World's Most Anticipated Grand Egyptian Museum Is Open, Kind Of

The museum, outside Cairo, has long been delayed by revolutions, wars, financial crises and a pandemic. Reports say its formal opening is set for July

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weighs more than 80 tonnes. The red-granite figure has a fabled modern history: It was found — lying on its side, broken into six pieces — by an Italian Egyptologist in 1820; in 1954 it was installed at a traffic circle in downtown Cairo, where it stood for half a century before being painstakingly transported to the new museum site in 2006.

From the atrium I ascended the Grand Staircase — first via a long escalator and then again on foot, having returned to the bottom, for a closer look at the dozens of large-scale statues, columns and sarcophagi that line the ascent.

Atop the stairs was another breathtaking surprise: an unobstructed view of the Giza pyramids, perfectly framed in a set of floor-to-ceiling windows.

I stood before the windows, helplessly transfixed, for the better part of an hour. If there's a better man-made view on the planet, I've yet to take it in.