Nov 2022 - NGM Single Copy

T U T ’ S  T R E A S U R E S
Next fall the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) will open outside Cairo near the famous Giza pyramids. The billion dollar, 700,000-square-foot facility will feature the world’s largest collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts, including 5,000 treasures from King Tut’s tomb, many of them on public display for the first time. More broadly, this story will examine the challenges confronting a new generation of Egyptian curators and archaeologists—including NGS Explorer Nora Shawki— and consider a question of great newsworthiness: What future for ancient Egypt? As for contemporary Egypt, its attempts to reinvent itself may be most evident in the form of the “New Administrative Capital,” an immense citystate being constructed from the ground up in the desert, about 30 miles from Cairo. The high-tech residential and governmental center, replete with solar technology and monorails to connect to Cairo, is slated to be completed in 2023 and will involve the relocation of six million Egyptians to the new city. In both its layout and its forward- hinking pretensions, this “New Egypt” is a conscious nod to pharaonic Egypt, even as the country continues to wrestle with a sagging economy, Islamic extremism and political unrest. Also in this issue, a look at the remarkable recover of Pacific coral reefs, and the lessons learned in living with volcanoes in Spain’s Canary Islands.