The Grand Egyptian Museum announced a lecture series by Zahi Hawass, the former Minister of Antiquities, and a world-famous Egyptologist. Let’s talk about the Grand Egyptian Museum, Dr. Hawass’s lecture series, how you can book tickets, and when the Grand Egyptian Museum might fully open.

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Let’s talk about the GEM

Here’s a refresher on the Grand Egyptian Museum. This is Egypt’s newest museum, and it’s not fully open yet. I have another YouTube video showing everything that is on display, currently, at the GEM, which you can check out here.

The GEM is all the way out in Giza, next to the Giza Pyramids, far from downtown Cairo. The best way to visit the GEM is with a private transfer and tour, but you can also take Uber or a taxi to the museum, although it is more difficult to get an Uber or a taxi when you leave the museum, because the area is under such heavy construction.

In addition to the GEM, there is also the old Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, in the center of downtown Cairo, which houses thousands of artifacts, and at the making of this video, still is the home to the most important King Tut artifacts, like the golden funerary mask, and his coffins. All of Tutankhamun’s artifacts will eventually be displayed at the GEM, but they have not moved over everything yet. Even when the GEM fully opens, the original Egyptian Museum will still be worth visiting – it will house thousands of artifacts still, and very important pieces, like the Narmer Palette, and masterwork pieces of Egyptian statuary, like this beautiful diorite statue of Menkaure, the builder of the second-largest pyramid in Giza.

Then there is the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, in Fustat, around a 20 minute drive away from downtown Cairo. This museum’s highlight is 22 royal mummies of kings and queens from the New Kingdom period.

Who is Dr. Zahi Hawass?

The newest development at the Grand Egyptian Museum is a lecture series being put on by Dr. Zahi Hawass, who is the former minister of tourism and antiquities in Egypt, meaning he used to be in charge of all of the ancient Egyptian sites throughout Egypt. 

Dr. Hawass in recent years has become a huge personality in the Egyptology field, encouraging and inspiring tons of visitors to come to Egypt. He gives talks often; I saw him at the Giza Pyramids in March of 2023 when he was announcing news of a new discovery in Giza, and then sat at the table next to his at the 9 Pyramids Lounge – he’s often the public face and the PR person for any announcements or news.

Grand Egyptian Museum Lecture Series

Dr. Hawass’s lecture series will happen at the lecture hall of the GEM – the GEM is a world-class museum that has several facilities in addition to the museum’s collection, one of these being a lecture hall that can seat hundreds of guests.

The lecture series is currently scheduled for:

1. October 13

2. November 15

3. December 15

4. And January 15

The lecture is going to cover all of the recent discoveries that have been made in Egypt, like new discoveries in the Giza Plateau, Saqqara, in Luxor, and more. You can see a video of Dr. Hawass talking about the lecture series by going to his Instagram, Tiktok, or visiting the Grand Egyptian Museum’s social media.

Quick note: photography and video will not be allowed during the lecture series.

One ticket to the lecture series will set you back $100 USD, which I am not sure if this ticket covers entrance to the Grand Egyptian Museum or any other parts of the museum that are not currently open to the public; I asked, but have not heard an answer back yet. Any updates I have, I will write a comment on this video and pin it.

In addition to the lecture series there will be a question/answer session, and you can bring one of Zahi Hawass’s books because there will be a book signing, and also an optional dinner with Dr. Hawass, catered by the Four Seasons Cairo. The dinner, however, adds on $400 USD to the ticket price, so I have no idea what kind of food and drinks they are serving at this dinner that adds on $400 to the cost of entry! It must be an extravagant feast at that price point.

The schedule for the evening includes arrival between 5-6pm, the lecture and question/answer session from 6-7pm, the book signing from 7-7:30, and for those folks who coughed up the additional $400, the catered dinner from 7:30-9pm.

Grand Egyptian Museum Lecture Tickets

Tickets at this time can be purchased via an international bank transfer only, no credit cards, and the GEM representatives say that you can cancel for free up to one week before the lecture. 

You need to book tickets in advance, at least 10 days ahead of time, and you can do that by filling out this Google form:

I presume that a ticket for the event will also include access to the areas of the GEM that are currently open to the public, like the Grand Hall, the Grand Staircase, the Hanging Obelisk Square, and the gallery of Senusert I statues, the newest-opened area of the GEM.

When will the Grand Egyptian Museum Open?

Something that we are not sure of, is if the GEM will be fully open by the time of Zahi Hawass’s lecture series. It would be an amazing opportunity to both see the full museum, and to hear a lecture from one of the most well-known Egyptian Egyptologists at the same time. However, I have given up any hope of the GEM opening up on any type of reasonable timeline, and I have completely stopped offering predictions or guesses as to the museum’s full opening. I will continue keeping you all up to date with any new information about the Grand Egyptian Museum, because I know this is one of the most important thing for my readers, but there have been so many times that we have heard about possible opening dates of the museum, only to be disappointed, so I am now telling folks that the only time I can say the museum will be open is when an opening is announced, and then I personally go to the museum, and take a video of it being fully open, and see it with my own eyes. So we will see!

Ok, I want to hear your thoughts – would you want to see this lecture series? What do you think about the cost, especially the cost of dinner? Would that be worth it to you to go to a special event at the GEM and have the chance to meet Dr. Hawass? Drop a comment and let me know your thoughts and questions!