National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation to open next September

Ahram Online (Nevine El-Aref)

Culture Minister Farouk Hosny on Monday inspected the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) to check on the final stage of its construction.

During the tour Hosny said that the work was on schedule and told reporters that a committee will be appointed to follow up on the progress.

Developed with technical support from UNESCO, the building, located in EL-Fustat, was designed by the Egyptian architect Dr El Ghazzali Kosseiba and the Japanese interior designer Arata Isozaki.

Hosny described the museum as an exploration of Egypt's history through an exploration of its people as well as the monuments they built. On display will be 150,000 artifacts selected from museums around Egypt including Cairo's Egyptian, Islamic and Coptic museums; theGreco-Roman and Alexandria National museums in Alexandria; and the Luxor Museum. Archaeological artifacts kept in storage in sites such as the Giza Plateau and Saqqara will also be put on display.