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A stunning museum has opened in Egypt's capital, Cairo. The Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) held an inauguration ceremony on Saturday. A host of dignitaries attended it. Egypt's president said GEM "is set to become an international cultural and scientific hub, contributing to enhancing tourism…in Egypt". Authorities hailed the $1.2 billion museum 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 will attract visitors. It is in Giza and offers panoramic vistas of the Sphinx and the Pyramids.
The museum is the world's largest archaeological site dedicated to an ancient civilisation. It has over 50,000 exhibits. These have been relocated from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and from across Egypt. A giant 3,200-year-old, 11-metre-tall statue of the pharaoh Ramesses the Great dominates the entrance. GEM also houses the whole Tutankhamun collection. This was unearthed in 1922 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 in the British Museum.
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