Giza’s New Grand Egyptian Museum Swaps the Mass-Produced Souvenirs for a Sprawling, Gorgeous Artisan Emporium
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The exit through the museum gift shop can be a mixed bag: sometimes, I’m disappointed to encounter a handful of made-in-China trinkets barely related to the galleries. Other times, museum gift stores deliver quirky, exclusive, and exquisitely designed objects that honor the local culture. When it’s the latter, they’re among my favorite places to shop. Since opening last year, GEM Shop, the official store of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, has taken this retail experience to the highest level.
I spent an entire day in the long-awaited Egyptian museum and was mesmerized by over a hundred thousand antiquities on display, from rows of spooky sarcophagi to towering statues of ancient gods and queens. However, one of the highlights of the visit was spending about an hour browsing the multi-room GEM Shop.
Rather than hawking racks of microplastic detritus, this gift store is a wonderland of handmade, natural, artisan goods evoking the splendors of Nefertiti and Cleopatra. Everything is made by Egyptian hands, like carved Bastet cat sculptures and ankh-stamped soaps that celebrate the country’s heritage while supporting NGO development projects. Visitors can’t preview or purchase the inventory online, so here’s what to know before arriving at the Grand Egyptian Museum to shop until you feel you might drop into Osiris and Anubis’ underworld.
The GEM Shop Concept
Designed by Heneghan Peng Architects, the Grand Egyptian Museum began construction in 2005 and finally opened in November 2025. (By comparison, it also took about 20 years to build the Great Pyramid of Khufu... 4500 years ago.) The sprawling modernist architecture uses triangular forms and sand colored concrete to mirror the surrounding pyramids and desert. GEM’s 130 foot tall glass roofed entrance court is guarded by a colossal statue of Ramses II; the gift store is tucked into one side of the atrium.
GEM Shop is operated by Museeum, a creative venture founded by Indjy Taher and Jaeyung Kwon that fosters Egyptian craftsmanship and sustainability. The women did extensive research and consulted with Egyptologists to ensure that the boutique seamlessly compliments the themes of the galleries. As Kwon explained in a Youtube video, “The crux has always been to deliver the best of Egypt. About 99.9% of the products are sourced locally.” Partnering with emerging artists and nonprofits across the country, Museeum has curated a diverse array of designs made with traditional techniques.
Plan Ahead for Prime Access to GEM Shop
If you’re keen to make the most of the shopping experience, then stay across the road from the Grand Egyptian Museum at Steigenberger Pyramids Cairo Hotel, rather than a 30 minute car ride away in downtown Cairo. This luxe hotel has patio rooms and a spacious pool that look out at the wedge-shaped GEM, letting you admire the architecture at all hours and build anticipation for the visit. Steigenberger Pyramids also offers free shuttles throughout the day to the complex and back.
Unlike most museum gift stores, GEM won’t let you enter and browse without a ticket to the galleries. Purchase a timed ticket in advance from the official site to access the stores and restaurants, and keep in mind that each ticket only offers single entry.
Visit GEM Shop in the morning for the most peaceful experience; it opens at 9am and tends to be busiest in the late afternoon. You’ll also have more time to try on clothes and chat with the English-speaking staff, who are eager to share the inspiration and artisanship behind each item. The store also let me pay and store my purchases behind the counter until closing. This way, I could keep exploring the exhibits and fuel up on Mediterranean salads and dips at Nahr Restaurant without lugging around a giant bag.
The GEM Shop Experience and Selection
Although prices are higher at GEM than at standard tourist shops and markets, everything comes from Egypt and there’s no haggling or hard-selling. Products tend to be handmade with natural materials like papyrus and linen, and can only be found on these shelves. The shop accepts credit cards and has free WiFi so you can convert Egyptian pounds to your local currency; prices range from cute metal King Tut keychains for under $10 to gold-painted bird-headed statues for hundreds of dollars.
GEM Shop is filled with hand-embroidered and printed bags, clothing, stationery, jewelry, and home decor marked with “walk like an Egyptian” figures, cartouches, ankhs, and the Eye of Horus (ancient Egypt’s iconography can truly be described as iconic). Flip through photo-packed tomes like the Book of the Dead and hieroglyphic dictionaries in multiple languages. Look for limited edition exclusives by local designers, such as Farah Omar’s scarves depicting pharoahs and jackals in bold brushstrokes.
As a placard proudly stated, “Our products come from all over the country, from Siwa to the Sinai Peninsula.” I eyed woven baskets from Nubia, and leather fly swatters and totes made by Shalateen tribes in the southeastern desert. It was hard to resist the large selection of plastic-free cultural items like a carved wood senet board game and ceramic canopic jars (funerary vessels for a mummy’s stomach, intestines, lungs, and liver — although you can fill them with something less “organ-ic” like coins or candy).
I got my Egypt-loving friend an adorable crochet doll of Anubis the jackal holding an ankh in his paw. The purchase supports Duma Toys, which provides environmentally-friendly employment to vulnerable and low-income women artisans. As a Goth, I couldn’t resist getting a black Egyptian cotton robe marked with a giant ankh on the back. I also picked up an oversized top printed with a statue of Queen Hatshepsut and the museum’s name in Arabic; unlike typical gift shop t-shirts, this design was reminiscent of Yohji Yamamoto.
Part of the joy of shopping at a museum store is the opportunity to commemorate the visit with a souvenir and share the tale with others. I won’t lie: it’s a flex to get compliments on my ankh robe every time I wear it out, and drop that it’s an exclusive from Giza’s Grand Egyptian Museum. Plus, I feel good about having proceeds go to local artists and non-profits. Egyptians are rightfully proud that their newly-opened museum is a world class institution, and I can vouch that the gift shop lives up to its abbreviated name: it’s a gem.
