When it finally opens, Cairo's Grand Egyptian Museum will be the largest museum dedicated to a single civilization.
Standing just two kilometers away from the pyramids of Giza, the monument, which will house some of Egypt's most precious relics, is expected to attract around five million visitors a year.
More than a decade in the making, and with its opening being pushed back once again in 2018, there's one "secret" way travelers can visit the 5.2-million-square-foot structure before it officially launches in 2021.
A private behind-the-scenes tour is currently in operation -- albeit with a $250 price tag.
This exclusive experience provides a very select few with a sneak preview of the $1 billion project before the rest of the world gets a look in.
Grand Egyptian Museum international relations representative Faten Mohammad is one of the leaders of the tour, which lasts four hours and runs every day.
Mohammad kicks things off by detailing the museum's ongoing conservation efforts.
"The conservation center has received 46,000 artifacts until now [April 2019], and we've finished the refurbishment of 42,000," she explains.
After running through the center's tight security measures -- no photographs unless authorized and absolutely no touching -- Mohammad opens the door to the organic lab.
Here hundreds of King Tut's textile, leather and papyrus artifacts lie ready for restoration.
His refurbished necklaces, shoes and even a loincloth (yes, King Tut's underwear) are shown without the typical glass casing.
New artifacts
Standing just two kilometers away from the pyramids of Giza, the monument, which will house some of Egypt's most precious relics, is expected to attract around five million visitors a year.
More than a decade in the making, and with its opening being pushed back once again in 2018, there's one "secret" way travelers can visit the 5.2-million-square-foot structure before it officially launches in 2021.
A private behind-the-scenes tour is currently in operation -- albeit with a $250 price tag.
This exclusive experience provides a very select few with a sneak preview of the $1 billion project before the rest of the world gets a look in.
Grand Egyptian Museum international relations representative Faten Mohammad is one of the leaders of the tour, which lasts four hours and runs every day.
Mohammad kicks things off by detailing the museum's ongoing conservation efforts.
"The conservation center has received 46,000 artifacts until now [April 2019], and we've finished the refurbishment of 42,000," she explains.
After running through the center's tight security measures -- no photographs unless authorized and absolutely no touching -- Mohammad opens the door to the organic lab.
Here hundreds of King Tut's textile, leather and papyrus artifacts lie ready for restoration.
His refurbished necklaces, shoes and even a loincloth (yes, King Tut's underwear) are shown without the typical glass casing.
New artifacts
While one third of the Egyptian pharaoh's artifacts were previously on display at Cairo's Egyptian Museum, the GEM is to house all 5,000 known objects.
"We will display the collection of King Tut in one place for the first time since we discovered the tomb in 1922," adds Mohammad. "His treasures will be displayed in two halls of about 7,000 square meters."
Officials plan to arrange the pieces to look as they did when British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered King Tut's tomb in Luxor in 1922.
Some may consider the GEM's behind-the-scenes tour as nothing but a moneymaking marketing gimmick.
But the draw of this high-priced expedition is the chance to privately witness the inner workings of one of the world's largest museums. In the wooden lab, Mohammad delivers on that promise.
"When Carter discovered [King Tut's] tomb, he tried to conserve the artifacts by covering them in wax. We discovered this has bad effects," she says.
Conservation project
"Our colleagues try to remove wax before they're displayed. When we removed the wax [on a chariot of King Tut], we discovered new scenes we didn't see before."
As visitors peruse the decorated gold chariots -- smartphone photos are allowed at this point -- Mohammad continues with the Egyptian trivia.
"We have three funeral beds of King Tut made for his afterlife journey," she says, gesturing towards a set of intricate wooden structures.
"When we made a photo scan, we discovered the black color you see isn't actually black. It's Egyptian blue [an ancient pigment now commonly known as cerulean]."
King Tut did not use these beds during his reign in 1300 BCE -- they were solely for his death.
The beds have carvings of the goddess Ammit, a hippopotamus representing divine retribution, and the cow goddess Hathor, who Egyptians believed helped deceased souls transition into the afterlife.
The tour's next stop, the heavy stone lab, feels more warehouse than museum, until Mohammad highlights the facility's ancient 1,000-pound ruins.
This working lab houses granite, limestone and basalt statues, as well as remains from temples all over Egypt.
The goal is to clean and support these massive artifacts before moving them to the museum's main entrance.
"All huge objects will be displayed along the grand stairs in the museum," Mohammad says. "A Ramses II [statue] is in front of the main entrance; beside him all over the stairs you will see more than 87 huge objects."