Though it took a staggering eight years, the Cairo-based Museum of Islamic Art is finally set to reopen to the public after a $10 million restoration. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek visited the museum — the world’s largest devoted to Islamic art — over the weekend to celebrate the completion of the extensive project, though the general public will need to wait until September to visit the 25-gallery institution.

According to the AFP, rare manuscripts of the Koran and a gold-inlaid key that opens the Kaaba, the sacred cube within the Grand Mosque in Mecca, are among the more than 100,000 items in the museum’s collection. The museum also houses what is believed to be the oldest extant example of Islamic currency, a gold coin dating from 697, less than 70 years after the death of Mohammed. Twenty five hundred pieces are currently on display.

Faruq Hosni, the Egyptian culture minister, told the press that the project has resulted in "a great change in the way the works are exhibited, protected, and lit." The building dates back to 1903, when it was established as a site to protect many of the nation’s antiquities from looters. Oddly, reports from the opening make no note of the hard-charging Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass, who is generally a dependable presence at such gatherings.