With pharaoh-like fanfare, Egypt unveils a huge new museum dedicated to its ancient civilization

By SAMY MAGDY

CAIRO (AP) — In an extravaganza of pharaonic imagery with a drone light show depicting ancient gods and pyramids in the sky, Egypt on Saturday inaugurated its long-delayed Grand Egyptian Museum , a megaproject aiming to give the country’s millennia-old heritage a rich, modern display.

Two decades in the making, the museum located near the Giza Pyramids and the Sphinx is the centerpiece of the government’s bid to boost Egypt’s tourism industry and bring cash into the troubled economy .

At the elaborate grand opening ceremony, attended by a number of European and Arab royals and other presidents and prime ministers, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi sought to give the event an international scale.

He called on attendees to “make this museum a platform for dialo