Cairo: Egypt at last opened the $1 billion Grand Egyptian Museum on Saturday as performers dressed in white tunics embroidered with designs inspired by ancient frescoes, greeted guests.

Lights illuminate the sky during the opening ceremony of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Giza, on the southwestern outskirts of the capital Cairo on November 1, 2025. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP)

"Today, as we celebrate together the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, we are writing a new chapter in the history of the present and the future," Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told a gathering of dignitaries, sitting in the museum's square.

Cairo has pinned great hopes on the long-delayed museum, which is a key plank of plans to revive the tourism industry so vital to its troubled economy.

It will be home to tens of thousands of objects dating back more than six millennia.

The audience a the opening watched a spectacular display of light and music, with the pyramids towering in front of them.

On giant screens above, scenes from celebrations in Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro played out against the backdrop of Egypt's ancient monuments.

(FILES) Visitors tour the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza on the southwestern outskirts of the capital Cairo on May 5, 2025. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP)

Dozens of performers dressed in elaborate Pharaonic costumes, their foreheads crowned with golden wreaths and sceptres in hand, played traditional tunes as a laser show depicting pharaohs and fireworks lit up the night sky above the museum.

"It is a living testimony to the genius of the Egyptian human, who built the pyramids and inscribed on the walls the story of immortality," Sisi said, referring to the new institution.

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