logo
episode-header-image
May 2022
24m 28s

The Grand Egyptian Museum

Bbc World Service
About this episode

More than 10 years and one billion dollars in the making, the Grand Egyptian Museum is the sort of big statement architecture the Pharaohs would surely have respected. Built on a 120-acre site, just 2km from the pyramids of Giza, and housing 55,000 objects, this will be the world’s largest archaeological museum, served by a purpose-built international airport. It is hoped this prestige project will place Cairo back on the global map as the Egyptian government encourages the revival of mass tourism after a turbulent and damaging decade. Will it work?

Up next
Today
Bonus: Lives Less Ordinary presents, Hold Fast!
The incredible true story of how The Avontuur was locked down at sea for 188 days during the Covid-19 pandemic, with 15 people on board. The journey begins for ship’s cook Giulia Baccosi when she accepts a last-minute job aboard the sailing cargo ship The Avontuur. She tells the ... Show More
24m 55s
Yesterday
Mud wrestling and tent pegging: Africa’s unusual sports
We take a look at some of the more unusual sports practiced on the African continent. Kelvin Kimathi recently travelled to Uganda where a muddy version of entertainment wrestling is becoming increasingly popular. Marcia Veiga discovered Capoeira Angola whilst finding a way to con ... Show More
26m 21s
Yesterday
Ukrainians at war and their hopes for peace
While US President Donald Trump spearheads efforts to halt the conflict in Ukraine, Russian drones and missiles continue to kill and injure civilians, invaders control around a fifth of the country, and many Ukrainians fear that any peace agreement could result in a permanent los ... Show More
23m 29s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 16
Connais-tu vraiment l'Egypte ?
L'Égypte est un pays situé au nord-est de l'Afrique, célèbre pour ses pyramides et son riche passé historique. Sa capitale, Le Caire, est l'une des plus grandes villes du monde. Le Nil, un long fleuve, est essentiel pour la vie en Égypte. Ce pays attire des millions de touristes ... Show More
5m 7s
May 29
The ongoing mysteries of Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza
The Pyramids of Giza are among Egypt's most famous landmarks. The Great Pyramid is made up of 2.3 million stone blocks, weighing five million tonnes in total. For centuries no one has known precisely how they were built, or how the stones were transported.Using radar satellite im ... Show More
10m 23s
Jul 11
"You CAN'T Just Drill Into It!” Giza Pyramids - Is The Truth Being Hidden? With Dr Zahi Hawass
ExpressVPN: Go to https://ExpressVPN.com/Piers and find out how you can get 4 months of ExpressVPN free! Dr Zahi Hawass is perceived by many as the number one expert in the world on the subject of Egypt's mighty Pyramids, serving as the Chief Inspector of the Great Pyramids, the ... Show More
44m 33s
Mar 2025
Who Wants to Visit Egypt? November 2025 Tour Announcement
SOLD OUT FOR 2025. It's time to visit Egypt again. In November 2025, we are doing a 9-day visit to Luxor for the "Glories of Thebes!" Starting in Cairo (with the GEM) we head south to visit the Valley of the Kings, Memorial Temples, Deir el-Medina, Abydos, Karnak, and so much mor ... Show More
11m 28s
Jan 2013
04: The Step Pyramid
"No Stairway to Heaven - denied!" As Egypt's "Third Dynasty" began, a new monument took shape. King Netjerykhet Djoser and his architect, Imhotep, created something unusual. The Step Pyramid rose on the western horizon, ushering in a new era of monument building... Time Period: c ... Show More
44m 45s
May 7
How They Built the Pyramids
In 2013, a group of French and Egyptian archaeologists discovered of cache of papyri as old as the Great Pyramid of Giza. Some of the texts were written by people who had worked on the pyramids: a tally of their daily labour ferrying stones, for instance, between quarry and build ... Show More
47m 13s
Nov 2021
Ancient Egypt: Pyramids
The Great Pyramids of Giza are some of the largest, most foreboding structures on the planet, but the mystery of how they were built still plagues historians today. Some Egyptologists think aliens provided advanced technology, while engineers see evidence they were ancient nuclea ... Show More
47m 2s
Jul 30
What’s Under the Pyramids of Giza?
Earlier this year, Dr. Corrado Malanga and Dr. Filippo Biondi claimed they’d made a massive discovery at the Giza Complex in Egypt. Using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, combined with their own new technology, they said they’d located massive structures hidden below the Pyra ... Show More
33m 31s
Feb 2024
Nefertiti
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the woman who inspired one of the best known artefacts from ancient Egypt. The Bust of Nefertiti is multicoloured and symmetrical, about 49cm/18" high and, despite the missing left eye, still holds the gaze of onlookers below its tall, blue, flat t ... Show More
49m 50s
Nov 2020
Ancient Egypt: Tutankhamun and Mummies
Sophie (age 7) and Ellie (age 5) love stories about Ancient Egypt so they tell the story of the boy Pharoah, Tutankhamun, including how his body was turned into a mummy.   We explain how Egypt got its wealth from the annual flooding of the Nile. The Old Kingdom turn this wealth i ... Show More
9m 23s