La Jornada: Egyptian museum receives millions of visitors

The Grand Egyptian Museum (GME) received 3 million visitors in the last seven months, reported the director of the facility, Ahmed Ghoneim, in an interview broadcast yesterday.

Of that number, 60 percent were foreigners, attracted by the ancient history of this Muslim country that is African and Arab at the same time.

On average, the GME receives between 7,000 and 10,000 people every day, a notable drop compared to the 24,000 it served until the management set a limit of 15,000 to ensure the quality of the experience, according to the official.

He described the number of attendees as “acceptable for the summer, although lower than expected due to high temperatures and the seasonal nature of tourism.”

In the summer, thermometers in Egypt can reach 40 degrees, which hits mercilessly, especially in Cairo, where some of the country’s pyramids stand, including Giza, perhaps the most notable, although not the only one.

But not everything is a sea of ​​balm, since since the GME management began with reservations through the Internet, sites have flourished in the country and abroad that offer fake tickets, whose trail is followed by the relevant authorities, in addition to “ticket recycling.”

Thus, between infernal heat, speculators, the swarm of improvised guides and the inevitable camel ride, daily life passes in the area of ​​the pyramids a few kilometers from the center of this capital, where the new GME is located, without any of these plagues tarnishing the sensation caused by seeing the pieces in the exhibition up close and being able to touch the pyramids.

All of the above, with the added value of seeing up close and, if you wish and have the strength, reaching the sphinx, the sculpture of a mythological being that, according to the beliefs of the time, protected the temple complex that surrounded it: an unforgettable life experience, believe it.