The Grand Hallالبهو الكبير

The hall's centrepiece is the great statue of Ramses II, carved from red granite over 3,200 years ago. Standing about 11 metres tall and weighing some 83 tons, it has had a remarkable modern journey: discovered near ancient Memphis, it stood for decades in a busy Cairo square (long known as Ramses Square) from 1955, before being carefully moved in 2006 to protect it from pollution and traffic, and finally installed in the Grand Egyptian Museum, where it now reigns over the entrance hall. Its sheer scale leaves every visitor craning their neck in wonder.

The Grand Hall is a triumph of modern design as much as a showcase for ancient art. Soaring ceilings and clean lines frame the colossus, while natural light pours in to play across the stone — a deliberate dialogue between the monumental past and contemporary architecture. From here the museum opens up: visitors gather, orient themselves, and feel the building's ambition before beginning their journey up the Grand Staircase and into the galleries beyond.

More than a lobby, the Grand Hall is the symbolic threshold of the whole museum. It is where the experience starts — the moment that signals you are about to walk through five thousand years of Egyptian civilisation. With the colossus of Ramses II towering overhead, the hall connects directly to the Grand Staircase and the main galleries, drawing visitors onward and upward into the story of ancient Egypt.

• What it is: the grand entrance atrium of the Grand Egyptian Museum.
• Arabic name: البهو الكبير (the Grand Hall).
• Centrepiece: a colossal granite statue of Ramses II, ~11 m tall and ~83 tons.
• Age of the statue: over 3,200 years old.
• Its journey: from Memphis, to a Cairo square (1955), moved in 2006, now at the GEM.
• Leads to: the Grand Staircase and the main galleries.

Sources include the Grand Egyptian Museum and Egyptian heritage guides. Some figures are approximate.