emirates7 - As a teenager, Eid Mertah would spend hours absorbed in books about King Tutankhamun, carefully tracing hieroglyphs and dreaming of one day holding the young pharaoh’s iconic golden mask.
Years later, that dream became reality. Now a conservator, Mertah found himself delicately brushing centuries-old dust from one of Tutankhamun’s gilded ceremonial shrines—an artefact he once admired only in textbooks.
“I chose to study archaeology because of Tut,” said the 36-year-old in an interview with AFP. “Working on his treasures was my dream—and it came true.”
Mertah is part of a dedicated team of over 150 conservators and 100 archaeologists who have spent more than ten years painstakingly restoring thousands of artefacts in preparation for the long-anticipated opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), a $1 billion complex located near the Giza Plateau.
Although the museum was initially scheduled to open on July 3, regional security concerns have caused another delay, with the opening now expected in the latter part of the year.
Over the years, the project has faced multiple setbacks due to political instability and the Covid-19 pandemic. But once it opens, the GEM will be the world’s largest museum dedicated to a single civilisation.
It will showcase more than 100,000 artefacts, with over half available for public viewing. A standout feature will be a live conservation laboratory, where visitors can watch experts at work through glass panels. Over the next three years, this team will restore a 4,500-year-old solar boat found near the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu, which was meant to carry his spirit alongside the sun god Ra.
The museum’s centrepiece, however, is the extraordinary collection of over 5,000 items belonging to King Tutankhamun. Many of these objects will be displayed together for the first time, including his famed golden mask, gilded coffins, ornate amulets, beaded collars, ceremonial chariots, and even two mummified foetuses believed to be his stillborn daughters.
Years later, that dream became reality. Now a conservator, Mertah found himself delicately brushing centuries-old dust from one of Tutankhamun’s gilded ceremonial shrines—an artefact he once admired only in textbooks.
“I chose to study archaeology because of Tut,” said the 36-year-old in an interview with AFP. “Working on his treasures was my dream—and it came true.”
Mertah is part of a dedicated team of over 150 conservators and 100 archaeologists who have spent more than ten years painstakingly restoring thousands of artefacts in preparation for the long-anticipated opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), a $1 billion complex located near the Giza Plateau.
Although the museum was initially scheduled to open on July 3, regional security concerns have caused another delay, with the opening now expected in the latter part of the year.
Over the years, the project has faced multiple setbacks due to political instability and the Covid-19 pandemic. But once it opens, the GEM will be the world’s largest museum dedicated to a single civilisation.
It will showcase more than 100,000 artefacts, with over half available for public viewing. A standout feature will be a live conservation laboratory, where visitors can watch experts at work through glass panels. Over the next three years, this team will restore a 4,500-year-old solar boat found near the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu, which was meant to carry his spirit alongside the sun god Ra.
The museum’s centrepiece, however, is the extraordinary collection of over 5,000 items belonging to King Tutankhamun. Many of these objects will be displayed together for the first time, including his famed golden mask, gilded coffins, ornate amulets, beaded collars, ceremonial chariots, and even two mummified foetuses believed to be his stillborn daughters.