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A stunning new museum has opened in Egypt's capital city, Cairo. The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) held an inauguration ceremony on Saturday attended by a host of dignitaries including kings and heads of state. Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said GEM "is set to become an international cultural and scientific hub, contributing to enhancing tourism promotion in Egypt". Authorities hailed the museum, which cost more than $1.2 billion to build, as "Egypt's gift to the world". A local tour guide hopes it will "usher in a new golden age of Egyptology". The location of GEM is also likely to attract visitors as it is situated in Giza and offers panoramic vistas of the Sphinx and the Pyramids.
The museum has been billed as the world's largest archaeological site dedicated to an ancient civilisation. It houses over 50,000 exhibits that have been relocated from the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo and from sites across Egypt. Dominating the entrance is a towering 3,200-year-old, 11-metre-tall granite statue of Ramesses the Great, one of Egypt's most celebrated pharaohs. GEM also houses the entire Tutankhamun collection in one place for the first time since 1922, when it was unearthed in the southern city of Luxor. Officials hope GEM will encourage the return of Egyptian antiquities held in other countries, especially the Rosetta Stone, which is currently on display at the British Museum.
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