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It was supposed to be one of the great archaeological events this year, but the global coronavirus crisis has thwarted the plans. The inauguration of the Great Egyptian Museum, which is built a stone's throw from the Giza pyramids, will add the umpteenth delay in the already long history of setbacks that have marked the creation of this expensive scientific and cultural project.

The order to delay the opening of the new institution until 2021, originally planned for this coming autumn, comes from the Egyptian president, former army chief Abdelfatah al Sisi, "in light of the development of the coronavirus," according to a statement from his office forwarded to EL MUNDO. "Al Sisi has dictated to postpone the launch of all the national megaprojects planned for 2020," the note outlines.

The Great Egyptian Museum is a space of 92,000 square meters that, among other treasures of ancient Egypt, will display for the first time the complete trousseau of Tutankhamun . In total, more than 5,000 objects found by British archaeologist Howard Carter in November 1922 in the antechamber, burial chamber, treasure chamber, and an annex to the tomb of the boy pharaoh, KV62, in present-day Luxor, about 600 kilometers south of Cairo.

"When it opens its doors, visitors will enter a unique world. They will discover the era of the Pharaohs from 3,000 BC to the time of the Greeks and Romans in Egypt. It will be a journey through time and the jewel will be without place undoubtedly, 3,500 years old Tutankhamun, "archaeologist Tarek Taufik, general supervisor of the new center, predicted in conversation with EL MUNDO months before he was removed from office to be replaced by a general from the Egyptian army.

Lack of funds and revolution of 2011

The pandemic is not the only calamity that has crossed its path. The project, designed by the Heneghan Peng studio, was born in 2002 under the auspices of the media Zahi Hawass and UNESCO and suffered from the lack of funds and the break that sparked the decline of Hosni Mubarak in 2011 and the political turmoil that followed. Its total cost, more than 1 billion dollars, is partially financed by Japan.

Following the 2013 coup, Al Sisi added it to its list of projects of pharaonic proportions, which also includes the country's new capital, whose initial start-up has also been delayed to next year. More than 5,000 workers have worked against the clock in recent years in the vicinity of the new museum, between successive postponements of its opening. In April 2018, a fire - which had limited consequences on its framework - threatened to frustrate its start.

Even the direct involvement of the Army Corps of Engineers has not been able to iron out time. The progress, however, is noticeable for those who cross the attached road, on the way to the Giza necropolis. Its facade, made up of iconic pyramidal shapes, has been taking shape a few meters from one of the roads that lead to the Giza necropolis between cranes. Since January 2018 a colossus of Ramses II -12 meters high and 83 tons- emerges from the museum's access atrium.

Al Sisi's order, alleging the health crisis that is gripping the planet and which has left 1,173 infections and 78 deaths in Egypt, has also brought forward the definitive inauguration of the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, partially opened since 2017. The center It will show some 50,000 objects in its rooms in order to trace a journey through the civilization that grew along the Nile from prehistory to the present day.

A number of pieces similar to the one that will be exhibited in total by the Great Egyptian Museum. The center will display videos and recreations, signed by the Spanish multinational Acciona, and will resort to the use of interactive technology but "keeping the balance so that the pieces remain the stars," according to those responsible.

The enclosure also has a conservation and restoration laboratory that has been receiving and curing the jewels of ancient Egypt for a decade, which will end up being exhibited in its rooms. The complex will also house small hotels, shops and restaurants. The effectiveness of management, once its doors are open, is one of the unknowns. The release, a milestone called to increase tourism and renew the fury for Egyptology, will have to wait until next year, on a new date yet to be determined. If the curses allow it.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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