CAIRO – Awqaf Minister Osama el-Azhari said opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is more than a monumental cultural event being a spiritual message from heart of Egypt to the conscience of humanity as the great institution embodies depth of the Egyptian soul – uniting faith and knowledge, spirit and intellect, past and future – in a single work of human creativity.
Egypt has always been the beating heart of civilisation and the land of revelation. On its soil, humanity first wrote history, and through its people, the world learned the meaning of creativity, perseverance and faith, the minister said.
Civilization, Azhari noted, is not built with stone alone, but with mind, spirit and belief.
GEM represents this duality – material and spiritual architecture. Each artifact within it tells the story of a human being searching for God, expressing faith in eternity, resurrection and accountability. Ancient Egyptian civilisation, he argues, was not one of idolatry but of conscience and belief in life after death, justice, and truth values later confirmed by divine revelations.
The minister calls the Museum a “journey of the mind and the soul,” urging visitors to see its treasures as living messages of faith and creativity. The project reflects the vision of Egypt’s leadership to restore the nation’s civilisational role and promote peace, learning, and cultural dialogue.
The Museum, Azhari concludes, stands as a testimony to Egypt’s eternal spirit – a nation that unites faith with science, history with modernity and devotion with human achievement.
According to the minister, it is not merely a repository of relics, but rather a beacon illuminating humanity’s path toward understanding, harmony and the divine.
