately in ancient Egypt.
Kingship was central to ancient Egypt’s political and religious life. Royal statues and inscribed monuments show how pharaohs presented their authority, connected their rule with the gods, and supported temples and religious institutions.
- Donation Stela of Apries: This inscribed stela depicts King Apries making an offering to the sacred bull Apis. Its record of a land donation illustrates the relationship between royal authority and temple endowments.
- Group Statue of Amun-Re, King Thutmose I and Queen Ahmose: This group brings the god Amun-Re together with King Thutmose I and Queen Ahmose. Their representation offers a way to explore the connection between divine power and royal legitimacy.
- Head of King Amenhotep III: This royal portrait offers a closer look at how a pharaoh was represented through sculpture. Its features and artistic treatment help illustrate how royal images communicated authority.
- Offering Table of King Amenemhat II: This royal offering table connects the king with the practice of presenting offerings. It offers a starting point for exploring how rulers participated in rituals and maintained relationships with the divine.
Religion shaped how ancient Egyptians understood the world, honoured their gods, and prepared for life after death. Funerary objects and divine imagery reveal how these beliefs found expression in rituals, personal objects, and representations of deities.
- Shabti Box of Djedmaatiuesankh: Shabtis were funerary figures intended to carry out tasks for the deceased in the afterlife. A box made to hold them reflects the preparations Egyptians made for existence beyond death.
- Ointment Vessel of Mesehti: This alabaster vessel belonged to the collection of Mesehti, a provincial governor. It offers a glimpse into the use of personal-care vessels and the role such objects could play in funerary contexts.
- Block Statue of Sobeknakht: The compact form of a block statue presents its subject in a formal, enduring pose. Depending on its inscriptions and original setting, this type of monument can reveal how individuals expressed their identity and religious devotion.
- Statue of Wadjet: Wadjet was an ancient Egyptian goddess associated with protection and the cobra. Her image offers a glimpse into the deities Egyptians invoked for protection and the role divine figures played in royal and religious symbolism.
What to see in the Tutankhamun Galleries
The Tutankhamun Galleries bring together treasures from the young king’s tomb, from intricate jewellery and ceremonial objects to items prepared for his burial and journey into the afterlife. Each piece reveals something different about his life, royal status, and the beliefs surrounding death and rebirth.
Made of solid gold and inlaid with coloured materials, Tutankhamun’s burial mask was placed over the head and shoulders of his mummified remains. Its idealised likeness of the king combines royal imagery with religious symbolism associated with the afterlife.
- Look closely: The striped royal headdress, protective cobra and vulture emblems, and detailed facial features.
- Why it matters: The mask presents Tutankhamun as both a king and a divine figure, with inscriptions on the back invoking the protection of several gods.
Carved from alabaster, this cup opens into the shape of a white lotus flower, with blue lotus blooms forming its handles. Small kneeling figures of Heh, the god of eternity, hold symbols associated with life and the passage of years.
- Look closely: The lotus-shaped bowl, floral handles, and miniature figures supporting baskets.
- Why it matters: The symbols and inscription express a wish for the king to enjoy everlasting life.
This small wooden model shows the king as a mummy resting on a bed with a lion-shaped head. Two protective figures sit beside him: a human-headed bird representing his ba, or spirit, and a falcon probably representing the king transformed into Horus.
- Look closely: The lion-headed bed and the two winged figures beside the king.
- Why it matters: The model reflects ancient Egyptian beliefs about the king’s spirit and his transformation after death. An inscription identifies Maya, an overseer of works in the Valley of the Kings, as the person who gifted it to Tutankhamun.
Four miniature coffins made of solid gold held Tutankhamun’s internal organs, which were removed during mummification. Their feather-like patterns are inlaid with red carnelian and coloured glass, while each coffin depicts the king wearing a royal headdress.
- Look closely: The fine inlays, royal regalia, and protective vulture and cobra symbols.
- Why it matters: These coffinettes protected the king’s organs for burial and were connected with deities who guarded his body in the afterlife.
This wooden armchair is covered with gold and decorated with glass, faience, and semi-precious stones. Its backrest shows Tutankhamun and his queen beneath a floral canopy, with rays from the Aten sun disk reaching towards them.
- Look closely: The intimate royal scene on the backrest and the winged cobra figures on the sides.
- Why it matters: The throne offers a glimpse of royal life and the artistic craftsmanship of Tutankhamun’s court. Although adult-sized, the museum dates it to the beginning of his reign.
These elaborate gold earrings combine tiny portraits of Tutankhamun with colourful bird figures, blue glass duck heads, and inlaid falcon wings. Their intricate construction makes them a striking example of the jewellery found in the king’s tomb.
- Look closely: The miniature royal portraits, dangling bird forms, and small cobra figures.
- Why it matters: The earrings reveal the detail invested in royal adornment. Their design also includes shen signs, symbols associated with eternity.
Does the Grand Egyptian Museum have mummies?
Yes. The Grand Egyptian Museum displays human and animal mummies that offer a closer look at ancient Egyptian burial customs and religious beliefs. You can see the mummified remains of Tutankhamun’s two infant daughters, a young girl preserved in gilded cartonnage, and a crocodile mummy in the Main Galleries. Tutankhamun’s own mummy remains in his tomb in Luxor.
- Tutankhamun’s two infant daughters: Their mummified remains were found in the king’s tomb and are displayed as part of the Tutankhamun collection.
- Mummified Child in Gilded Cartonnage: This young girl from Beni Suef dates to the Graeco-Roman period. Her body is covered in gilded cartonnage, a moulded covering made from layers of plastered fabric, and enclosed in a wooden coffin.
- Crocodile mummy: Displayed in the Main Galleries, this adult crocodile mummy dates to the Graeco-Roman period. Crocodiles were associated with Sobek, a deity linked to the Nile and its fertility. Mummified crocodiles were offered in religious contexts as part of his cult.
Frequently Asked Questions About Grand Egyptian Museum Collection
The GEM houses Tutankhamun treasures, royal statues, everyday life objects, and funerary items across twelve chronological galleries.
The GEM hosts over 100,000 artifacts, including the full Tutankhamun collection, alongside statues, jewelry, and objects spanning Egypt’s long history.
Not all galleries are open at once; some spaces rotate for conservation and display considerations. Tutankhamun galleries remain a major highlight as the collection expands.
Yes. GEM offers in-house guided tours in English and other languages, plus private or small-group options through partner providers.
Personal photography is generally allowed, though restrictions may apply to flash use and professional equipment.
Book in advance, choose a timed entry slot if available, and consider a private guide for deeper context. A planned route helps you cover the Grand Hall, Tutankhamun galleries, and Khufu’s Boat efficiently.
