The Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square is buzzing with activity as a grand plan is in the works to commemorate its 114th anniversary on Thursday.
The museum will hold a gala ceremony in its garden marking the occasion and to mark the fact that starting this week, the museum will be open late into the evening every Thursday and Sunday.
In addition to its normal opening hours of 9am to 5pm, the museum will now be open from 5:30pm to 9pm on those two days.
Distinctive for its burnt-orange, neo-classical façade, the museum was built in 1902. It is home to 150,000 of the nation’s most important artefacts, from a long and unique span of Egypt’s history.
Waadala Abul Ela, the head of the Projects Department at the ministry, told Ahram Online that installing the new lighting system inside and outside the museum began in July in an attempt to expand the museum's hours of operation into the evening.
He said the project will cost EGP 2 million, a fee the Ministry of Tourism has offered to cover. The project includes the installation of new electric cables as well as changing the lighting on paths both inside and outside the museum.
The director-general of the museum, Sabah Abdel-Razzek, explained that to celebrate the museum’s 114th birthday, a temporary exhibition is to be inaugurated by Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany on Thursday. It includes a collection of nine artefacts from the discoveries of the late Egyptologist Selim Hassan during his excavation works in Giza and Saqqara necropolis.
A 3D hologram show of some of his unique discoveries is to be screened and Reda folk dance group will perform.
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